The Witness

Set in post-World War II Hungary, the early 1950s political climate is defined by purges and surveillance. The plot centers on a supposed pig slaughter used to justify persecution and a show trial orchestrated to shore up regime loyalty. The era's paranoia is intensified by the ÁVH's reach and the fickleness of political favor. Stalin's death becomes a turning point, briefly loosening the regime's grip and altering Pelikán's fate.

The action unfolds along the Danube in Hungary, with the river and dike as constant backdrops to the human drama. The story moves between Pelikán's modest home, the riverfront dike, and the prison where state power is enacted, illustrating how geography concentrates control. The Danube's quiet expanse contrasts with the intense political tension that drives the characters' choices.

🗳️ Show Trial

The film exposes the theatrical mechanics of a show trial, where testimony, ritual, and misdirection create an official narrative. Pelikán is coached to embody the 'ideal worker,' revealing how personal history is molded to fit political scripts. The sequence demonstrates how fear, propaganda, and orchestrated appearances subordinate truth to power. Even when truth surfaces, the system punishes dissent to preserve its illusion.

🗝️ Truth

Truth becomes a fragile act in a climate of surveillance and coercion. Pelikán's decision to speak the truth exposes the regime's fragility and its reliance on manufactured narratives. Memory and integrity function as resistance against distortion. The film shows the high price of honesty under totalitarian rule.

🌪️ Power

Power is shown as a shifting force that reconfigures loyalties, roles, and lives. Virág manipulates benevolence to steer Pelikán toward manufactured outcomes. Stalin's death marks a turning point that unsettles the regime's grip and allows a re-evaluation of justice. Personal relationships become collateral in the power game, and the film ends with an uneasy sense of realigned authority.