This tale is set in the Middle Ages at a time when throughout West Europe, evening prayers always ended thus: “Lord, spare us from the arrows of the Magyars!’ The tranquillity of St. Gallen monastery is thrown into confusion by news that the marauding Magyar hordes are on their way, hearing this, the friars, who have grown soft carousing, flee to the hills. Just a single monk, modest friar Heribáld, remains in the monastery. The historical satire is packed with humorous anachronisms: Heribáld’s pocket watch, for instance, is an hourglass that acts as an alarm clock, and the film’s crew are depicted in the credits wearing medieval costume on ornate historiated initials. The film’s sarcastic method of portrayal is also fully in evidence in the caricature puppet characters designed by Ottó Foky.

01 January 1961

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