The Wind Is Whistling Under Their Feet

Name: The Wind Is Whistling Under Their Feet
Genre: Drama, Western
Released: 26 Aug 1976
Rating: 6.70
Cast: Djoko Rosic, István Bujtor, Vladan Holec, György Cserhalmi, Irén Bordán

György Szomjas’s first feature—made after a decade of short documentaries—is a bold attempt at a goulash western, set on the puszta, or Great Hungarian Plain, in 1837. Mixing Miklós Jancsó imagery and a Sergio Leone narrative, this ballad-like saga opens with image of a lone horseman on the empty plain, riding past a rude gallows. The film concerns the vengeful return of a legendary betyár (outlaw), briefly a hero to the local herdsmen who oppose the state building a canal across their grazing land. Although Szomjas works from ethnographic records and archival material, it is hardly surprising that this violent, primitivist film would be more popular with Hungarian audiences than critics. Replete with young guns, crooked sheriffs, tavern brawlers and hardbitten plug-uglies, this widescreen film is strikingly shot by Elémer Ragályi (cinematographer for most of Gyula Gazdag’s films)—a feast of loamy, autumnal colors.

Year: 1976

Genre: Drama, Western

Studio: Mafilm

Director: György Szomjas

Cast: Djoko Rosic, István Bujtor, Vladan Holec, György Cserhalmi, Irén Bordán, Gábor Reviczky

Crew: György Szomjas (Director), György Szomjas (Writer), Péter Zimre (Writer), Sebő Ferenc (Original Music Composer), Elemér Ragályi (Director of Photography), Éva Kármentő (Editor)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Release: Aug 26, 1976

IMDb: 6.70/10 by 6 users

Popularity: 0

Country: Hungary

Language: Magyar