Hungarian director Miklos Jancso’s war film, “The red and the white”, is like no other war film that I have ever seen. It is also a film that stirred me to the bone. Made during the Soviet reign of Hungry, it was a Government funded project that meant to celebrate the anniversary of the Russian revolution. It is safe to say, however, that Jancso’s intent was far from celebratory.
The movie is set during the Russian Civil War, which broke out in 1917, in the aftermath of the October Revolution of the same year. This was a bloody civil war that claimed between 7 – 12 million casualties. It is 1919 within an area of central Russia along the Volga river, where a group of Bolsheviks consisting of Russian and Hungarian solders are battling for control of the rural area with the Tsarist White army. That is the entire extend to the movie’s plot. Instead of a story, Jancso portrays the existence of life during war. The portrayal as shown, is a form without structure or organization, giving the tone of chaos and emphasizing the horrible waste of human life inherent in war.
The Bolshevik army in the area consists of a mix of Russian regulars, and Hungarian irregulars, who joined up to eventually return home to Hungry. The White army at first differentiates between the Hungarians and the Russians, by sometime allowing the Hungarians a chance to escape, while summarily executing the Russians. A tone of some separation of morals between the combatants is initially set as the red Bolsheviks strip their prisoners and allow them to escape naked. Then, in the nearby town when the White army captures a group from the red army, they play a macabre hunting game where they also strip their prisoners, so that they can chase them down, before ultimately killing them. The Hungarians are given a larger head start then the Russians, but all are targeted to be killed in this surrealistic war game being played out. The movie portrays countless killings at an alarming rate. The Volga river for which its bank seems to be the strategic element of the fighting, plays a symbolic role, as many of the victims are forced into the water before being killed.
Jancso has a very distinct style to the elegant camera movements used in the movie. Many of the shots are long mobile movements taken from behind the perspective of the people being shown. The camera moves together with the action without any cuts or interruptions, for long periods of time. One scene shows a fleeing fighter watch as his pursuers close in while his attempted retreat ends in capture. The whole drama is shown in one sweeping camera movement that gave me a great sense to the geography of the area and the hopelessness of the fighter’s situation. On many instances the killings are done off camera, which left me thinking about the murdered man as well as immediately entranced at what would happen next. Women are not spared from the carnage as they in turn are not only murdered, but also sexually assaulted.
The movie boasts no main characters and there are not starring roles. All the actors give cold unemotional performances, that reminded me of a Robert Bresson film, which made use of non-actors. Initially, the cold and dry acting kept me at a distance to the evil portrayed. As the movie progressed, I realized that these people were just numb and in a constant state of shock.
Most Anti-war films preach their intent through personalized stories. With, “The Red and the White”, Miklos Jancso has created the ultimate cinematic condemnation to war. It has no story, and no clear beginning or ending. It is an amazing, visual account of man’s inhumanity to himself, and is an unforgettable viewing experience.
1001 Movies before you die 