andym108
All I can say about Angi Vera is that it has everything one can ask for in a film of this sort: vividly portrayed characters, historical accuracy and moral seriousness.While the nascent Soviet-imposed regime is shown in all of its horror, its characters are shown in full, without simplistic caricature, especially Angi Vera's apparatchik patron, whose background in the resistance to the Nazis just a few years earlier is given full expression. The period details are perfect, right down to the music on the gramophone. The lines spoken by the training school leaders consistently mimic the jargon to perfection: "If you are not going forward, you are going backward," etc., etc.The climactic scene where Angi Vera faces her former lover in one of those infamous self-criticism sessions is a scene that I'll take with me forever---the look on her face when she is reminded of the truth of their relationship, followed by the immediate recognition of the reality of the cross-examination she is undergoing, the hardening of the lines on her face, and the subsequent (and instant) abandonment of her better self---precisely the purpose of the session. All done within a few minutes, but those few minutes capture to perfection the essence of every "People's Democracy" in Eastern and Central Europe. As does the entire film.And the ending---understated but utterly horrifying in its implications. That this film could have been made in Hungary in the late 1970's was one of the surest signs that Communism was soon to be on the way out. I couldn't possibly recommend a movie more strongly than Angi Vera.
treagan-2
I haven't seen Angi Vera since its initial release, but I have always remembered its honesty and insight into how the institutionalization of ideals ultimately gets corrupted.Angi Vera, as a promising young woman, gets invited to a Communist training center to undergo the next level of indoctrination into Party life.She begins to realize how people get ahead in the Party: by saying things they don't mean but think are politically correct; by becoming friends with Party dignitaries, even if you don't like them; by being seen as a dedicated worker (as opposed to actually being a dedicated worker).I believe this experience has been felt by many, inside and outside politics, or the left, but also in church work, corporations, non-profit organizations, etc. Strong organizations with good leadership build in safeguards for toadyism that gets encouraged by mid-level teachers and managers.It's interesting this film was made under a Communist regime. I associate it with MAN OF MARBLE and MAN OF IRON, films with a similar themeand an attack on Eastern Block Communist indoctrination and public relations, also made while Communists were still in power.The film is slow-moving, but very effective and subtle, and feels very authentic.
paulet
This movie shows the transformation of a young, brave rebel into a calculating Party apparatchik in Cold War Hungary. For anyone who views Communism as a tragedy, this is an unforgettable human illustration of how that tragedy happens
Jeff Dantowitz
Politics and love hardly ever mix, but those pesky filmmakers are always exploring it anyway. Angi is torn, typically, between her duty and her emotions. Her choice and her actions are at times surprising, but the film is generally bland, bleak, and maybe even boring. The characters are well developed, though, and to be honest I was interested to see what the end would have to offer.
AD
