This snapshot, taken at the centennial celebration of NFI studios in Hungary — built by Alexander Korda and where Janos Edelenyi, writer-director of PLANTAGO, shot his farewell movie of RICHARD II — says it all. Both men, albeit separated by sixty years, fled their homeland to escape political oppression, a recurring theme in Hungarian history.
PLANTAGO, set in the early 1980s, begins with aspiring director Jonah leaving Hungary with a screenplay he wrote. The script tells the story of how his idol, Sir Alexander Korda, at the behest of Winston Churchill, created “That Hamilton Woman”—an epic stand against Nazi tyranny. However, Hungary's communist leaders would never approve a film about a “capitalist mogul.”
In Vienna, working as a driver, Jonah gets his big break: a meeting with Mr. Frantz, a renowned literary agent and former acquaintance of “dearest but obstinate Alex.” Though Frantz loves the script, he wants to change it entirely. Jonah somewhat rudely rejects his offer to take him on as a client and heads to Hollywood alone, led and fortified by the imagined presence of Alex Korda.
In Hollywood, overdressed and unprepared, Jonah tries to secure a meeting with high-flying Israeli producer Mr. Galili. Through sheer determination and a bit of luck, aided again by the apparition of Korda, he persuades the new mogul to finance the starring role. He also connects Jonah with a ‘superagent,’ on the condition that the script be rewritten to focus on a sordid love quadrangle among its heroes.
The superagent, in an even grander office than Galili’s, dismisses Jonah’s choice of lead actors and suggests a roster of C-list alternatives.
At this point, let’s return to Janos’s own story, as recounted in Michael York’s autobiography, "Accidentally on Purpose":
“The Long Shadow had originated from a message left on my answering machine some three years earlier. Someone with my stock-in-trade, a lilting Eastern European accent, explained with elaborate politeness that he had tried to contact me through official agency channels but without success. Apologizing for calling directly, he said there was a script he would like me to consider. Intrigued as usual by this unconventional, improbable happenstance, I called him back. Eventually a thick tome arrived containing the germ of a most powerful story…”