Plot Summary

The Fifth Seal is a study in depersonalization. Set in Budapest, 1944 towards the end of World War II, it tells the story of a group of friends hanging out in a bar owned by Béla (Ferenc Bencze), drinking, talking and having as good a time as they can, trying to stay out of trouble. Miklós (Lajos Öze) a watchmaker, László (László Márkus) a book seller and János (Sándor Horváth) a carpenter, are one night joined by a fifth man (István Dégi) who asks an innocent question:"Just imagine you are about to die, but you will be reincarnated in to one of two people; a slave or the rich master. The slave suffers under the master. He has his tongue and an eye removed and his wife and child are killed. He goes on living knowing he is a good person, as he never committed such appalling, sadistic acts on another like his master has done. The rich master has no moral qualms about it at all. He doesn't think what he did was wrong; the slave needed to be punished. You have the choice, whether to be a poor and righteous slave or be a rich and corrupt master."This hypothetical question changes their lives