| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Lars Rudolph | ... | János Valuska | |
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Peter Fitz | ... | György Eszter |
| Hanna Schygulla | ... | Tünde Eszter | |
| János Derzsi | ... | Man In The Broad-Cloth Coat | |
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Djoko Rosic | ... | Man In Western Boots (as Djoko Rossich) |
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Tamás Wichmann | ... | Man In The Sailor-Cap |
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Ferenc Kállai | ... | Director |
| Mihály Kormos | ... | Factotum | |
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Putyi Horváth | ... | Porter (as dr. Horváth Putyi) |
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Enikö Börcsök | ||
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Éva Almássy Albert | ... | Aunt Piri (as Almási Albert Éva) |
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Irén Szajki | ... | Mrs. Harrer |
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Alfréd Járai | ... | Lajos Harrer |
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György Barkó | ... | Mr. Nadabán |
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Lajos Dobák | ... | Mr. Volent |
This story takes place in a small town on the Hungarian Plain. In a provincial town, which is surrounded with nothing else but frost. It is bitterly cold weather - without snow. Even in this bewildered cold hundreds of people are standing around the circus trailer, which is put up in the main square, to see - as the outcome of their wait - the chief attraction, the stuffed carcass of a real whale. The people are coming from everywhere. From the neighboring settlings, even from quite far away parts of the country. They are following this clumsy monster as a dumb, faceless, rag-wearing crowd. This strange state of affairs - the appearance of the foreigners, the extreme frost - disturbs the order of the small town. Aambitious personages of the story feel they can take advantage of this situation. The tension growing to the unbearable is brought to explosion by the figure of the Prince, who is pretending facelessness. Even his mere appearance is enough to break loose destructive emotions.... Written by Anonymous
Don't let warnings of length turn you away from this movie. If you are incapable of sitting still for 2.5 hours and realizing the beauty of lengthy shots, don't see it. But if not, don't let reviews by those with short attention-spans keep you from seeing this film. It is one of the most beautifully and dramatically shot movies, with each shot lasting about 10 minutes. This allows for breathtaking camera movement that mixes perfectly with the sound track. Take a break from typical movies broken up by excessive shots and see this movie. It will blow you away.