A nagy füzet

The boys are in fact yet to encounter her as mother and grandmother have long broken ties with one another. They are forced to work hard and suffer beatings in return for food.

All of this they note in the notebook given to them by their father before he departed for the front. Despite a promise that they would carry on learning the twins soon learn that you have to be flexible in times of war, and thus battled-hardened by beatings and mutual insults they learn to thieve and kill without, in the process, losing a sense of justice.

Hungarian director János Szász adapted Agota Kristof's novel "Le Grand Cahier", which was originally composed in French and later translated into over forty languages. The film is set in what we are led to believe is a Hungarian village by the Austrian border. The protagonists speak Hungarian and at one point the film makes mention of the persecution of Jews as of 1944.

The leading roles are played by an impressive cast of domestic actors and actresses, whilst audiences might recognise Ulrich Matthes and Ulrich Thomsen, both of whom play supporting roles. The first Hungarian film to be produced using funds from the recently restructured Hungarian Film Fund, representing as it does a strong comeback for Hungarian author’s film, won the main award at this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.