The ELTE–NFI University Film Club continues the series of screenings and discussions. We welcome university citizens from all faculties of ELTE.
The Devil Beats His Wife is a social satire criticizing the soft dictatorship of the Kádár era, which also holds up a mirror to the familiar situations of everyday family life. The story vividly portrays the world of "gulyáskommunismus" (goulash communism), which offered relative prosperity, while at the same time lifting the veil on the structural problems that lurk deep below. Jolán Kajtár invites her boss and his family to spend August 20 with her relatives in the countryside. Géza Vetró, a strict and work-obsessed party functionary, arrives with his wife and daughter in the Balaton highlands, hoping to relax for a few hours in the fresh air. The Kajtárs do their best to ensure that their influential guests are not lacking in anything, but at the same time they try to make the meeting an advantage for themselves.
The film was a great success at home and abroad. Among other prizes, the film was awarded the top prize at the 1978 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Hyères Humour Prize. In style and subject matter, it forms a transition between two characteristic trends in Hungarian film history, the generational public sentiment films of the 1970s and the grotesque satires of the 1980s. While the documentary tradition is strongly influenced by the small-scale realism of the depiction of situations, there are also elements of the grotesque, which point out seemingly insoluble contradictions with the double-edged weapon of humour.
Date: 19 March 2025, 18.00
Venue: University Square campus (1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1-3. fszt., corridor next to the cloakroom)
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hX2KfXdNpw
Starring Ildikó Pécsi, Erzsi Pásztor, Lajos Szabó, Anatol Constantin.
In the post-screening discussion, our guest will be Erzsi Pásztor, Kossuth, Jászai Mari and Béla Balázs Award-winning Hungarian actress, a merited artist, one of the main characters of the film.
Due to the limited number of seats, pre-registration is possible at the following link:
https://www.ajk.elte.hu/content/veri-az-ordog-a-feleseget-andras-ferenc-filmje-1977.e.1839
Correspondence about the film club is welcome via eltenfi.filmklub@elte.hu.
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