Friday, January 25, 2013

Visual Diary: A Peasant Revolt

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

Miklós Jancsó's 'Red Psalm' (1972) 

Before communism in Eastern Europe there existed much tension and upheaval in rural areas mainly to do with land ownership and the exploitation of peasants who lived and worked on that land. Red Psalm is a Hungarian film, which is loosely based on the Hungarian Revolution of 1948 whereupon independence from the Austrian Empire was won and Hungary became it's own nation. Jancsó's interpretation is metaphorical rather than a historical and accurate depiction of the event, drawing inspiration from the writings of Sándor Petőfi - poet, revolutionary and native of Transylvania.

















Film stills derived from Red Psalm (1972) Miklós Jancsó