''Red Psalm'' ( hu, Még kér a nép) is a 1972 Hungarian film by

Miklós Jancsó Miklós Jancsó (; 27 September 192131 January 2014) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including '' The Round-Up'' (''Szegénylegények'', 1965), '' ...

. The literal translation of the title is "''And the People Still Ask''", a quote from a poem by

Sándor Petőfi Sándor Petőfi ( []; né Petrovics; sk, Alexander Petrovič; sr, Александар Петровић; 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1849) was a Hungarian poet of Serbian origin and liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary's ...

Plot

''Red Psalm'' centers around a small peasants' revolt in 1890. It draws inspiration from the Hungarian revolutionary movements of the 19th century, including the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although t ...

, of which

, the poet whose work the film's Hungarian title references, was a participant.

Background

Like most of Jancsó's best-known works, ''Red Psalm'' is loosely based on events from

Hungarian history Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Pannonian Basin). During the Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural spheres of the Celtic tribes (such as the Scordisci, Boi ...

. Shot in very long, carefully choreographed takes, the film features only 26 shots. Unlike Jancsó's previous films, which used music only sparsely, almost every scene in ''Red Psalm'' features music, usually performed by the on-screen characters. The songs include

Hungarian folk music Hungarian folk music ( hu, magyar népzene) includes a broad array of Central European styles, including the recruitment dance verbunkos, the csárdás and nóta. The name ''Népzene'' is also used for Hungarian folk music as an umbrella designa ...

and songs in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, most famously "Charlie Is My Darling" (a variation on a Scots song later adopted during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

as the pro- Union "Johnny Is My Darling"). Due to this large number of songs and dances, the movie is sometimes described as a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

.Pacific Cinematheque: Red Psalm
/ref>Chicago Reader: Red Psalm
/ref>

Critical reputation

Writing for the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'', film critic

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and h ...

argues that ''Red Psalm'' "may well be the greatest

Hungarian film Hungary has had a notable cinema industry since the beginning of the 20th century, including Hungarians who affected the world of motion pictures both within and beyond the country's borders. The former could be characterized by directors Istv� ...

of the 60s and 70s." The '' Time Out Film Guide'' sees the film as an improvement over Jancsó's "opaque and difficult"Time Out: Red Psalm
/ref> ''Agnus Dei'', praising ''Red Psalm'' as "crystal clear and involving: looking for a language in 'Agnus Dei'' he found it here and uses it with dazzling precision." Writing for the Chicago-based website ''Cine-File'',

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; russian: Игнатий Игоревич Вишневецкий; born September 5, 1986)Vishnevetsky, Ignati''Time Indefinite'': "A Talk with Sergei Loznitsa" ''Mubi'' is a Russian-American film critic, essayist ...

describes the film as "an inversion of Jancsó's earlier work — and his most beautiful film." Taking a contrary position, Roger Greenspun wrote in his 1972 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review that "it is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the incredible monotony of so much vigorous activity, but surely one reason is that nothing happens in ''Red Psalm'' except for the benefit of the camera...Nothing could be further, say, from the great fluid camera movements of a Max Ophuls than the elaborate cycles and epicycles of the Jancsó world, where everybody — open fields notwithstanding — is imprisoned within rigid limits of the director's rage for abstract patterns."New York Times: Jancso's "Red Psalm" Screened
/ref>

Awards

''Red Psalm'' won Jancsó the Best Director prize at the

1972 Cannes Film Festival The 25th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 4 to 19 May 1972. The Palme d'Or went to the Italian films '' The Working Class Goes to Heaven'' by Elio Petri and '' The Mattei Affair'' by Francesco Rosi. The festival opened with the French fi ...

and is considered one of his major works. Several critics, most notably the American

, consider it his best film.

References

External links

* {{Miklós Jancsó 1971 films 1971 drama films 1970s Hungarian-language films Hungarian drama films Films set in Hungary Films set in the 1890s Films about rebellions War films based on actual events Films directed by Miklós Jancsó 1972 drama films 1972 films Films set in 1890 Films set in Austria-Hungary