Az aranyember - 1918
ABOUT THE FILM : Az aranyember
Magyar Nemzeti FilmarchívumThe Golden Man
Year: 1918
Faithful to his word, Michael Tímar, captain of the St. Barbara, becomes the guardian of Kondya, daughter of a Turkish aristocrat on the run. Later, he weds the grateful young Turkish girl whom he saved from the waters of the Danube. While skilfully managing his wife fortune, entrepreneur Tímar becomes an important wholesaler of wheat, and exports his products to Brazil. But his marriage of convenience proves a failure. He is torn between the demands of bourgeois civilisation, governed by money, and the ideal of freedom, consisting in living simply within nature. He then takes refuge by the side of the sweet Noemi on an island on the Danube.
A film by Alexander Korda, pioneer filmmaker of Hungarian cinema.
Nationality: Hungarian
Actors: Oszkár Beregi, Gyula Szöreghy, Margit Makay, Szeréna S. Fày, Ica Lenkeffy, Jenő Horvàth, Mari K. Demjén, Lili Berky, Gábor Rajnay, Gusztáv Vàndory, József Kürthy
Length: 83' 33"
Genre: fiction
Sound: silent with soundtrack
Original elements: tinted
Composer: Darvas Ferenc
Original language: German
A BRIEF HISTORY : Az aranyember
The career of Kellner Sándor László (1893-1956) begins in Kolozsvár, Hungary, under the direction of Jeno Janovics (1872-1945). Sursum corda! ("Lift Up Your Hearts!"), the Latin motto of his school in Budapest, gives him the idea for his name: he shall be henceforth called Sándor Korda.
Between 1912 and 1918, Sándor Korda is the editor of several film journals, including "Pesti Mozi" (Cinema of Budapest), "A mozi" (The Cinema) and "Mozihét" (Cinema Week). 18 year old Sándor Korda was the very first Hungarian film critic. He also published a series of articles concerning the theory of film, an entirely new phenomenon, in which he emphasised the importance of movement and sight as opposed to imitating literature. According to Korda, the real creator of film was the director.
In 1916 Korda acquires the Janovics Film Studio. The Corvin company, from the name of a great Hungarian king, moves a short time later to Budapest. With sixteen films to its credit, Corvin creates polished works and strives to establish ties between literature and cinema. Conscious of a language proper to the cinema, Korda never ceases to bestow on literary works, especially Hungarian, an interpretation of quality. He solicits well-known authors who write for the screen and surrounds himself with best-selling writers. He already directed nineteen films in 1918.
Adaptation of the renowned novel by Mór Jókai (1825-1904), Az Aranyember (literally "The Man of Gold"), shot in 1918, preserves the sense of the romantic, humour and taste for exoticism so dear to this great and prolific Hungarian writer. Faithful to the psychological description of the character, Oszkár Beregi (1876-1965) subtly plays the hero of the film who suffers from a double personality: Korda's well-known work on the direction of actors reveals itself in it and marks an important stage in Hungarian cinematography. Under his direction becomes formed a true generation of directors, cameramen and actors.
In 1932, Korda, a naturalised Briton, moves to London where he aptly founds London Films. He is the first director to receive a knighthood and thus becomes Sir Alexander Korda in 1942.
