Red Psalm

In Hungary in the 1890s, on the vast plains of the Puszta, a group of agricultural laborers goes on strike to demand basic rights from a powerful landowner. They are met by mounted cavalry and confronted with the brutal reality of uprising, repression, and violence—a moral dilemma between resistance and oppression.

Structured as a modern passion play, the film represents a masterful unity of form and content. In a highly stylized staging, director Miklós Jancsó uses collective choreographies and dances to depict the struggle of those who answer terror with violence. The work pays tribute to the agrarian socialist movements of the late 19th century while simultaneously offering a historical-philosophical critique of socialist ideals.

Awarded Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972, RED PSALM is widely regarded as one of the most significant Hungarian films of the 1960s and 1970s.

Restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative by the National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive.