Singing on the Treadmill is a surreal operetta parody about the realities of day-to-day socialism. The film is set in a vast garbage dump where, in the depths of a quarry, next to a derelict factory building, two librettists are penning a frothy operetta about the paternalism of Kadarism, its lies, reality perceived through rose tinted glasses and squabbles over a housing allocation. However, their lacquered players are not prepared to bend to their will, they take offence and start demanding independence, rejecting ‘orders from above’ about partners and housing. Gyula Gazdag’s grotesque parody that works on several levels is amusing and dream-like, full of free-flowing associations and remarkable solutions. Citing its “disheartening existentialism”, the authorities banned the film for 10 years.
Director: Gyula Gazdag.
Writers: Gyula Gazdag, Miklós Györffy.
Stars: Evald Schorm, István Iglódi, Lili Monori, Róbert Koltai, Judit Pogány, Sándor Halmágyi, Mari Kiss, Zoltán Papp, Eszter Csákányi, László Helyey, Hédi Temessy, Lajos Öze, Hanna Honthy.
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