Product Description

Nine-year-old Aron finds himself abandoned at a bleak orphanage by his recently divorced and despondent father. The ultra-strict nature of the institution comes as a complete shock to the boy, and he must frequently endure beatings both from the staff and the other boys. He finds solace in a special relationship with his young classmate Attila. And that sexual awakening gives him the courage to lead his peers in revolt. In Hungarian with English subtitles.

Awards / Festivals: Best Foreign Language Film - Official Academy Awards entry from Hungary, Grand Prize - Montreal World Film Festival, Alfred Bauer Award - Berlin International Film Festival - Official Selections: Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney International Film Festivals (among many others)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38289 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-12-10
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: Hungarian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Customer Reviews

Powerful and haunting.
Abandoned. (Torzók) 2001. Dir. Árpád Sopsits

Reviewed by Ollie - December 17th 2003.

WARNING - CONTAINS SPOILERS

Set in Hungary, this film follows the life of Aron, a young boy left to the mercy of an orphanage. A powerful and commanding performance by the entire cast will truly draw you into their stories. It would be unfair to single out the performance of Tamás Mészáros, as Aron, simply because the rest of the cast is so strong it makes this film a true ensemble piece.

This is not an easy film to watch. The immeasurable cruelty suffered by the children, at the hands of their teachers is agonising to watch. You genuinely feel for them, this is so real. The teachers are played with remarkable talent, the cast never flinching from the paths that have been laid out before them. I would imagine that their roles were as difficult to enact as they were to watch, and they are due an immense amount of respect for their portrayal of cold, calculating and manipulative excuses for human beings.

Throughout the film, Aron's indomitable spirit will stay with you, as you follow his woeful story, to it's conclusion.

The treatment suffered by these children is brutal. The teachers are bastards, and I make no apology for using that word. They are not worthy of anything more. This is a harsh, eyeopening lesson that children should always be seen AND heard.

There is only one benevolent teacher, whom Aron befriends, as together, they share a love of astronomy. Their friendship is doomed to a bitter end. Tortured by his conscience, the only good man commits suicide, and the impact of this is the eventual escape plan, lead by our young protagonist.

At this point, one would be forgiven for thinking this is where everything will turn out just fine and dandy, and all will be right with the world. Forget it. There are no happy endings here, no winners and no justice. I will not go into the fate that awaits these unfortunate children, but I guarantee that the end of this film will bring a tear to even the most hardened of eyes.

This film has an astonishing cast, who portray their respective characters with a reality that will haunt you for some time after. Emotionally draining it may be, but at the same time it is essential viewing, and as a piece of foreign cinema, offers another peek through the windows of someone elses world. This film isn't afraid to make a statement, and trust me, make a statement is exactly what it does. There are lessons in the tale which we would all do well to heed.

If you buy only one DVD in the coming months, make it this one.

Absolutely amazing!
I was absolutely stunned by the power of this film. The emotions portrayed by the cast were amazing. We see the friendship of young Aron and older Attila develop out of necessity. Their interactions are very touching indeed.

The cold world of the childrens home is not sugar coated for the viewer. Set in 1960 Hungary, where religion is illegal, we see a martyr character in Mate. After witnessing amazing cruelty, Aron plots escape with mixed results that will touch your heart.

What a surprise! Enjoy

good movie but misleading
i did enjoy this movie, i decided to order it on a whim, i love foreign films and the more dramatic the better, i will say that some of the write up are misleading.
the mention of the boy's sexual awakning is misinterpreted in my opinion.
Aron (our lead character) wakes from a bad dream in which he will not touch his mother's face, he then crawls out of his bunk and touches the face of a friend, a kind boy who in my opinion favors aron's mother abit. the boy conforts aron and while they share a brief kiss i hardly feel it was sexual.
other than this the movie lived up to the hype, i was concerned that i may be ordering something abit more risque than i wanted but i took a chance and am glad i did.
you will like this movie!!