A tanú

Infobox Film
name = A tanú


caption = DVD cover of the film
director = Péter Bacsó
writer = Péter Bacsó, János Újhegyi
starring = Ferenc Kállai, Lajos Őze, Béla Both
producer =
distributor = Maifilm
released = Created 1969, release about 10 years
runtime = 103 min.
country = Hungary
music = György Vukán
cinematography =
editing =
language = Hungarian
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Witness again"
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0065067
budget =
gross =

A tanú (English: The Witness), also known as Without A Trace, is a 1969 Hungarian satire film, directed by Péter Bacsó. The creators waited about ten years until releasing the film because of the political climate of Hungary. The first cinema showing of the film was successful, and it later became a cult film.

Plot

The film features József Pelikán (Ferenc Kállai) as a single father who previously worked for the communist regime of Hungary but is now working at a dyke. He meets an old friend from the underground communist movement, Zoltán Dániel, now a government official, who fishes at the Duna, near the dyke. Later, Dániel is captured by the Duna, and Pelikán rescues him and invites him to his home. AThe ÁVH comes, because they got a report that Pelikán committed the illegal act of slaughtering a pig for food. Dániel tries to save him, but accidentally opens a hidden door to the basement, where all the pork had been hidden. Pelikán was taken to prison, but later released, due to the "will of the higher command". Comrade Virág =gives various assignments to Pelikán: being the CEO of a swimming pool, an amusement park, and an orange-research facility. The purpose of this is revealed later: they want Pelikán to be the witness in a show trial against Zoltán Dániel. Before the trial, they present Pelikán with testimony he must memorize, but Pelikán tells the truth instead. He is thrown back in prison as reprisal for this. While awaiting hanging, the political climate changes and he is released instead and later meets Comrade Virág who now lost all his former power and influence.

Cast

*József Pelikán - Ferenc Kállai
*comrade Árpád Virág - Lajos Őze
*comrade Bástya - Béla Both
*Zoltán Dániel - Zoltán Fábry
*Elemér Gulyás - Károly Bicskey
*ÁVH officer - György Kézdy
*railroad officer - József Horváth
*Operetta actor - Róbert Rátonyi
*prison officer - György Györffy
*secretary - Mária Rákosi
*Csetneki - Endre Kátay

External links

* [http://www.port.hu/pls/fi/films.film_page?i_where=2&i_film_id=2406&i_city_id=3372&i_county_id=-1 PORT.hu]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065067/ A tanú] at the Internet Movie Database