UID:
almahu_9949681700802882
Format:
1 online resource (224 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9781350181861
Series Statement:
Philosophical Filmmakers
Content:
〈b〉István Szabó is one of the few Hungarian filmmakers to have earned a major international reputation over the past half century. 〈/b〉〈b〉This thoughtful and original book is the first examination of Szabó's contribution to contemporary thought, engaging the troubled history of Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries.〈/b〉 〈b〉 〈/b〉István Szabó's importance as a filmmaker lies not only in his attention to film's formal elements but in his deep and ongoing engagement with some of the most urgent ethical and existential questions of our time. With detailed analyses of István Szabó's major films, from his 1960s works to his Academy Award for Best Foreign Film winner, Mephisto, and on through Szabó's last film in 2020, Final Report, Susan Rubin Suleiman focuses on four important questions pertaining to existential choice: to leave home or to stay in a communist country? To collaborate or not with an authoritarian regime? To affirm or to deny one's Jewishness in the face of antisemitism? To seek or to give up on community in the face of individual or national conflicts? Above all, Suleiman addresses the single most important philosophical question that haunts Szabó's work, as it does that of many other Central European intellectuals and filmmakers of our time. That is, how do individuals attempt, through the life choices they make or that are foisted on them, to create a viable self in extreme historical situations over which they have no control?
Note:
Introduction: Encountering István Szabó 1.〈b〉 〈/b〉To Leave or to Stay? Existential Choices under Communism Getting around the Censor in the 1960s Leaving and Its Consequences in 〈i〉Lovefilm 〈/i〉 Those Who Stay: Visions of Home in the 1970s 2. What Price Glory? The Talented Individual and State Power Step by Step: The Road to Degradation in 〈i〉Mephisto 〈/i〉 Responsibility in the Rearview Mirror: 〈i〉Taking Sides 〈/i〉 The Parvenu's Dilemma: Loyalty and Alienation in 〈i〉Colonel Redl〈/i〉 〈i〉 〈/i〉3. To Be or Not To Be Jewish? Identity as Choice or as Fate The "Jewish Question" for Jews Jews in Hungarian Cinema under Communism Jewish Identity and Its Vicissitudes in 〈i〉Sunshine〈/i〉 〈i〉 〈/i〉4.〈b〉 〈/b〉Living Together? The Idea of Community after Communism "A Metaphor for Europe"? Passions and Music in 〈i〉Meeting Venus 〈/i〉 Hanging On: Precarious Lives in 〈i〉Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe 〈/i〉 "Poor Hungary": 〈i〉Relatives 〈/i〉and 〈i〉Final Report〈/i〉 〈i〉 References 〈/i〉 〈i〉List of Figures 〈/i〉 〈i〉Films 〈/i〉 〈i〉Index 〈/i〉
Language:
English
DOI:
10.5040/9781350181861
URL:
https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350181861?locatt=label:secondary_bloomsburyCollections
