ONE WAR ENDS, ANOTHER BEGINS
Stark and minimalist 1945 examines guilt in the aftermath of the Holocaust
Part western, part war story, Hungarian director Ferenc Török’s 1945 examines the guilt and culpability faced by many Europeans in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Shot in stark black and white, with a minimalist score that sounds at times like the clatter of wind chimes, the film opens on a very specific moment;
11 a.m., Aug. 12, 1945. The war in Europe is over, and the citizens of Hungary are putting their lives together and holding elections, albeit under the watchful eyes of their Soviet “liberators.”
But while political radio broadcasts sound in the background,
one little town has a more pressing issue; the Jews have returned. A train deposits two Orthodox Jews carrying cases labelled as perfumes and cosmetics, which they proceed to tote silently across the community.
Word of their arrival spreads before them like a wave. Citizens peek out from behind curtains, recalling many an old western where the townsfolk cower before the advance of gun-toting bad guys. But are these silent emissaries out for revenge, looking to resettle or just passing through?
Clearly expecting the worst is István (Péter Rudolf ), who had more than a little to do with the expulsion of the Jews during the war, and perhaps the most to lose if they come back; some dubious paperwork has him in possession of a drug store that was once run by the Pollak family, now absent and presumed dead.
Török parses out information slowly, building the story around the imminent wedding of István’s son. One man, upset at his role in the pogrom, tries to confess to the village priest, only to be told to go home. A woman frantically hides household goods, telling her children: “If anyone asks, this stuff isn’t here. The Germans took it. Or the Russians.”
Based on the Gábor T. Szántó short story Homecoming, 1945 is a bit slight to fill 90 minutes of screen time; a subplot concerning István’s fiancée’s infidelities feels like an unnecessary complication. But the film is nonetheless a trenchant examination of what happens in the wake of genocide, to survivors, witnesses, the participants and those who merely stood and watched.