Clash of nations

The Olympic games and political rebellion are not always the most comfortable bedfellows. Most right thinking people may harbour romantic notions about the Black Power salute of 1968 but few can have enjoyed the endless boycotts during the cold war era or the murder of 11 Israeli athletes in 1972. A politically charged sporting occasion forms the basis of a new film charting the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a rebellion that ultimately inspired the most violent match in Olympic history.

An extraordinary project on any number of fronts, Children Of Glory broke box-office records in its native Hungary when it was released to mark the 50th anniversary of that country’s revolt against its Stalinist government. It has since become a favourite on the international festival circuit.
"It was a very unusual project,” says director Krisztina Goda. “Most Hungarian films cost less than a million dollars so by comparison this was a very big budget film. It also did well because lots of people in their early twenties seemed to love it. My generation has some knowledge of past events but they were all born into a democracy. Their lives are completely different. Many people said, ‘Oh, they won’t like it. They don’t care about history.’ It was a real surprise that they did.”
At 39, director Krisztina can remember Soviet control (“I couldn’t really tell you any stories of horrible oppression,” she shrugs, “it was just something that we lived with every day”), but is far too young to recollect the Revolution that is so graphically depicted in her film. In October of 1956 a student demonstration against Soviet imposed policies sparked nationwide protests and the first armed uprising in the Eastern Bloc. A new government wrestled control from the Communist party and declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and establish democratic elections. Their victory was short lived. On November 4, Soviet forces invaded Budapest in an action that would leave 2,500 Hungarians dead and 200,000 more in exile.
“As I was growing up the Hungarian Revolution was very much swept under the carpet,” recalls Krisztina. “When we were children our parents were very mindful not to tell us anything because you might end up saying the wrong thing outside the home. When we were 14 or 15 I started hearing stories about the Revolution and what happened after the Second World War. By then I understood that these were stories that we shouldn’t share. But it was already the late ’80s so times were changing. Since 1989, the Revolution has become a subject for a lot of study and debate.”
Children Of Glory explores this period through another historical conflict. Weeks after Soviet control had been re-established in Hungary, the national water polo team took on the Russians at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne in what would go down in history as the bloodiest spectacle ever staged beneath the flag with five rings.
"Water polo was something I didn’t know a lot about before,” confesses Krisztina. “But it has always been a huge tradition in Hungary where there is a lot of spring water. The name Budapest translates as city of water. The Hungarian team in 1956 had only ever lost one match. That was in Moscow the year before where the referee simply refused to let them win. It was already going to be a grudge match. The Soviet invasion made it even more so.”
Fans of historical drama may recognise some of the film’s tropes and characters. At the heart of Children Of Glory we find a fictionalised romance between a cavalier, womanising water polo champion and a passionate student activist who wins him over in more ways than one. Despite the familiar form and a stirring patriotic tone, Ms. Goda has worked hard to provide a nuanced portrait. The reasonably minded results could not be easily mistaken for Escape To Victory.
“The real villains of the film and of that era are not actually Russian,” says Krisztina. “They were just soldiers in the background. The AVO men, the Hungarian secret police, were much more dangerous. It was important to me that the Russians weren’t the bad guys and the Hungarians weren’t the good guys. When I was researching the film it became apparent very quickly that everyone involved in that water polo match, regardless of what team they played for, lived very similar lives. The Russians had the same limited choices as the Hungarians. It was not simply a case of one nation against another. It was really more about who became part of the system and who didn’t. It was a time when you couldn’t trust anybody, including members of your own family.”
Krisztina, who studied at the National Film and Television School in England and UCLA as HBO’s scholarship holder, had already directed several award-winning commercials and a first feature (the European hit Just Sex And Nothing Else) before Children Of Glory. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for a project that involved a much-hyped screenplay co-written by Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance, Basic Instinct), extras wielding hundreds of weapons and the assistance of the current national water polo team.
“I surprised myself,” she says. “I thought I would get nervous but I knew everybody was focused and I knew everybody really wanted the film to work. I was amazed how smoothly everything went.”
She was equally taken aback when, while recreating the thrilling 1956 match that marks the film’s climax, she fell under the sway of men in Speedos playing an aquatic variation of rugby.
“I had honestly never watched a game of water polo,” she says. “But it’s the fastest, most exciting sport you’ve ever seen. It’s better than football. I’m a huge fan now.”

Children Of Glory is released on March 14