Chicago - What was Hunyak accussed of?

[The8re phan]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 11:52am

Hi guys..... we all know that Hunyak wasn't guilty, but since I'm not vey fluent in hungarian, does anyone know what she was accussed of???? I'd assume it's something political, since she keeps saying Uncle Sam, but I could be wrong.

[CJR]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 12:04pm

decapitating her husband

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 12:52pm

Yikes! I never knew that!

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 2:49pm

Yeah, I had the translation somewhere. I'll see if I can find it, but it is decapitating her husband.

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 2:52pm

Here it is:

"What am I doing here? They say my famous tenant held down my
husband and I chopped his head off. But it's not true. I am
innocent. I don't know why Uncle Sam says I did it. I tried to
explain at the police station but they didn't understand."

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 2:59pm

Well, I get the impression that in the film, she is truly not guilty. The way the original and revival play it--she seems guilty.

[CJR]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 8:42pm

Actually no -- the revival and original play her as innocent because well, she is. It's a pivotal point in the show -- goes over most people's heads. That because Hunyak cannot speak english and does not have the money for an attorney like Billy Flynn. It's the irony of it all, and shows just how messed up the system is, that a truly innocent person is condemned, and everyone who is guilty is set free.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 8:57pm

Is it really Hungarian?? My moms boyfriend is Hungarian. I will ask him to directly translate it.

[bernadette88]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 8:58pm

cool!!!!!!!!:::

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 9:40pm

CJR: Well--I'm not disagreeing with you (especially you! =) ) that that is the case--but on the CD (and when I saw it)--she sounds like she is being smart-ass or coy when she says "not guilty" in "cell block tango"--like the other women, she doesn't seem repentive or truly, wrongly accused.

Regardless, the film makes it much clearer that she is indeed not guilty--especially in the desperate way she says the line.

Updated On: 8/23/03 at 09:40 PM

[CJR]

Posted: 8/23/03 at 10:11pm

I understand how it can be intrepreted that way... like I said, a lot of people miss it in the stage show. Since the actresses playing Hunyak really DO speak english (unless you're in a foreign company lol) it's difficult for them to come off with broken english... if that makes any sense to you at all. It's just supposed to sound like that's the only thing she knows how to say in clear english

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 8/24/03 at 12:22am

When I heard the revival recording, it DOES sound like she's joking. And I have spoken to two different people about the film and the Hunyak, and the morals regarding her hanging, and both of those people thought she was actually guilty and lying.

[PennyLou]

Posted: 8/24/03 at 12:35am

I was shocked the first time I saw it but I really like how they put that in just to bring out how dark and crooked the justest systmy was and the whole story is I love it.

Mit keresek, én itt? Azt mondják,
hogy a híres lakem lefogta a férjemet én meg
lecsaptam a fejét. De nem igaz, én ártatlan
vagyok. Nem tudom miért mondja
Uncle Sam, hogy én tettem. Probáltam
a rendorségen megmagyarázni de nem értették meg...

What I am doing here? They say,
that the famous lakem kept down my husband and I stoke off his head. But this is not true, I am guiltless. I dont know why Uncle Sam says that I did it. I tried to explain at the police station but they didn't understand me...


Miert csukott Uncle Same bortonbe

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 8/24/03 at 12:58am

That's pretty much what I had, but in better English.

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 12:30am

wow I never knew any of this, I thought that she was innocent!

[PennyLou]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 12:44am

I think the point of the white handkerchief in the movie is to show that she isn't guilty she's the only one with white and the music is slower and more angles like and the lighting is different. In the movie they are saying she's really not guilty or she would have red lights and a red cloth like the rest who are guilty

[Timmerbo]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 1:42am

I thought the white handkercheif and her very sad and desperate delivery of the words 'not guilty' made it pretty clear that she wasn't guilty... all of the other women who are guilty essentially brag about their crimes. I know there was one other part in the movie featuring her other than the hanging... but I think she was essentially in the background.

Anyway, I never once got the impression that she was actually guilty from the movie. I thought it was a nice touch how she had the white handercheif, just like the one the reporter waved at the end when Roxie was declared not guilty. Pretty subtle... I don't think I even noticed it until seeing it for a second time.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 11:20am

Plus (if I'm not mistaken), in the film--she never sings the song--she just dances.

[Starlight]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 11:53am

If I remember correctly...her part of the Tango is the only one in which the "He had it comin'" chorus doesn't follow. That also backs up the thought that she is innocent.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 12:22pm

CJR is right. It is the painful story of the slaughter of innocents in the corrupt system while the truly guilty who know how to "play" the system not only go free but profit from their crimes! A "dark" musical indeed!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/25/03 at 5:47pm

Well, I certainly prefer that she is innocent. My only argument is that on the CD--she does not sound one bit innocent when she says "Not guilty". She sounds smart-alecky. When I saw the revival--I didn't get that she was innocent--whereas the film makes it very clear that she is.

"Going over our heads" doesn't cut it--it has to be played as such--and in my experiences with the stage musical, it wasn't.