Synopsis
The life story of Imre Nagy is one of the defining stories of 20th century history. He was the first communist leader to become the symbol of a national revolution—the 1956 Hungarian revolution—that, in addition, abrogated the Warsaw Treaty and stood up for democracy based on a pluralist party system. Many argue that the role he assumed in the revolution of 1956 and his continued loyalty to the notion of the revolution, which prevailed until his death, did not clearly follow from his communist convictions and his past experiences in Moscow, Some attribute Ms loyalty to a mysterious secret event, which resulted in extraordinary catharsis. Even though, such course of events was not entirely surprising in light of his personality and ensuing life story. He was feeding upon his lire experiences, the knowledge of the impoverishment of peasants in the countryside, and his deep affection to the Hungarian land, that was the reason why he begins to believe in communist ideas. Later he becomes a professed communist as a result of Lenin's revolution, the civil war and his captivity as a POW in Russia, However, he always differed from the well-known type of the fanatic revolutionist, even his strong internationalist convictions could not undermine his Strong feelings of patriotism and genuine love of Hungary and its people. His chosen path of martyrdom followed from deep convictions of integrity as a human being.When on November 4th, 1956 Russian forces surrounded Budapest, Imre Nagy and other members of his cabinet have accepted the asylum proposed by Yugoslavia and took shelter in the building of the Yugoslavian embassy. In the background the Hnistsov-Kadar-Tito pact had already been adopted. The film begins with this fatal decision. Imre Nagy's daughter Zs6ka launches the film with her monologue.
Janos Kadar the head of the new puppet government set up by the Russians offers a way to freedom, provided that Imre Nagy denounces the revolution and resigns. Imre Nagy does not cooperate. Later they are lured out of the embassy by the government's promise of free passage. In an unprecedented manner Imre Nagy, his family and coworkers are kidnapped and transported to Romania. Nagy's exile in Romania is characterized by complete isolation. He has no knowledge of the outside worid, and in turn the outside world has no knowledge of him. His wife is his partner during the period of exile. This is when he begins writing his autobiography, he Tetums to his memories of child, and young adulthood in order to understand the process that lead to his becoming a leader of a nation.
As soon as Kadar secures his power in Hungary, the moment of showdown duly arrives. Imre Nagy is taken back to Hungary, where he is put into solitary confinement He spends over 14 months in his prison cell under terrible conditions. He is continuously being interrogated; data is continuously being gathered in order to prove the preposterous allegation that he has commilted capital treason. During the interrogations and the trial, he consistently stands by his principles and political views. He does not ask to be pardoned, rather hopes that posterity will do him justice. In the film we display the cat and mouse game, based on archive interrogation records, that operative officials played on imre Nagy in order to break him, and the characteristic moral and intellectual power by which the old and ill man consistently fought them. The scenes of his captivity and his interrogations are contrasted by archive film footages showing the everyday life of the country, and the activity of Janos Kadar.
