Cinema
Cold Days
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András Kovács · 1966
Synopsis
In 1946, three Hungarian soldiers wait in prison for the judgment that is to establish their part in the Novi Sad raid of January 1942, when the Hungarian army shot Serbs and Jews and threw them under the ice of the Danube. One day, a fourth prisoner, Corporal Szabó, is brought into their cell. The four men tell one another what each did during those three cold days, and each defends himself as if he were his own lawyer.
Context
The film is based on the novel by Tibor Cseres. It was released on 26 September 1966, and was awarded a prize the same year in Czechoslovakia. It dealt with a massacre that was not spoken of, and on release aroused keen interest and controversy, some fearing for the country's image. Rather than a linear narrative, it proceeds by flashbacks and intercut accounts, and critics see in it a reflection on how ordinary men become accomplices through obedience and indifference.
Who it is for
A black-and-white drama in which the past returns in fragments; presented in France by the Cinémathèque française under the title Jours glacés.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary festival in 1966, and chosen in 1968 among the twelve best Hungarian films.