The Round Up

Stars: Janos Gorbe, Tibor Molnar. Hungarian director Miklos Jancso's (The Red and the White) historical tale of political repression is set in a prison camp on a vast Hungarian plain, circa 1868. Here, the followers of Kossuth who led the revolution against the occupying Austrian forces in 1848 are being held and executed, while the prison officials try to get information concerning the whereabouts of their leader Sandor. The focus of the story is on one herdsmen named Janos (Janos Gorbe), jailed for murdering a handful of Austrians, and given the opportunity to go free if he can point out a fellow prisoner who has killed more people. In its exploration of how human dignity can be made to take a backseat in the face of imminent death, The Round Up succeeds quite well, right down to its twist ending. However, the sweeping tracking shots across the plain, and long scenes of men shuffling, add to the atmosphere but not the story--making for some serious stretches of nothing going on. On top of this, the occasionally illegible subtitles (especially during the first quarter of the film) will cause all but the most devoted of foreign cinema buffs to bail out early on. Enhanced subtitles would have at least made Jancso's examination of torture and repression in a police state watchable. Audience: Limited to very serious foreign film lovers, given the poor subtitles.