Abandoned (2001)

Abandoned is the English title of a Hungarian historical drama set in Hungary in 1960. It is the story of a young boy (Aron Soproni) who is sent to a home for boys who are orphans or who have been abandoned by their parents. Here is some basic information about this drama which premiered in 2001:

** Original Hungarian title: Torzok 
** Writer and director: Arpad Sopsits
** Cinematography: Peter Szatmari
** Run time: 100 minutes

The cast can be divided into two groups:

# 1. THE ADULTS

** Pal Macsai as Mr Csapo – the director
** Laszlo Galffi as Mr Nyitrai – a teacher
** Dora Letay as Ms Marika – the housekeeper
** Lajos Kovacs as Mr Jozsi – the janitor

# 2. THE BOYS

** Tamas Meszaros as Aron Soproni
** Szabolcs Csizmadia as Attila
** Attila Zsilak as Mate
** Peter Muller as Seprodi

** Imre Thuri as Csontos
** Krisztian Toth as Hajos
** Zoltan Nadhazi as Varadi

As stated above, this is a historical drama, i.e. a fictional story that is placed in a historical context. In this case, the context is Eastern Europe during the Cold War (1945-1990); more precisely a rural district of Hungary in 1960, four years after the 1956 uprising which was crushed by Soviet tanks.

I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. Therefore I am not going to say much about what happens in this drama. The English title of the drama says it all: this is a sad story; it is not a happy story.

It is the story of a brutal system in which the boys are not being treated as human beings. Only one teacher – Mr Nyitrai – tries to stand up against the sadistic director, but it is not easy for one man to stand up against a powerful system.

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? On IMDb it has a rating of 74 per cent, which corresponds to (almost) four stars on Amazon. If you ask me, this average rating is too low. Why?

The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The story is captivating, dramatic, and often quite emotional. While fictional, the story is probably very realistic. Unfortunately.

Since this is a sad story, I cannot say you will enjoy it. But I do think you can appreciate it, because this story deserves to be told, even if it is not always pleasant to watch. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. The following movies deal with the same topic in different countries and different decades:

** The Magdalene Sisters (2002) – set in Ireland in the 1960s

** Song for a Raggy Boy (2003) – set in Ireland in 1939

** The King of Devil’s Island (2010) – set in Norway in 1915

** Und alle haben geschwiegen (2012) – set in West Germany in the 1950s. This movie is based on the book Schläge im Namen des Herrn by the German reporter Peter Wensierski (2006, 2007)

** The Day Will Come (2016) – set in Denmark in the 1960s

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