SONG OF THE MIRACULOUS HIND (ÉNEK A CSODASZARVASRÓL), 2002, N.F.I. (Hungary), 89 min. "We are the people of the deer, our dead appear in the form of a deer," proclaims the voice of the great cosmic elk as it descends to earth, in legendary Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics' dazzling, multicolored masterpiece, a stunning blend of Ice Age mythology, primordial symbolism, medieval history and mind-bending metaphysics. His follow-up feature to SON OF THE WHITE MARE, and made during production on his magnum opus THE TRAGEDY OF MAN (recently released by Deaf Crocodile), SONG is Jankovics' incredibly ambitious attempt to depict thousands of years of Hungarian culture and myth, based in part on early Siberian and Finno-Ugric legends and incorporating Scythian, Iranian and Turkic artistic influences. Divided into four sections, the film opens in a violent snowstorm, with nomadic hunters stalking deer and woolly mammoth and singing songs of their spiritual brethren - and it ends millennia later, with Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, who helped bridge the gap between Paganism and early Christianity. Filled with cascading imagery of mythical She-Deer, of legendary brothers Hunor and Magyar, of forest spirits, gorgeous birds of fire and streams of silvery fish, SONG is easily the visual equal of SON OF THE WHITE MARE and TRAGEDY OF MAN in Jankovics' filmography As the ancient ballad sings: "The wonderful hind of their dreams ran ahead of them." Featuring the voices of Árpád Besenczi, Ildikó Bokor, Róbert Bolla and others.
Format
Format
4K Ultra HD & Blu-Ray
Film
Year
2002
Rating
15
Director
Marcell Jankovics
Starring
Árpád Besenczi
Ildikó Bokor
Róbert Bolla
Country
Hungary
Label
Deaf Crocodile
Region / TV Standard
4K = Region 0 / Blu Ray = Code A
Language
Hungarian
Subtitles
English
Running time
94 mins
Aspect ratio
1.40:1
Case type
Standard
Extra features
New video interview with the film’s composer Levente Szörényi (of legendary Hungarian rock band Illés) and animator Piroska Martsa
New visual essay by film historian Evan Chester
New commentary track by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock, and filmmaker and podcaster Martin Kessler.
