Rating: C+
Dir: Marcell Jankovics
Star (voice): Tibor Szilágyi, Mátyás Usztics, Ágnes Bertalan, Tamás Széles
This is not just an animated movie. It’s in Hungarian. It spent twenty-three years in production, money being hard to come by after the collapse of the Communist administration. The final bit of funding came after another piece of Jankovics’s work was used in a Super Bowl ad for the GM Yukon. And it is two hours and forty-six minutes long (one of the longest animated films ever), so represents a major test of fortitude. You might be better off watching it over twenty-three years, because it’s a bit dense. Less than ten minutes in, this is using words like “pullulate”. To breed or produce freely, apparently. So, yeah: I watched it over the course of four days, and recommend that approach.
It doesn’t interrupt the flow too much, because the film is constructed in segments, covering all of mankind’s history – and then some. It begins with the creation of the universe by God (Szilágyi), and the Garden of Eden. Lucifer (Usztics) tempts Eve (Bertalan), and it’s pretty much downhill from there. By which I mean, each subsequent segment covers a different era, in a style appropriate to it. We visit Ancient Egypt, Rome, the Crusades, etc. with Széles, the same actor who gave voice to Adam, and Bertalan playing different characters in each period. Lucifer is ever-present, pointing out the failings of humanity, and doing his best to ensure shit remains fucked-up. And it does: I suspect nobody ever accused Jankovics of being an optimist.
Initially, it seems that religion is the main scapegoat, with minor theological differences leading to schisms and atrocities in the Middle Ages. But the humanist side doesn’t exactly get off. The French Revolution becomes a prime example of secular unpleasantness, the mob depicted as a guillotine carrying tidal wave (top). Capitalism comes in for its share of scorn too: probably a requirement, given the practical need for the Communist authorities to keeping cutting Jankovics cheques. There is some striking imagery here. The Victorian era ends with an endless treadmill dumping all of Western culture, from the Queen to Marilyn Monroe to Superman, into the abyss. It’s reminiscent of the meat-grinder sequence in Pink Floyd: The Wall.
Fantasia also seems an inspiration – both in the different styles here, and the use of popular classical music. This is obviously much darker in tone, including its share of animated nudity and violence. However, if I were to describe the experience, it would be like walking around an art gallery, where someone has swapped out the audio tour for a lecture from Political Theory 1.0.1. Jankovics clearly has artistic talent, and is an excellent animator. He also has an entire notebook of thoughts about politics and social science. He is not shy about expressing them either. It doesn’t help that the hard-coded subs on Tubi were ill-suited to legibility, often forcing me to rely on my knowledge of Hungarian. Which is zero, and another reason I would recommend taking this in smaller portions.