'68 (film)
Encyclopedia
'68 is a 1988 film directed by Steven Kovacs. The film follows a full year of a Hungarian
family living in San Francisco in 1968.
and now runs a Hungarian restaurant that is not doing well financially. The younger of his two sons is gay
and struggling with coming out
. His dad disowns him when he finally does. The older son is involved in the counterculture
, gets kicked out of college, buys a motorcycle
, starts dating a Maoist, and is also disowned by his father. The older of the sons runs afoul of an outlaw motorcycle club
; the younger of the two sons gets drafted but is rejected because of his homosexuality. The older one joins his younger brother in a gay rights protest.
Major events of the year such as the assassination of Martin Luther King and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy are interspersed throughout the plot and depicted in the film using stock footage
.
Los Angeles
International Film Festival
during March 11–26, 1987. The film was then regionally released on May 6, 1988. The film was also shown at the Deauville Film Festival in September 1988 in which Steven Kovacs was nominated for the Critics' Award.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
family living in San Francisco in 1968.
Plot
The father escaped the Soviet invasion of BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and now runs a Hungarian restaurant that is not doing well financially. The younger of his two sons is gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and struggling with coming out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
. His dad disowns him when he finally does. The older son is involved in the counterculture
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
, gets kicked out of college, buys a motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
, starts dating a Maoist, and is also disowned by his father. The older of the sons runs afoul of an outlaw motorcycle club
Outlaw motorcycle club
An outlaw motorcycle club is a type of motorcycle club that is part of a subculture with roots in the post-World War II USA, centered on cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals celebrating freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the...
; the younger of the two sons gets drafted but is rejected because of his homosexuality. The older one joins his younger brother in a gay rights protest.
Major events of the year such as the assassination of Martin Luther King and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy are interspersed throughout the plot and depicted in the film using stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
.
Cast
- Eric Larson as Peter Szabo
- Robert Locke as Sandy Szabo
- Sándor Técsy as Zoltan Szabo
- Anna Dukasz as Zsuzsa Szabo
- Miran Kwun as Alana Chan
- Terra Vandergaw as Vera Kardos
- Shony Alex BraunShony Alex BraunShony Alex Braun was a Romanian born violinist, Holocaust survivor, classical composer and actor. He wrote over 200 compositions including classic, Romanian and Gypsy music....
as Tibor Kardos - Donna Pecora as Piroska Kardos
- Elizabeth De Charay as Gizi Horvath
- Jan NemecJan NemecJan Němec is a Czech filmmaker whose most important work dates from the 1960s. Film historian Peter Hames has described him as the "enfant terrible of the Czech New Wave."- Biography :...
as Dezso Horvath - Rusdi Lane as Bela Csontos
- Nike Doukas as Beatrice
- Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
as Westy - Frank X. Mur as Officer
- Joel ParkerJoel ParkerJoel Parker was an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 20th Governor of New Jersey from 1863–1866 and from 1871-1874.-Early life, family:...
as Protester - Paul Pedrol as Client
Release and reception
'68 was first shown at the AFIAmerican Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
International Film Festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
during March 11–26, 1987. The film was then regionally released on May 6, 1988. The film was also shown at the Deauville Film Festival in September 1988 in which Steven Kovacs was nominated for the Critics' Award.