‘Countries’ Archives
Culture clashes
Brief notes on two recent Polish films - Extras (Statyści, 2006) is a romantic comedy directed by Michał Kwieciński, which I'll be covering in more detail for Sight & Sound. It's a pretty standard genre entry, with assorted people being thrown into a certain situation and discovering their feelings for each other (or not, as the case may [...]
Iván Darvas RIP
I was out of the country at the time, so I initially missed this Guardian obituary of the Hungarian actor Iván Darvas (1925-2007) when it was published on 5 September - and even that was nearly two months late, as he actually died on 3 June, before this blog was even launched. I only knew Darvas from his lead roles in the two Károly Makk films [...]
Monkeys in Winter
Monkeys In Winter Маймуни през зимата 2006, colour, 107 mins Director: Milena Andonova Writers: Milena Andonova, Mariya Stankova Camera: Rali Raltschev, Radoslav Spassov Editing: Petar Popzlatev Design: Georgi Todorov Music: Konstantin Tzekov Producer: Nevena Andonova Production Companies: Proventus Film House, [...]
The Life of an Agent
The Life of an Agent Az ügynök élete 2006, black and white, 82 mins Director: Gábor Zsigmond Papp Writer: Gábor Zsigmond Papp Script Editor: Miklós Tamási Camera: Balázs Dobóczi Editor: Szilárd Nagy Music: Szabolcs Molnár Narrators: János Kulka, Zoltán Rátóti Producer: Gábor Zsigmond Papp Production Company: Bologna [...]
My Nikifor
I'm reviewing Krzysztof Krauze's My Nikifor (Mój Nikifor, 2004) in much more detail for Sight & Sound, but here's a précis: a quiet, understated, rather moving film about an elderly tramp (or so he initially seems) who installs himself in the studio of artist Marian Włosiński (Roman Gancarczyk) and produces tiny paintings on card at a [...]
Railway Junction
Węzeł Poland, 1961, black and white, 10 minsIn terms of conception and execution, Railway Junction is clearly part of the group that also includes the previous year's The Musicians and People on the Road. Once again, there's an abiding concern with presenting the lives of working people, though this time there's no distracting element of [...]
Sparrows Are Birds Too
Sparrows Are Birds Too A veréb is madár Hungary, 1968, colour, 79 minsIf I had to recommend one 1960s Hungarian comedy, it would almost certainly be Péter Bacsó's brilliant The Witness (A tanú, 1969), one of only two films that were singled out by Tibor Fischer's notoriously splenetic rant (in The Guardian, 7 October 2006) as exceptions to [...]
Wajda’s Revenge
I'd been meaning to watch The Revenge (Zemsta, 2002) for ages - it's Andrzej Wajda's last completed feature prior to this year's Katyń - and after other plans fell through last night I gave it a go. It's a mixed bag: on the one hand, it's hugely entertaining seeing two great directors clearly letting their hair down and having a ball (Roman [...]
Hungarian horrors
To say that the films of the young (b. 1974) Hungarian director György Pálfi are an acquired taste is no more than a statement of the obvious, but it's already clear from Hukkle (2002) and Taxidermia (2006) that he's potentially one of the most distinctive voices to emerge from European cinema in a great many years. I was lucky enough to see [...]
People on the Road
Ludzie w drodze Poland, 1960, black and white, 10 minsA companion-piece to Kazimierz Karabasz' The Musicians/Muzykanci (1960), and made at roughly the same time, People on the Road takes a similar approach to circus folk. Both films look at what happens between performances - in The Musicians' case, it's a band rehearsal, while People on the [...]