Redl ezredes Colonel Redl

10 novembre > SALA 2 ore 21.30

Hungary – 1984 – colore – 144’

CREDITS

Direction: István Szabó

Screenplay: Péter Dobai, István Szabó from the drama A Patriot for Me di by John Osborne 

Cinematography: Lajos Koltai

Editing: Zsuzsa Csákány

Set design: József Romvári

Music: Zdenkó Tamássy

Costumes: Péter Pabst

Cast: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Gyula Benk?, Hans Christian Blech, Gudrun Landgrebe, László Mensáros

Producer: Manfred Durniok

Production: Film und Fernsehen, MOKÉP, Objektiv Studio, ORF, ZDF

SYNOPSIS

Colonel Redl is based on a true story. Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl, an ambitious young officer. Redl, a poverty-stricken Ukrainian of the early 20th century, laboriously works his way into the highest circles of the Imperial Austrian Army. Throughout his upward ascent, Redl is able to keep his homosexuality from becoming public knowledge. Because of his mastery of several languages, Redl is sent by Emperor Franz Joseph to spy on the Russians. Playing one country against the other, Redl enjoys the sexual and monetary favors from both sides of the espionage spectrum until word of his gayness leaks out and he is blackmailed.

CRITICAL NOTE

“Besides its historical and political interest (the path of dissolution of the Habsburg Empire is also in the background, along with an analysis of the mechanisms of power as they function still today), Colonel Redl is a drama about identity. (…) Redl’s is the story of a man who, out of ambition, has renounced his own identity through a series of betrayals towards his family and the social class he comes from, towards his friends and benefactors, towards himself. It’s the story of a man who strives to become “other” than his true and deep “self”. He ends up becoming trapped in the character he has created for himself.” (Morando Morandini, Il Giorno, June 3, 1988)

AWARDS AND FESTIVAL

1985 Cannes FF – International Competition: Premio della Giuria Jury Prize

1985 Hungarian Film Week:  Grand Prix

1986 Academy Awards: Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film

1986 BAFTA Awards:  Best Foreign Film