Egri csillagok (1968)

Stamp|300px|A miniature replica of Eger Castle near Pilisborosjenő, during the filming of the movie The film adaptation differs in many places from Géza Gárdonyi’s well-known story. The opening shot is not of the two children bathing in the stream, but of Sultan Suleiman (Tamás Major), being dressed ceremonially in his tent. Anatolian commanders then arrive and tell him that Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg, a claimant to the throne, has forced the Turkish army to retreat from beneath Vienna (this happened in 1529). The story then shows Gergő Bornemissza and Vicuska Cecey being taken captive by the Turks (the novel dates this to 1533). However, that same evening Gergő escapes from Jumurdzsák’s camp with Vicuska and two horses, helped by a young Turkish servant boy there (a character who does not appear in the novel). After hearing the boy’s account, István Dobó (Imre Sinkovits) and his men set out to free the other Hungarian captives (in the novel, they first had to gather reinforcements, as the Turkish force was substantial and other raiders were also active in the area). During the attack, Jumurdzsák (György Bárdy) is struck in the back by an arrow but survives. Gergő, however, takes the man’s amulet ring along with his Turkish horse; for the rest of the story, the one-eyed janissary frantically searches for it. The film entirely omits the character of Father Gábor (in the novel, he spares Jumurdzsák and takes the ring from him, then gives it to Gergő with a letter), and also leaves out the assassination attempt against the sultan. The next scene takes place about a decade later, in 1541, at Buda Castle. Gergely (István Kovács), as a page to Bálint Török (Ferenc Bessenyei), accompanies his master to Suleiman’s camp, in the retinue of the infant king, John Sigismund. Meanwhile, the Turks seize Buda by trickery. The sultan treacherously takes Bálint Török prisoner and has him taken to Istanbul, while he sends the widowed queen, Isabella (Éva Ruttkai), to Transylvania with the infant king. One of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting is Éva Cecey. After a brief episode in which Mekcsey (Tibor Bitskey) and Gergely fight an honor duel and then agree to try together to free Bálint Török from captivity, Gergely too follows Éva to Gyalu Castle. On arriving, he learns that his beloved is about to marry at the queen’s command. After dancing with Ádám Fürjes, Vicuska flees the wedding and joins the party setting out to free Lord Bálint. Along the way, she and Gergely marry. The group sets off for Istanbul to free Bálint Török, but Jumurdzsák suspects them and follows. In the Ottoman capital, they pretend to be Italian wandering minstrels and try to bribe the commander of the Seven Towers with a gold platter and money. Jumurdzsák nevertheless manages to warn the commander. In the end, Gergely, Éva, Mekcsey, and Jancsi Török leave Istanbul without accomplishing their mission. It is now 1552. Gergely leads a company of men into Eger Castle, which the Turks are preparing to besiege. Meanwhile, a one-eyed man comes to see Éva and asks about Gergely’s ring. Éva becomes suspicious, but at first does not recognize Jumurdzsák. At an opportune moment in the marketplace, the Turk lures Jancsika, the young son of Éva and Gergely, away from their friend, the student Miklós. Éva and Miklós decide to make their way to Eger Castle. Inside, 1,500 defenders prepare for the siege. It is clear to Captain István Dobó that “this castle is now the country.” When the Turks attack one of the bastions with great force, he orders it fired upon, successfully preventing the castle from being captured, but at the cost of one of his officers’ lives. Lieutenant István Hegedűs grows increasingly dissatisfied with the situation in the castle and attempts treason. Sárközi the Romani, Gergely’s old friend, exposes Hegedűs and his accomplices. The lieutenant pays for it with his life; he is hanged. Meanwhile, Éva and Miklós, dressed as men, approach the castle through a secret tunnel, but the Turks discover them. Éva manages to escape, while the student Miklós sacrifices himself: he blows up the castle’s gunpowder storehouse along with the Turks who have captured him. Inside the castle, Éva reveals herself to Dobó, who makes her promise to keep her presence secret from Gergely, “the brains of the castle.” Eventually Éva joins the fighting too, after she spots Jumurdzsák in the battle. The Turk manages to wound her, but is ultimately killed. Gergely finds the unconscious Éva and learns that the Turks really did kidnap their son. In the end, the Ottoman army withdraws from beneath the castle walls, and Jancsika is successfully exchanged for a captured Turkish boy.