‘1945’: Hungarian post World War II drama packs a punch

Filmed gorgeously in black and white and often framed with wide vistas, the evocative drama “1945” sometimes has the look and feel of a Western — only in this case, the ultimate showdown pits a pair of Orthodox Jewish visitors against Hungarian villagers who fear that postwar vengeance is coming their way.

World War II has just ended in Europe, but the guilt is just beginning for a small Hungarian town that has illegally taken over shops and homes of Jewish residents who were forcibly removed by the Nazis. The two Jewish visitors are armed only with two harmless crates — purportedly filled with perfume — but their mere presence is about to overwhelm everyone in their path.