Children of Glory is history lesson coupled with great entertainment; a movie that attempts to chronicle an epic event in a nation’s history as seen through the eyes of its participants. Set against the backdrop of Hungary’s 1956 rebellion, the movie serves as an homage to a people whose indomitable wills and courage freed them from the yoke of Russian communism. It is October 1956 and Hungary is in the grip of the Russians. The pernicious AVO (the Hungarian counterpart to the KGB) is putting the frighteners on anybody showing the slightest inclination to rebel. This includes Karcsi (Iván Fenyö, Pumpheads), the golden boy of the waterpolo team; a brash, arrogant, handsome brute whose luxurious lifestyle is punctuated by wine and women. Karcsi’s rebellious streak is manifested at a waterpolo game against Russia, in which the offi cials blatantly cheated to let Russia win, and lands him in hot water with the authorities back home. His buddy and teammate Tibi urges caution, but when Karcsi falls for a fiery, headstrong student activist called Viki (Kata Dobó, Basic Instinct 2), he is thrust headlong into the deluge of patriotic fervor that has swept the country. If anything, Children of Glory is one of the best (if the only) water polo-meets-war movies ever made. The fi lm’s denouement is particularly heartwrenching and takes place on the twin fronts of Hungary and Melbourne, the latter for the Olympics. The team, dejected and morose after hearing that Russian tanks have returned to Hungary, are roused into playing their hearts out in a climactic speech by their portly coach. Meanwhile, Viki is arrested at home and tortured to extract names of co-conspirators, and later, executed. The movie’s ending is emotionally ambiguous: While all seems lost on the home front, the Hungarians have shown the world that their tormentors can be beat, albeit in a smaller arena at the Olympics. Stunningly executed and simultaneously entertaining and educative, Children of Glory is indeed a rewarding watch.—T.P. Kurian