Children of Glory (2006)

At the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, the Hungarian water polo team faces off against the Russians in what will become known as one of the bloodiest matches in the sport's history.

Director:

Krisztina Goda

Writers:

Joe Eszterhas (screenplay), Éva Gárdos (screenplay)

Stars:

Kata Dobó, Iván Fenyö, Sándor Csányi

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kata Dobó	...	Falk Viki
Iván Fenyö	...	Szabó Karcsi
Sándor Csányi	...	Vámos Tibi
Károly Gesztesi	...	Telki edzõ
Ildikó Bánsági	...	Karcsi anyja
Tamás Jordán	...	Karcsi nagyapja
Viktória Szávai	...	Hanák Eszter
Zsolt Huszár	...	Gál Jancsi
Tamás Keresztes	...	Ács Imi
Péter Haumann	...	Feri bácsi
Daniel Gabori	...	Józsika (as Gábori Dániel)
Róbert Marton	...	Kardos Márton (Compó)
Kornél Simon	...	Abonyi Gyula (Báró)
Krisztián Kolovratnik	...	Fazekas Sándor (Frank)
Antal Czapkó	...	Prokop

Storyline

Children of Glory will commemorate Hungary's heroic Revolution of 1956, and takes place in Budapest and at the Melbourne Olympic Games in October and November of that year. While Soviet tanks were destroying Hungary, the Hungarian water polo team was winning over the Soviets in the Olympic pool in Melbourne, in what has been described as the bloodiest water polo match in history.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1956 | sex | 1956 | europe | communistic crimes | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | Sport | War

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Details

Official Sites:

MySpace page Official site [Hungary] (Hungarian, English)

Country:

Hungary

Language:

Hungarian Russian English

Release Date:

6 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Joe Eszterhas Project

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$71,446

Company Credits

Production Co:

C2, Cinergi, Flashback Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several members of the real 2000/2004/2008 Olympic champion Hungarian Waterpolo team portray Hungarian and Soviet players in the movie: Bulcsú Székely, Péter Biros, Zoltán Szécsi, Gergely Kiss, István Gergely, Attila Vári.

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Goofs

When Karcsi first meets Viki at the university on 23 October, he says "szia" to her, which is equal to "hi" in Hungarian. It's an anachronism because this kind of greeting was not yet used on that day. It came to use a few hours later, and indeed Karcsi could have been one of the first Hungarians to use it. The word "szia" had been invented by water polo boys in the very place where Karcsi and his team also trains in the movie: the Csaszar swimming pool on the afternoon of 23 October 1956. The usual greeting between friends was "szervusz" at that time (still used as a more formal, but still intimate courtesy), coming from the Latin "servus" meaning something like "I am your servant". These water polo boys thought they need some "revolutionary" to replace the old-fashioned "szervusz", so they made up "szia", or "sziák" when addressing multiple persons. When they went home, they taught all the passengers on the tram to the new words. People liked the idea and and "szia" spread in Budapest like wildfire. The "sziák" form has been phased out by "sziasztok" in a short time, which is still in use today.

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Quotes

Falk Viki: What are you doing here?
Szabó Karcsi: Looking for you.
Falk Viki: I'm not here for you.
Szabó Karcsi: Why not? You don't know what I'm like.
Falk Viki: Here. Carry it.
[offers him the flag but he doesn't take it]
Falk Viki: See? That's what you're like.

User Reviews

An unhappy ending...

To those who are familiar with the end result of this true story, it is certainly not a happy ending. In 1956, Hungary was ruled by communism. Russian communism to be exact, and it was a few brave souls out of thousands, that gave up their lives for a dream - of freedom.

I am an American currently living in Hungary, and I felt very privelged last night, being able to see this film. There I sat in an auditorium, with a theater screen set up, and a projector as well; watching this film in a city of only 13,000, approximately one third of which sat all around me. I felt honored, and very happy to know that I was in this country, watching this film, amongst so many people who were celebrating an event that took place fifty years ago, here in this very country.

The film centers around a water polo team in the year 1956. It was in this year that people began to take up arms. They decided enough was enough. Communism had ruled for far too long by this point - but the tragedy was that it was to remain that way for a much, much longer time. At the end of the second world war, the Russians decided it was their turn to rule Hungary. They took it off the shoulders of the Germans, who had now lost, and Russia was the new Hitler. The star of the film is member of the Hungarian water polo team, and they become finalists in the Olympics that year. From the beginning of the film, until the end - we see the Revolution through the eyes of this young man. How he falls in love with a women, who is one of the leaders of the revolt, and finds himself fighting for his country alongside her.

Though it was a bit slow at times, and it was in Hungarian - it's a film, that in some ways you don't even really need to speak the language to understand. Although I'm semi-fluent in Hungarian, it was still very difficult for me to follow the dialogue. However, you can understand what's happening in the film, without a knowledge of what they're saying. A lot of explosions; fighting; guns; love scenes; and arguments - it's quite apparent most of the time what's going on.

I would say that acting wise -it's a Hungarian made movie. The actors are not the creme of the crop - but certainly better than your average Joe. The direction was brilliant, however. And I was quite amazed by the camera-work - and stage direction. Filmed on location in Budapest (and it's quite obvious), it gives those who have walked down some of the famous streets, and squares, chills down their backs, with the knowledge, that there were protesters and gun play in those places, all those years ago. Now, these streets and squares are famous tourist attractions.

Although I hate to give in to the self-pity most Hungarians carry around with them, I have to admit that the film does make you feel sorry for them as a people. First world war two, and then this. It was as though they were to never catch a break. Which might account for some of their cultural behaviors, even today. The communist mentality still seeping through. It is all apparent in the film, why they go about their ways, the way they do.

It is an interesting film, and a good historical reference. If anyone can find this with English subtitles (or subtitles for whatever language you speak), it might be good to see it, just so you know what actually happened in 1956, and how as much as the Hungarians fought for their freedom, life is not a movie- and the outcome was very realistic. They lost.

A final note. After the film, a lady who was in the car with me on my home, said something that I'll never forget. I mentioned that in the movie, I thought it was funny how someone got so excited, because they'd heard on the radio that the Americans were coming to save them. And, I said...I didn't think that was true, since I don't ever recall the Americans coming to the Hungarians aid. She said softly, and sadly, as though it were my fault, "No. You didn't come. You didn't come." A sad, yet memorable, historical and noteworthy event in world history. And, of course, in Hungarian history.