GLOOMY SUNDAY A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
Rolf Schübel's GLOOMY SUNDAY is a great old-fashioned romance worth savoring again and again in repeated viewings. Starring extremely likable and charismatic leads, who are deeply in love, the film's title proves more ironic than apt. Although parts are undeniably sad, the story's joys surpass its woes. And the music is nothing short of incredible. If ever there was a tune to put you in the mood for love, it is "Gloomy Sunday" from whence the movie gets its name and not the other way around.
With two distinct but seamless parts, the story is so strong that each half of the film could be a wonderful motion picture in its own right. The better of the two acts is the unabashedly romantic first part when we meet the lovers and watch them woo.
At the apex of the romantic triangle is the bewitching Erika Marozsán as Ilona. A striking, dark-haired beauty with penetrating eyes and a gorgeous figure to match, Ilona is a girl-next-door type or at least the type you wished lived next door. With an innocent but inviting smile, she charms all of the customers in the Budapest restaurant in which she works. With her slightly revealing dress, the men are instantly smitten.
Madly in the love with the restaurant owner, Laszlo Szabo, Ilona has trouble keeping her hands off of him, and he off of her. Frequently seen innocently kissing in the corridors, these small, naturally romantic scenes are some of the picture's best.
Too often cinematic love affairs fail because the chemistry between the lovers goes from stiffly awkward in the small moments to gropingly over-the-top in the sex scenes. The lovers in GLOOMY SUNDAY are hopelessly and honestly in love. Marozsán, in particular, is so electric in her performance that it is easy to see how anyone would fall for her. She, in turn, is equally convincing in her love for Laszlo.
Laszlo, who looks like a slightly plump Bruce Willis, is played with a graceful charm by Joachim Król. Laszlo, a generous man who thinks nothing of risking his life to save a stranger, is an attentive lover to Ilona. Even with such an attractive actress opposite him, Król is never upstaged.
The twist in the story's first act happens early on when they hire a pianist for the restaurant, Andras Aradi (Stefano Dionisi). Looking like a rugged Daniel-Day Lewis, Andras is a younger and more handsome man that Laszlo. He is attracted to Ilona, and she to him. With two potential lovers to choose from, Laszlo proposes that she not make a choice. He'd rather have some of Ilona than risk having none. The initial tension between the two males is smoothed over by Laszlo with the net result that the men become friends. Sometimes Ilona would go with one and sometimes the other.
Andras composes a piece of music, which he calls "Gloomy Sunday." To his surprise it becomes so widely popular that his playing it at the restaurant packs in the customers every night. Even more surprising is its effect. For unexplained reasons, some people becomes so transfixed by it that they commit suicide. The movie uses this suicide subtheme as a glue to bind together various story elements.
The second half of the movie occurs after the Nazis have seized control of Hungary. Laszlo, a man of partial Jewish ancestry, finds that his lack of identification with Judaism doesn't spare him from the wrath of a vicious occupying force.
The head of the forces in Budapest is one Nazi Colonel Hans Wieck (Ben Becker). We first meet him before the war as one of Ilona's many admirers. A Nazi with a passion about the Final Solution, he sees it as his economic path to great riches after the war. A ruthless swine, he becomes a hero of sorts by saving Jews, but only if they came up with enough of the right currency.
The film's best minor character is played by the Colonel's anal-retentive secretary. No matter how gruesome the orders she is typing, she keeps coming into his office to point out grammatical errors that are not permitted by the official language manual. She is the only one who is capable of driving him nuts.
Bracketed by appearances of many of the story's protagonists today, the film never flags. With a sweeping romantic momentum from the first scene to the last, the picture and its incredible music capture our hearts and hold them every spellbinding second.
GLOOMY SUNDAY runs 1:50. The film is in German with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be an R for sex, nudity and some violence. The film would be fine for older teenagers.
The film, which opened recently in Germany, does not yet have a United States release date. It will close the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival in San Francisco on Thursday night, January 20, 2000. You can find the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival information at its web site: http://www.goethe.de/sanfrancisco.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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