Let's not offend the one who tries to tell a very important episode of Hungarian history in a way that appeals to today's people. Written by Both Hunor.
With all due respect - since they are far more educated and experienced writers and journalists than I am - I would like to note a couple of small things regarding the criticisms within the Now or never conservative page. For years, I really missed those films that would have brought the most important moments, triumphs and defining moments of Hungarian history to the screen.
After all, the more than a thousand-year-old Hungarian statehood is rich in so many important successes, dramas, and huge twists and turns, all of which deserve to be presented in the most comprehensible form of our time, using visual tools.
There was a huge demand to finally make a film about the triumphs of the Hunyas, who, while defending the gates of Western Europe, built one of the most developed and strongest empires of the time in the Kingdom of Hungary. I'm glad that, in addition to the adventure novel, it will finally be made into a movie.
But the same is the case with András Hadik's refined campaign in Berlin, which of course I had read about before, but from the film I really understood how big a deal it was.
And the film about the life of Ignác Semmelweis, the savior of mothers, was also great, since then I think completely differently about the obstetric reform he painstakingly carried out.
And that is exactly why the film about the revolution of March 15, 1848 is of great importance.
Although I'm not a film expert either, as a person who knows Hungarian history to some extent, Now or Never was able to tell something new, shed light on new connections and new aspects.
Well, even for a young person today, for whom Netflix, which is growing in sensitization, and alternating one-minute videos, i.e. TikTok, are the only spiritual food.
The giant historical figures of Sándor Petőfi, Mór Jókai, or Pál Vasvári can only be brought close to these young people in this way, and the circumstances of the time and the significance of the revolution they carried out can only be explained in this way. It is true that they colored the story, made it action-packed and rich in emotions, but they did not change the most essential facts. Moreover, they were brought closer and made understandable.
I think that we have seen a wonderful and defining historical event filmed in an exciting adventure film, with very good characters and emotions.
And with all due respect, I don't think the criticism coming from the conservative side is correct, and not because there might not be legitimate points to make. But because the fact that they film important historical persons and events is much more important and valuable than the fact that the events in the film may not accurately cover the actual reality.
The fact of filming is important for the sake of the young and the old, because while American s**t soaked in sensitization pours from the numerous streaming providers onto them - and onto us too - with these films, the conservative side can also present films of such a quality that what he has to say is undeniably positive and correct.
Viewers can identify with Hungarian national heroes such as Sándor Petőfi or Mór Jókai. And not only with the robbers of The Great Money Heist, the drug lords of Narcos or the feminist Barbie.
The conservative side has to fight here in a space where our opponents are more skilled. In an earlier article, Gábor G. Fodor calls this space "soft politics", in which the one who tells his own story better wins. According to him, "the opponents of the right understand this better. I think it will be insufficient on this battlefield to simply say that it is because Netflix et al have brainwashed people. It's not for that. They realized that stories need to be told. Stories that appeal to people. It's all about the stories."
This track does not go down towards us either. Therefore, let's not offend the one who goes up to this difficult battlefield and tries to tell a very important episode of Hungarian history in a way that appeals to today's people.
Would it be better if these films were not made?
The filmmakers of the national site have to fight with Netflix, HBO and other streaming providers and distract viewers from LGBTQ and other sensitized films for an hour and a half to two hours. And that's how they deliver value. It can't be an easy game.
That's why I'm really pushing for there to be many, many good Hungarian historical films, and for there to be many brave Hungarian creators who dare to enter this extremely difficult arena.
The author is a senior analyst at Századvég
Cover image: Scene from Now or Never!
from the movie Source: player.hu
