A cardiologist is sent into retirement, but he feels at loss without his work. He returns to his home village to work as a general practitioner. This is the start of his ordeal: he's confronted with raw reality, which finally brings him to his knees. But music has the last word.
Acting
Brandauer's crumbling dignity is masterclass.
Direction
Szabó turns villages into psychological prisons.
Score
Music literally saves a broken man.
Director
István Szabó
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Professor Stephanus
Károly Eperjes
Father Kristóf
Dorottya Udvaros
Wife of Professor Stephanus
András Stohl
Mayor
Éva Kerekes
Choir teacher
Mari Csomós
Mother of Professor Stephanus
András Bálint
Medical superintendent
Ákos Orosz
Postman
Dorina Martinovics
Daughter of Professor Stephanus
Péter Andorai
Lajos Kovács
Enikő Börcsök
Ági Szirtes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Szabó explores Hungary's post-communist rural collapse, where intellectuals return to villages that no longer want them.
Brandauer's casting bridges German and Hungarian cinema; his character's name 'Stephanus' deliberately echoes Hungary's first Christian king, suggesting fallen nobility.
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