14/06/2023 - Co-directed by Lajos Csákovics, this adaptation of a famous, epic Magyar poem was Hungarian master of animation Marcell Jankovics’ final film, ahead of his passing in 2021

"He looked at the stars, his heart burned, thought over how his fate had turned". Much like Miklós, the ultra-powerful protagonist in Marcell Jankovics’ latest film Toldi [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (co-directed by Lajos Csákovics), which was unveiled in the Contrechamp Competition of the 42nd Annecy Animated Film Festival, the Hungarian filmmaker who passed away in 2021 had also walked an unusual path. Nominated for the Best Short Animated Film Oscar in 1976 by way of Sisyphus, and for Cannes’ short film Palme d'Or in 1977 on account of The Struggle, Jankovics directed his country’s first ever animated feature film, Johnny Corncob, in 1973, while each of his subsequent works left their own lasting mark (especially Le Fils de la jument blanche in 1981 and The Tragedy of Man) thanks to a highly personal style tinged with psychedelia and a predilection for adapting Hungarian myths and legends.

Toldi, Jankovics’ 5th feature film and last ever opus, in a career which is unanimously acclaimed within the great family of international animation, is perfectly aligned with the director’s previous works, this time seeing the maestro take a famous, epic poem written in 1846 by his compatriot János Arany as the basis for his story. His hero, Miklós Toldi, is "a strapping lad, his face still hairless", of herculean strength, who works in the fields while dreaming of a glorious future composed of "glinting swords and proud warriors". The son of a knight, he’s confined to the family land by his brother Gyorgy, who has conspired to take the Toldis’ fortune and to be their only representative in Budapest in the court of King Louis of Hungary.

But Gyorgy the Cruel pushes things a little too far, provoking and harassing young Miklós (a respectful son and brother) until the latter reacts and a man is left behind. Because when Miklos gets angry, he’s like a Hulk of ancient times. Thus, we find our young hero outlawed and hunted in the forest and the marshes ("where should he go? Where should he start a new life? His soul found no peaceful haven. He could have gone into exile, were it not for his mother’s grief"). Between misadventures and twists and turns, Miklós heads for the capital on foot where his destiny awaits him in the form of a blood-thirsty, invincible Czech knight…

Between a storm, wolves, hunger, duels, a cemetery, grieving widows to avenge, a raging bull and golden coins hidden in a loaf of bread, this film - accessible to all audiences – advances along its many ups and downs in the company of its hero, who’s himself accompanied by the ghost of János Arany (the author of the poem). The latter acts as a narrator and a kind of Jiminy Cricket, while the main thrust of the plot (which is very straightforward, with its traditional goodie and baddie) is interspersed with a variety of tableaux charting Toldi’s past and dreams for the future. Bathed in a suggestively Christ-like atmosphere, the film assigns great importance to all of nature’s elements, which Marcell Jankovics’ typically high-coloured visual style illuminates magnificently. It all works to ensure Toldi is a wonderful epitaph to a remarkable career and a brilliant legacy, which the Hungarian maestro has passed on to his co-director Lajos Csákovics.

Toldi is produced by Kecskemétfilm Studio and sold worldwide by NFI World Sales.

(Translated from French)