The Nine Meanders of Styx
Have you ever had the feeling that everything was over? Your carrier, your future and maybe your life as well? A young man might have felt this way rowing towards the remote shore on the tempestuous Lake Balaton in sunset. Only half an hour had passed since the other passenger of the kayak, 17-year old Beatrix had disappeared beneath the waves. The man - Father Valter, teacher of the Benedictine School of Pannonhalma - was convinced that she had drowned. Although he was on parole, there was still a proceeding against him; a few months earlier three of his students died in Baradla Cave at New Year’s Eve on a trip organized and supervised by him. He was convicted with three counts of manslaughter. The hope of being acquitted was lost. The press simply referred to him as the ‘killer priest’.
It all happened 50 years ago. Father Valter was sentenced to 4 years in prison, but both cases still raise questions instead of providing comforting answers. What caused the death of three students on the last night of a well-organized, joyful cave adventure in the bad of River Styx? Was it only an ill-fated coincidence or perhaps the river brought in some chemicals from Czechoslovakian territory? The answer is still unclear. On the night of the boat accident on Lake Balaton, the girl managed to swim ashore. However, some claim it to be impossible. They suspect the State Security’s dark plans behind it, where the girl was a puppet, the priest a victim and members of the society deluded elements. The real ‘target’ was the abbot of Pannonhalma and the plan was to depose him by all means.
Valter died but the questions live on. A different answer can be given to these questions in the light of the court documents, the contemporary press and the since available secret service files. The film is kind of a ‘time gate’. Crossing between the sixties and today we are trying to answer moral issues. What are the boundaries of free will and when do we give up and say it is ‘God’s will’?
It all happened 50 years ago. Father Valter was sentenced to 4 years in prison, but both cases still raise questions instead of providing comforting answers. What caused the death of three students on the last night of a well-organized, joyful cave adventure in the bad of River Styx? Was it only an ill-fated coincidence or perhaps the river brought in some chemicals from Czechoslovakian territory? The answer is still unclear. On the night of the boat accident on Lake Balaton, the girl managed to swim ashore. However, some claim it to be impossible. They suspect the State Security’s dark plans behind it, where the girl was a puppet, the priest a victim and members of the society deluded elements. The real ‘target’ was the abbot of Pannonhalma and the plan was to depose him by all means.
Valter died but the questions live on. A different answer can be given to these questions in the light of the court documents, the contemporary press and the since available secret service files. The film is kind of a ‘time gate’. Crossing between the sixties and today we are trying to answer moral issues. What are the boundaries of free will and when do we give up and say it is ‘God’s will’?