JÁNOS VITÉZ (JOHNNY CORNCOB)
Dir. Marcell Jankovics, 1973
Hungary, 74 min
In Hungarian w/ English subtitles
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – 5 PM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 – 10 PM
Hungary, 1845: at the age of 22, revolutionary poet and journalist Sándor Petőfi published a fairytale of great length, János vitéz (lit. “John the Valiant”). The story – part romance, part fantasy, part resistance fervor – emboldened Hungarian hearts both young and old as the country struggled for independence from the Austrian Empire. Petőfi would perish only a few years later (debatably, in the Battle of Segesvár, or on a death march to Siberia) but not before producing even more politically impactful work. His writing is to this day considered Hungarian national treasure.
Unsurprisingly, János Vitéz has seen multiple interpretations since its initial release. In the early 1970s, Jankovics and Pannonia Film Studios were commissioned to produce this version of the story as Hungary’s very first animated feature film. It too was well received by youth and adult audiences in Hungary, taking a great many visual cues from George Dunning’s Yellow Submarine.
The titular Johnny is a shepard, who shares a pastoral love with the washerwoman Iluska. A curse cast on their love (by Iluska’s stepmother) causes Johnny to lose his herd of sheep, which sends him searching across a war-torn landscape. He gains renown as a soldier only to return home to the news of his lover’s demise. He wanders dejectedly, pursuing multiple adventures in aimless vengeance of his lost love, which eventually bring him to a conclusive surprise beyond the shores of an uncrossable ocean.
