Product Description

The third and most eagerly awaited in Second Run's series of Miklós Janscó films, The Round-Up is widely acknowledged as a true masterwork of world cinema. The Round-Up takes place within a detention camp in the remote Hungarian countryside, after the collapse of the 1848 revolution against Austrian domination. A formal variation on the main patterns of the ritual of power, Janscó deliberately side-steps revolutionary heroics and focuses on the persecutions and dehumanizationswhich always accompany conflict. Filmed in Hungary's desolate sun-scorched landscape, Janscó's formidable technique - his austere formalism and stark cinematic vision - has produced a remarkable and terrifying picture of war and it's cost. Nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. Special features include Newly filmed interview with director Miklós Jancsó. Digital transfer with restored image and sound, approved by the Director. Anamorphic 16:9 enhanced for widescreen televisions. New and improved English subtitle translation. Optimal quality dual layer disc. Booklet featuring a comprehensive new Essay by author John Cunningham. ''People need to see Jancsó's really beautiful three or four first movies. The highest mountain is The Round-Up...'' Béla Tarr ''No one has tried quite the same thing in the same way, and that is Jancsó's most formidable legacy'' Derek Malcolm - 100 Greatest Movies

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18413 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Black & White, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Hungarian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Synopsis
Set in an isolated 1868 Hungarian prison, this drama tells the story of political prisoners suspected as 'freedom fighters' in the newly created Austro-Hungarian empire.

Review
Those who have never seen a film by Jansco... are usually astonished by the experience. --The Guardian

Review
When you have a frame by Janscó, you know immediately it's his. He'll always be important, not just for Hungarian or European cinema. --Bela Tarr

Customer Reviews

Another Essential DVD Release
Along with 'The Red and the White' by the same director and also released by Second Run DVD, this film is a must-have for any serious collector of world cinema. Made in Communist Hungary in 1966, it is about Hungarian prisoners rounded up by the Austrians one hundred years earlier, and held in a stockade set within a barren landscape. The themes of unjust imprisonment, oppression by a foreign country, and the powerlessness of the individual are all present here and must have carried immense power at the time the film was made.

Many of the scenes in this strange film are in medium to long shots, across the flat landscape, and of groups of men inside the stockade. There are countless shots of great beauty and the pace is quite slow. As such the drama is almost abstract at times, and it's difficult to identify with many of the characters. The ending however, is very dramatic and deeply shocking.

The DVD includes a lengthy interview with Jancso and the print of the film is very sharp.

A masterpiece
It's almost unfathomable that a filmmaker like Miklos Jancso is virtually unknown here. His films are incredible, painful, beautiful. Like an Eastern European Sergio Leone, his films are both epic and intimate.
THE ROUND-UP is (possibly) his finest film - set in a Hungarian detention camp in 1869, it unflinchingly demostrates the dehumanising effect of war and abuse of power.
Powerful, visually stunning and above all relevant - this is a film that should not be missed by lovers of cinema.