Hungarian Fairy Tale (1987)
(also known as Hol volt, hol nem volt; Hungarian with English subtitles, black and white)
I read a description of this film in 1989, and I had dreamed of seeing it ever since. So, I was very excited to see the movie on the Walter Reade Theatre's schedule for *Somewhere in Europe*, a festival of Hungarian films from a variety of decades.
The problem with a dream come true is that the dream is often better than reality, and that you are better left with your illusions.
*Hungarian Fairy Tale* is the story of Andris, a boy whose father is absent and whose mother is tragically killed in a street mishap. Andris Orban "knows" his father's name--but it is the name that a bureaucrat chose for him. According to the director (who was present at the screening), there actually was a law in Hungary that demanded a fake name be given to children conceived out of wedlock when the father was unknown or unnamed. As is often the case in the old Eastern bloc, lies have a way of ripening and coming to term when you least expect them to. So, upon the death of his mother, Andris decides to seek out his father in the small town where his birth certifcate says he can find him. This seems a better idea than being sent to a state-run orphanage.
The film starts out strong, with dreamlike scenes of the first moments of romance between Andris's parents. They meet at a performance of the Magic Flute, where she has just sung her solo. The black and white scenes of the couple walking around Budapest at night are really spectacular. Also, the scenes of Andris hiding out inhis apartment, and hoping his mythical father will show up there are very stirring and tense.
But then Andris goes to the small town where his father is supposed to live. He winds up hungry, and holds up a woman in her own home for food. Meanwhile, the bureaucrat who signed Andris's certificate is having a wee nervous breakdown, and starts collecting all the papers he processed and burns them.
It is possible that cultural differences have made this highly allegorical film difficult to understand and enjoy. The significance of a bureaucrat and his victim in communist Hungary is probably more potent for a native audience. However, the big problem, I think from any standpoint, is the odd finale. Why the three principal characters wind up together is not easy to figure out. Also, the really awful special effects at the symbolic ending really mar the film. It's almost like watching two different films when you contrast the chase scenes at the end to the romantic, richly photographed finale.
The best performance is clearly that of David Vermes, who plays Andris. Maria Varga performance as his mother Maria is also very touching and loving.
Add a star if you know Hungarian; half a star if you really are familar with Hungarian 20th Century history.
Directed by Gyula Gazdag.
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews