While telling the story of 1956 in part through fictional lead characters, the film-makers simultaneously recreated many of the key public events of the Revolution, including the huge demonstrations and the fighting in the streets of Budapest.
In 1956, Karcsi Szabó (Iván Fenyő) was a star athlete at the University of Budapest and had been named captain of the national water polo team that would represent Hungary in the Olympics held that summer in Australia.
However, many of Szabó's countrymen had more on their minds; Hungary had fallen under the oppressive rule of the Soviet Union, and a growing number of Hungarians were demanding independence.
One day, Szabó and his friend Tibi witness a demonstration led by Viki Falk demanding an end to Soviet rule in Hungary.
[3] A review in The Guardian stated "The atmosphere of the time, the demonstrations and the uprising itself are vividly recreated by director Krisztina Goda, and the water-polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary at the Melbourne Olympics that followed shortly thereafter is excellently staged.