Thiruvananthapuram: Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr said that communism is the copper coin the entire world has thrown away. He said, he has never seen any good communists; on the other hand, communists are criminals. Bela Thar came to Thiruvananthapuram to receive Life Time Achievement Award at the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) 2022 at Thiruvananthapuram. He made the above remarks during an interview permitted to a Malayalam daily.
Béla Tarr said, his country once embraced communism. The same country of him later taught him to hate communism. He was a diehard communist until he was 16. Later on he realized that the leaders whom we worshipped were fake communists. Then he decided to quit the wrong communist path.
Béla Tarr continued: “Until now I have not seen any good communist. The leaders use communism to camouflage their criminal activities and violations of human rights. Most of them do not know difference between communism and Marxism. I do not know the situation in Kerala”.
Tarr added, autocracy and communism are birds of same feathers. He asked if one has come across any country which could progress through communism and socialism. He has not seen any. One is likely to say ‘China’. But, China is a capitalist country, he believes. That the term ’communist’ is printed on a banner does not mean that it is a communist party. He said, he liked to say that capitalism contributed to the development of China.
He said that there is a long list of the countries which suffered humiliating falls due to communism. Poland, Hungary, East Germany and Russia are in that list. He asked what happened to USSR which was built as a socialist country. All former communist countries are now in the grip of acute poverty.
Tarr stated that communism and autocracy go hand-in-glove. Communist rulers have been brutal. Stalin and Kim Jong-un are examples. They appease the believers to grab power. Once they get power, faith will be buried deep. Communist growth is ‘black history’.
Béla Tarr opined that the Government of Kerala awarded him the Puraskaram not for his politics, but for his films. Obviously, they have recognised his politics.
Béla Tarr expressed his happiness that Kerala Government has organised this Festival. He was happy to see that there is freedom of expression here. That is why he came down to Thiruvananthapuram to accept the Puraskaram despite his ill health.
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