The Wind Is Whistling Under Their Feet

György Szomjass first featuremade after a decade of short documentariesis a bold attempt at a goulash western set on the puszta or Great Hungarian Plain in 1837 Mixing Miklós Jancsó imagery and a Sergio Leone narrative this balladlike saga opens with image of a lone horseman on the empty plain riding past a rude gallows The film concerns the vengeful return of a legendary betyár outlaw briefly a hero to the local herdsmen who oppose the state building a canal across their grazing land Although Szomjas works from ethnographic records and archival material it is hardly surprising that this violent primitivist film would be more popular with Hungarian audiences than critics Replete with young guns crooked sheriffs tavern brawlers and hardbitten pluguglies this widescreen film is strikingly shot by Elémer Ragályi cinematographer for most of Gyula Gazdags filmsa feast of loamy autumnal colors