Rare times when a movie perfectly succeeds in presenting the horrors of war just the way it happens, or close to a predicted version of what we think it must be. I put "The Red and the White" next to "Come and See" and "Schindler's List" in terms of quality and truthful brutal depiction of what war makes to people, the perpetrators and the victims. Miklos Jancsó's film stands above Spielberg's film mainly because it doesn't have the famous stars the Oscar winning film had; rather than that we have unknown actors, therefore we don't create over-sentimental bonds with their personas but really for their characters and what they go through. That's the valuable aspect of the movie. Nothing and no one to cheer or support. But we can feel for the casualties of war, all the lives wasted amidst the domination, oppression and conquest of territories and people.The title seems to say it all but it doesn't (quite an irony here, specially if considered the way it was filmed). And not even shows it all. It's more than just Hungarian (White) fighting against the Communist Soviet (Red), the latter supported by Communist Hungarians during the WWI; it's more about realizing that is people slaying people, nothing making sense and one cannot tell which side is good or bad, not even identifying who they are. Armies, militaries and divisions come and go and you have to force yourself to figure out which is which and what they stand for. This is the director's intention in demonstrate that ideologies, concepts are very subjective, completely pointless except to kill and destroy. Subjective, invisible yet powerful and destructive. Jancsó ignores the use of close-ups, distantly filming the battles, the war games coldly played by the Soviet, then later the Hungarian's unmerciful revenge. He tries to keep us distant from the event but he also knows such is impossible since his images of cruelty and despair brings us closer to the tragedy of lost lives in the most atrocious way. Take a look at the agony of the young men who were given a small amount of time to escape from their executors to later realize it was all a trap prepared by the Soviet. They inflicted hope for like five minutes, made them run towards a great wall and then killed them all. While doing all that they kept on smiling, treating this like it was a game to be won, with winners and losers.Unbelievable as it might sound, "The Red and the White" isn't a dated picture. Even if most of us are quite stoic when it comes to violent films, this manages to create a profound impact on us way after we have seen it. Its characters are filled with insensitivity, carelessly displaying any kind of consideration (even some of the victims as well, those in a resigned way). We're the ones who have to care for everything of what's happening. Emotions are left to us, but far from making us cry. Gotta be angry with what human race can do itself.Tragic, epic, hypnotizing and one of the greatest war films ever made. 10/10

The Red And The White is not a great film. It's simply too one dimensional and intellectually and emotionally flat. On the other hand, it is an important film, and a good, solid one; basically a good idea, well executed, but limited by the very idea itself, which gets no formal exploration in depth. Its only posit of depth is that this is as close to real war as one will see on screen, and that the main character of any war film should be war, itself. And it delivers. But, unfortunately, it delivers nothing else for the viewer to wrangle with at its conclusion. Or maybe that is a fortunate thing, considering all the horrors real war can unfurl. Either way, it is a film to be seen and appreciated. Just watch what's on screen, and check one's biases at the door, please.

Like Varlaam, based upon the generally high critical appraisal this movie has received, I came to "The Red and the White" full of high expectations. Unlike Varlaam, I made the foolish mistake of actually purchasing the DVD before viewing. Let's see: first a group of Reds (or were they Whites?) run down a hill and shoot some Whites (or were they Reds?). Then a group of Whites run up a hill and shoot some Reds. Repeat ad nauseam. Some Reds hide in the bushes. Some Whites hide in the bushes. Repeat. A flag is raised. It is lowered and replaced by a different flag. Repeat. Some fellows are shot in their underwear. A little swimming. A few folks wave swords in the air. Flat characterizations. No resolution. If there was any propaganda in the movie, I missed it. That might have provided some interest. The following quotes from the commenters above and below who allegedly admire this movie tell the whole story: "Sure it's boring! Sure it's confusing! Sure it's stupid!" "You'd be hard-pressed to be able to identify more than one or two characters at all after it has ended." "It's hard to explain why all this should not be highly boring." "There is no plot." "With no characters to care for ..." "The whole film is just confusion." "It is very long, and can be quite tiresome." I rest my case. The DVD now sits on the "wasted money" shelf, ashamed of itself, knowing that it will linger there unloved and untouched for years. Maybe one of the admirers of this "masterpiece" would like to purchase it. It's going cheap. By the way, there are any number of far superior movies with themes centering on the violence, absurdity and loss of morality in war. Examples are "No Man's Land," "Come and See" and "Paths of Glory," the latter being the quintessence of the anti-war genre.

The best I've ever seen I guess is Band of Brothers,and this one is right up there. Good war films seem real, closer to real life, you see it and you know this is how it should happen, even if you have never experienced it. "good" people do some bad things and "bad" people do some good things. Guess there are more degree of cultural freedom in Hungary in those years to let this kind of film come to light.I watched it the first time without moving my eyes off of it, and then I watched it a second time. It feels really beautiful, so vast is the background and the storyline is so unique. The third time I tried watching it, almost all the scenes feels so bloody that I cannot watch it.