In the offices of state-controlled newspaper The Truth, two female journalists - Éva (Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak) and Livia (Grażyna Szapołowska) - tentatively embark on a clandestine, highly charged affair.

The year is 1957 and the Soviet Invasion of Hungary is still a fresh memory for them, yet the icy authoritarian mood ensures that freedom of expression remains a dangerous business. Whether the authority is a censorial bureaucrat or a jealous husband, the truth suffers as a result, regardless of whether that truth is a news item or a romantic desire.

Jankowska-Cieślak won the Best Actress award at Cannes in 1982 for her incredible work, here aided by Károly Makk’s sensitive and humanist direction. This remains an exquisite work of anti-authoritarian filmmaking, harking back to the country’s invasion by a foreign power to remark on its then still-present restrictions.

With thanks to The National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive.

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