The Annunciation (film)


The Annunciation is a Hungarian film directed by András Jeles in 1984, based on The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madách.

Plot summary

When Adam and Eve, having succumbed to Lucifer's temptation, are cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam holds Lucifer to his promise, reminding him that "You said I would know everything!". So Lucifer grants Adam a dream of the world to come. And what a bizarre dream: Adam becomes Djoser in Egypt; Miltiades in Athens; a wealthy Roman during the time of Jesus Christ; a knight called Tancred in Byzantium; Johannes Kepler in Prague; Danton in revolutionary Paris; and a nameless suitor in Victorian London. Guided by a deceptively sweet but ultimately contemptuous Lucifer, Adam confronts an endless procession of the horror of the human story... rapists and concubines, betrayal and savagery, mindless cruelty and fanaticism.

Cast

The film is entirely performed by children. It was photographed against the fields, forests, mesas and shores of southern Hungary. The Annunciation is made in Pasolini style.