Children of Glory

The mid 1950s bring two things to Hungary: communism and water-polo. This wonderful reflection of 20th century Hungary brings the story of the uprising to the foreground, with the film portraying two ferociously fought matches in the pool, both against their sporting and political adversary, the mighty USSR.

After returning to his Budapest home from the 1955 match in Moscow, Karcsi Szabo is immediately in deep water. The secret police want him to tidy up his image, after a series of brawls with the Russians threaten to become more memorable than the match itself.

From here, the focus moves away from the pool and follows Karcsi’s private life, including his family of varying opinion. His mother worries, his grandfather encourages and his little brother simply worships the national team’s star player.

Further to his family, there’s also a love interest for the man of the water, though it’s not all plain sailing for the pin-up. The revolutionary Viki is more than willing to have fun with the main man, resulting in a steamy sex scene. There’s more to it than that though, as she wants him to aid the uprising and stir up trouble whenever possible. Should he follow his heart, or chase hopes of gold at the 1956 Olympics?

In bringing together oppression and the hunt for sporting glory, Goda enlightens us with a lesson on the not so distant past of Eastern Europe, highlighting the ignorance of the West to Hungary’s plight. Communist rule is bleakly portrayed and the shocks come thick and fast from a director well-versed in the Hollywood mantra of impact factors, including at least one that’ll leave your stomach clenched.

Children of Glory is a fresh film from an emerging country with important lessons to be learnt. Whilst the plot does chop and change between Revolution, family interactions and pool action, the message is as clear as that given to the lead by his grandfather: "Sometimes you must hit back even if you're not supposed to." Children of Glory isn’t for the faint-hearted, but if you want some hard-hitting history, then look no further than this piece that’s already made a splash in Europe.

Robert Gardner