Cinema
Forest of the Hanged
Pădurea spânzuraților
Liviu Ciulei · 1965
Synopsis
At the height of the First World War, on the Austro-Hungarian front, Lieutenant Apostol Bologa, a Romanian serving the Emperor of Austria, sits on the court martial that punishes deserters and unruly soldiers. He takes part in the sentencing and hanging of a soldier of Czech origin who wanted to desert. After this execution, doubt takes hold of him, in the company of his friend Captain Otto Klapka; the horror of his task accumulates within him, and he must choose between military duty and a greater feeling of humanity.
Context
The film adapts Rebreanu's novel, from which it departs considerably; the book drew on the fate of Emil Rebreanu, the novelist's brother, an officer hanged in 1917 by the imperial army. Victor Rebengiuc plays Bologa, and the director himself plays Klapka. Shooting took place at the Buftea studios and at the Bánffy castle in Bonțida, the premiere was held on 16 March 1965 at the Sala Palatului in Bucharest, and nearly five and a half million spectators saw it that year. The Film at Lincoln Center regards it as the first Romanian feature to attract international attention.
Who it is for
A long war film of about two and a half hours, in Romanian; the war is seen from within the Austro-Hungarian ranks.
Prizes and reception
Prize for direction at the Cannes Film Festival in 1965; according to the Lincoln Center film archive in New York, one of the great studies of the dehumanising effects of war.
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