1945 (2017)

The film portrays one day in a village in eastern Hungary at the end of the Second World War, in August 1945 (radio news reveals that the atomic bomb has just been dropped on Nagasaki). The Soviet troops have taken the place of the occupying German forces, and, under Soviet supervision, the village is preparing for the first postwar elections. The village is also preparing for a more immediate event: the wedding of the son of István Szentes, the village clerk. The atmosphere is rather tense, since the bride’s former fiancé has just returned from captivity. Then comes news that two Orthodox Jewish men dressed in black have stepped off the train at the village railway station; word quickly spreads through the village: “They’ve come back!” That is, two of those who the previous year had not left the village of their own accord, but had been taken away in cattle cars. Within a few hours, everything changes, especially when it emerges that their crates supposedly contain perfumes. After all, the village clerk’s son’s “paternal inheritance” is the local drugstore, whose former owners were among those deported... Other villagers, too, fear that more survivors will arrive, intending to take possession of their former property. As the Jews make their way toward the village—and then through it—suppressed and concealed crimes, complicity, and lies come to light, forcing several people to take stock, face their consciences, and confront the events of the recent past...