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Avaintodistaja

Original title: A tanú
  • 1969
  • K-8
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
8.6/10
7.8K
YOUR RATING
György Bálint in Avaintodistaja (1969)
DramaComedy

Banned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native ... Read allBanned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, w... Read allBanned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, which was also well received by critics and general audiences alike when it was finally rel... Read all

  • Director
    • Péter Bacsó
  • Writers
    • Péter Bacsó
    • János Ujhelyi
  • Stars
    • Ferenc Kállai
    • Lajos Öze
    • Zoltán Fábri
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.6/10
    7.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Péter Bacsó
    • Writers
      • Péter Bacsó
      • János Ujhelyi
    • Stars
      • Ferenc Kállai
      • Lajos Öze
      • Zoltán Fábri
    • 11User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos18

    Károly Bicskey and Ferenc Kállai in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Ferenc Kállai and Miklós Molnár in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Róbert Rátonyi in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Lili Monori in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Ferenc Kállai, Lili Monori, and Lajos Öze in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Ferenc Kállai and Lili Monori in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Zoltán Fábri and Ferenc Kállai in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Zoltán Fábri and Ferenc Kállai in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Béla Both, Ferenc Kállai, Lajos Mezey, and Lajos Öze in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Ferenc Kállai and Lili Monori in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Ferenc Kállai in Avaintodistaja (1969)
    Béla Both and Ferenc Kállai in Avaintodistaja (1969)

    Cast37

    Edit
    Ferenc Kállai
    • Pelikán József, gátõr
    Lajos Öze
    • Virág Árpád
    • (as Õze Lajos)
    Zoltán Fábri
    Zoltán Fábri
    • Dániel Zoltán
    Béla Both
    • Bástya elvtárs
    Georgette Mertzhradt
    • Potocsni elvtársnõ (beszédtanár; szerep-betanító)
    • (as Georgette Mertzradt)
    Róbert Rátonyi
    • Operettszínész
    • (as Róbert Ráthonyi)
    Károly Bicskey
    • Gulyás Elemér
    • (as Károly Bicskei)
    Lili Monori
    Lili Monori
    • Gizi
    László Vámos
    • Idegorvos
    Ida Versényi
    • Gogolák elvtársnõ
    György Bálint
    Pál Bánó
    • Bíró
    Tibor Fehér
    • Börtönõr
    József Iványi
    • Rendõr
    Pál Jákó
    • Orvos
    György Kézdy
    • Virág testõre
    • (as György Kézdi)
    Péter Korbuly
    • Virág testõre
    Lajos Mezey
    • Író
    • (as Lajos Mezei)
    • Director
      • Péter Bacsó
    • Writers
      • Péter Bacsó
      • János Ujhelyi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Several quotes from the movie, especially the ones "the international situation is intensifying" and "life is not a whipped-cream cake" have become part of everyday speech in Hungary.
    • Quotes

      Virág Árpád: Life is not a whipped-cream cake, Pelikán.

    • Alternate versions
      Uncensored version: In a longer scene, you can see how in the prison they talk about the thousand years of existence of the Catholic Church and the few years of socialism in comparison. In this version, they don't smoke in prison. Comrade Pelikán visits Zoltán Dániel in prison, where he has already been completely broken. As a result, Pelikán decides to testify. When the guard takes Pelikan to the place of execution, upon their arrival, in the uncensored version, the camera also shows the gallows ready for execution. At the end of the prison scene, the guard tells Pelikán: Get out of here, because I'm going to rage!. Instead of "I get angry", he originally said: "I shoot you in the ass", but due to censorship, it had to be dubbed over, but you can read the original, more stylistic text from his mouth. In the uncensored version, it can be heard with the original text. The last scene, in which Comrade Pelikán and Virág meet on the tram, was completely cut out (because it had to be inserted later, for ideological reasons, due to the positive ending). Therefore, the film ends with Pelican wandering around the big city uncertainly. He stops next to a young man reading a newspaper and asks what day it is, then what month it is. He tells him, but Pelikán even inquires about Duna's position, and the young man asks if Pelikán should also be his bride. In this version, the Marx quote is at the beginning of the film between the cast list and the Attila József quote.
    • Connections
      Followed by Megint tanú (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Jaj, cica
      Music by Emmerich Kálmán

      Lyrics by Leo Stein and Béla Jenbach

      Performed by Róbert Rátonyi

    User reviews11

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    No, Not there!!!!!
    Thanks to my Hungarian colleague, who lent me the DVD, I watched this interesting and excellent movie. And what a movie it was!

    From the beginning till the end, this absurd drama entertains, amuses and at the same time, makes one think. The best point of this movie is the central character, who is a simple person, who does not know how to protest, who believes that all the decisions taken by (and the words uttered by) the Comrades in power must be correct, and who therefore obeys their orders unquestioned, and yet tries to be innovative, and thus unwittingly exposes the stupidity and absurdity that lies at the core of their ideology.

    I never knew that Hungary makes good movies (maybe because of the more widely known movies and movie makers from Poland and Czech; though I was told that Hungary produces perhaps the best brains in the world, at least, in Mathematics.), but now I know it otherwise.

    If you like a good political satire, just watch it.
    helpful•60
    4
    • Pinkai
    • Jul 18, 2004

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    FAQ10

    • How long is The Witness?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 28, 1983 (Finland)
    • Country of origin
      • Hungary
    • Language
      • Hungarian
    • Also known as
      • The Witness
    • Production company
      • MAFILM 1. Játékfilmstúdió
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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