Soviet-Hungarian Coproduction

The documentary tries to reconstruct the birth of Miklós Jancsó’s film "Csillagosok katonák" (The Red and the White) from 1967. It was the first Soviet-Hungarian coproduction and its birth symbolized the relationship between the two countries. Beyond the interviews made with the authors and actors, Miklós Jancsó, Márta Mészáros, Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Nikonenko and Anatoli Yabbarov, the film explores some unique documents in the interpretation of the actors from Jancso’s last period. Mosfilm wanted a traditional revolutionary film for the 50th anniversary of October Revolution. But Jancso, with the support of Mafilm, wanted to make a new left spirit composition in his original film style. The Soviet censorship criticised his statements about the screenplay, but as new documents show, they were aware of Jancsó’s style and, instead of endless debates, Mosfilm and Goskino decided to edit a shortened Soviet version for local audiences...