This film is set in the days leading up to the fall of the Soviet Republic. Even though this was pure fantasy at the time, it is the stage on which Miklós Jancsó decided to set his allegorical tale as the Reds and Whites massacre each other with mixed results. As with many of Jancsó's other works, this is a tale about the nature and mechanisms of power. In this case, the film reveals what the system does to be accepted and how it manipulates the populace, using people and then discarding them by the wayside.
Jancsó's semi-stories and faux-tales are never a collision of the forces of Good and Evil. Those interested in such classic power-struggles would be better off watching the Lord of the Rings. In this respect, Agnus dei is one of his most immaculate works as it reveals how power is a constantly morphing entity that, even at the price of its values, searches for means to solidify itself. If necessary, it allies itself with demagogy, tasteless kitsch, blind faith, paranoia and even death.
Cinematographer János Kende continues Jancsó's legacy of employing a cinematic language founded on long shots. It is particularly interesting to note how the depth of the shots creates various layers that combine to produce a sort of simultaneous presence, where the opposing forces are never separated from each other. At times, they overlap and enter each other in a never ending, circular dance. The title painfully alludes to the verse recited at mass, in the context of which the world is never truly free from its sins.

The series is made possible by the Hungarian National Digital Archive and Film Institute (MaNDA)

Presented by: Müpa Budapest