THE NOTEBOOK

Director János Szász
Script János Szász, Andras Szeker, Agota Kristof
Camera Christian Berger
Design János Breckl
Music Johan Johanson
Cast: László Gyémánt, András Gyémánt, Piroska Molnár, Ulrich Thomsen, Ulrich Matthes, Gyöngyver Bognar, Orsolya Tóth Producers Sandor Söth, Pal Sandor
Production Hunnia Filmstudio, Intuit Pictures, Amour Fou, Dolce Vita Films

“Le Grand Cahier” is a postmodern antiwar drama, an oppressive parable about what war does to children and intensely describes the misery of entire populations in Eastern countries. Towards the end of World War II, people in big cities are at the mercy of air raids and death by starvation. A desperate young mother leaves her 13-year-old twin sons at their grandmother’s house in the country, despite the fact that this grandmother is a cruel and bestial alcoholic. The villagers call her “the Witch” because she is rumored to have poisoned her husband long ago. Previously pampered, the twins must learn how to survive alone in their new, rural surroundings. They realize that the only way to cope with the absurd and inhumane world of adults and war is to become completely unfeeling and merciless.

JÁNOS SZÁSZ

JÁNOS SZÁSZ hungarian film and theatre director, producer. Born in 1958. Graduated from the Budapest State Film and Theatre Academy. He has made several TV programs and numerous documentaries for Hungarian State TV. Directed numerous theatrical productions in Hungary and abroad. Faculty member, at the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts, Budapest, in film direction; also tutor at the acting masterclass. Director of the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard, Cambridge, MA. Winner of many national and international film festivals and film awards. His filmography includes “Don’t Disturb!” (1990), “Woyzeck” (1995), “Witman Boys” (1997), “Eyes of the Holocaust” (2001, doc.), “Diary of a Mad Woman” (2007), etc. .

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