screening time
Monica Film Center, 5:00pm, 31 October, 2023Blockade
(Blokád)
2022, feature, historical drama, 106 minutes
Hungary, 1990. József Antall, only six months after his induction as Prime Minister, faces the most difficult test of his life. Taxi drivers protest against the drastic rise in petrol prices by the House of the National Assembly. Quickly disillusioned with democracy, they blockade the city of Budapest, and soon after the whole country. The opposition sides with them and prompt them to start a revolution. The reserved and thoughtful Antall goes head-to-head with the ever-so-popular President Árpád Göncz about how they think the situation could be resolved. Both the press and public opinion sympathize with the taxi drivers, and the police force abandons the government, now unpopular due to their disposition. József Antall, former participant of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, finds himself on the other side of the barricade. Left alone, just out of surgery, in a hospital ward. What should he do, what resources could he use to resolve the situation?
The film is not only the chronicle of the four days of the taxi blockade. It shows the battles and bargains behind the scenes, and the private life of a Prime Minister dealing with crisis, fighting for democracy.
Director: | Ádám Tősér |
Screenplay: | Norbert Köbli |
Producer: | Tamás Lajos |
Creative Producer: | Norbert Köbli |
Editor: | Lili Makk |
Cinematographer: | András Nagy |
Music Composer: | Márk Moldvai |
Sound Designer: | Máté Péterffy |
Art Director: | Tamás Pataki |
Costumes: | Tünde Kemenesi |
Main cast with roles: | Zoltán Seress (as József Antall) |
Vidnyánszky Attila Jr. (as young József Antall) | |
Tibor Gáspár (as Árpád Göncz) | |
Zsolt Végh (as László Somlai) | |
Ildikó Tóth (as Mrs. József Antall Klára Fülepp) |