Freedom’s Fury

Polo has always been a game of rage tempering high. Knowing this, it would be not new to encounter incidents that involve a lot of blood and sweat that are drawn during the game. One such historic event was captured in a water polo match in 1956 when the match witnessed “blood in water”. So much was the truth of the event that the directors of the film industry could not stop themselves from bringing the speechless match on the screen in form of a movie.


 

Img credit- www.smithsonianmag.com www.thetimes.co.uk

In 2006, director and writer Colin K. Gray worked on a documentary which depicted the real life incidents from the water polo tournament of 1956. The documentary is based on the 1956 Olympic semi-final of the water polo match that held between Hungary and Russia. The match occurred in the country of Australia and the blood event that followed brought the onlookers out in rage due to the passion they had for the sport. The match came out as a popular revolt among the associates, thus making headlines for a good period of time. This fury and rage that filled the game then, inspired the director and the writer Colin K. Gray to later turn it in a movie celebrating the glory and passion of the sportsmanship.



Famously known as the “blood in the water” match of water polo, the match took place on 6th December 1956 with a backdrop of Hungarian Revolution 1956. The match closed at a celebrating score of 4-0 where Hungary defeated the USSR. The term “blood in the water” was coined after Ervin Zador of the Hungarian team was punched by Valentin Prokopov, the Soviet player. In the winding minutes of the match Ervin Zador emerged in complete blood when his eyebrow was punched and it poured blood.

Tensions were already in the air of Hungary and this match came out as a rage from the viewers. Such passion drew out the zeal within the writer and the movie Freedom’s Fury was created, singing about the rage and tension of an era and the sport of polo.


 

Last Updated: 20th September 2022