This film is part of our TOTAL DESTRUCTION! series, in which everything—mentally, physically, or emotionally—is spectacularly destroyed.
Hungary, December 1944. Under the terror of the fascist Arrow Cross regime, a group of four friends has managed to gather in a pub despite the curfew. The friends discuss various topics when a war veteran suddenly joins their conversation. He presents them with a harrowing moral dilemma: is human dignity worth more than a human life? A question that gradually takes root in their consciences, actions, and judgments, ultimately consuming and destroying them completely.
The Fifth Seal (1976) is considered the masterpiece of director Zoltán Fábri and is based on the novel of the same name by Ferenc Sánta, who also wrote the screenplay. It is a philosophical allegory of extraordinary power about morality in times of oppression. Few films provoke as much reflection as this one.