Dargay Attila: Szaffi (1985)

In addition to its literary legacy, Mór Jókai’s life’s work remains as much alive in Hungary through an entire series of fine and not so impressive adaptations. Of these, Szaffi, based on the 1885 novel A cigánybáró (The Gypsy Baron), has best stood the test of time. The change of title was no accident: here, the film’s literary predecessor really is just a starting point. It is transformed through the soaring imagination of Attila Dargay, who embellishes the plot with some of his own family legends, and also darkens the tone of the original novel. The film also contains some of the most notable creative hallmarks, too: the fairytale glorification of nature, the helpful and kind-spirited animals, and refuge and moral victory in the cabin among the trees in the face of the ignominious castle.