Fényes szelek (1969)

It is 1947, in Hungary after the Second World War. Led by Laci, the NÉKOSZ secretary, a small, enthusiastic and fanatical group of people’s-college students uses the Communist Party’s infrastructure and vehicles to force its way into a rural Catholic seminary. At first, they simply want to have a well-meaning discussion with the seminarians and convince them that a new Communist society is necessary. They want to discuss three topics with the students at the seminary high school: What is the role of personality in history? Can the world be known? Christianity and Communism. During the discussion, Laci tells one of his mild-mannered debate partners, speaking of Communist power, that “in all of world history, this is the first power that is decent.” But the Party, represented by a police officer named András, wants quick results, so it has several Catholic students arrested to intimidate the others. Laci, the NÉKOSZ secretary, disapproves, but the more impatient students accept the Party’s position and replace him. Two girls, Jutka and Teri, become the new leaders and humiliate the seminarians, who are engaged in passive resistance, even more brutally. This time they have gone too far, and the Party, fed up with their excesses, withdraws its support and removes them from their positions. The girls experience this as a disappointment.