Transylvanian Idyll

Kertész accepted an offer from the actor-impresario JenőJanovics to direct films in Transylvania. Janovics was riding high with the international success of The Yellow Foal (1912) and wanted to use Kertész for films based on Hungarian theater and opera.Kertész’sonly surviving film from this period is The Exile (1914), which is described in detail.An initial account of what would become a notorious disregard for the safety of actors in his pursuit of realism onscreen is given, along with the making of his lost Hungarian epic film Bánkbán (1914). This was the beginning of his long association with the actor Victor Varconi. Kertész’s Transylvanian period ended with the outbreak of World War I.He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army and was reportedly wounded twice.