CONFIDENCE

Szabo's newest Hungarian film is yet to be seen here. However, in a recent interview published in Hungarofilm Bulletin, he explained what he wanted to communicate -

"It was in these past few years that I realized the importance of being able to trust people. I mean to say, you've got to have an atmosphere of trust, in order to be able to live a life fit for human beings - confidence is absolutely necessary for that feeling of security that is vitally important for living. You've got to have confidence in other people and to win other people's confidence. I am sure a whole lot of social ills stems from lack of confidence, from mistrust. Confidence is the fundamental issue, not only of the narrowest personal relationships, but in wider social terms, of the interrelationship between different generations. It's basic to the question of whether historical experience can or cannot be handed down to succeeding generations. I thought, therefore, that I should narrate a story about two people who are frightened of each other, neither believing a word of what the other is saying - and that is bound to reach a point where it becomes more than one can bear. Then, all of a sudden, those two people begin to believe each other. And that, even if it can be realized even for a moment, is a marvellous feeling, tremendous joy. And it's horrible, positively demoralizing, how easily such hard-won confidence can be lost; and once it's been lost, how utterly difficult it is to recover. That is the point I was interested in that story; that is why I chose to make this film.'"