Son of the White Mare

A white mare gives birth to three sons. The youngest, Fehérlófia, goes underground with his brothers to rescue three princesses held by three dragons. The material comes from Hungarian and Eurasian steppe mythology, and the plot follows the structure of the folk tale exactly. Marcell Jankovics directs. The actual subject is the image. Jankovics builds the entire narrative out of line and colour: the figures change shape continuously, the backgrounds resolve into geometric pattern, and the colour transitions carry meaning from scene to scene. Almost no frame is still. The visual sources are Scythian art, Hungarian folk motifs and the decorative tradition of the steppe. Jankovics uses them not as decoration but as the language of the narrative; the design of the dragons comes straight out of traditional ornament. It was made at the state studio Pannónia Filmstúdió and became one of the most ambitious demonstrations of what Eastern European animation could do experimentally. For years no good print existed. A recent restoration brought it back into circulation and it was widely rediscovered in animation circles. Who it is for: viewers who like experimental animation, mythological narrative and Eastern European cinema. Who it is not for: the story is simple and repetitive, the visual density is tiring for some, and the film never attempts character.