Endre Nagy

Historical movie on the life of András Hadik

The story takes place at the time of the defeat of the Hungarian War of Independence, when Csákberény came under the terror of the imperial soldiers. Two priests from the village are arrested overnight for reading the Hungarian Declaration of Independence. Although the Austrian soldiers enjoy their power, they are unable to identify with the repression. The purpose of the trial of a military imprisonment court is to obtain a confession, to prove that a violation of sovereignty has been committed.

Autumn 1944. Yellow star, ghettos, Arrow Cross terror. The inhabitants of Hungary's capital, Budapest, await the tragic fulfilment of their fate with helpless resignation. However, above one of the city's villas, once a week in the evening the stars of hope sparkle, if only for a few minutes. This short time gives fresh heart to those hiding here and kindles hope in their tortured souls to live for another day. This mysterious power is none other than a beautiful song that can be heard at such times from the villa's tower room.

The Three-Hundred-Year-Old Man is the reconstruction of a lost silent film made in 1914 on the basis of an album of 66 photographs kept in the Film Archive. The 50-minute silent film was made to raise money for charity: the aristocratic group initiating the making of the film exploited the popular medium of film to promote a new achievement, aviation. The screenplay was written by Sándor Bródy and Endre Nagy, its actors were young Hungarian aristocrats, many of whom later became notable personalities. Money raised from the film was to go to improve Hungarian aviation and the Polyclinic. The Three-Hundred-Year-Old Man became the first time-travel science fiction film in Hungarian film history. Unfortunately, the film itself was lost in the course of subsequent decades, but it has now been revived from still photographs...