ESKIMO WOMAN FEEL COLD
A film review by Balaji
Copyright 1995 Balaji
ESKIMO WOMAN FEEL COLD is a 1983 feature film by Janos Xantus which for some reason has found its way into the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. (An unkind voice whispered to me later that a Hungarian-Canadian sponsor had insisted on Hungarian content at this year's festival. This includes a retro of the always disagreeable and depressing Bela Tarr.) The story is of an unpleasant concert pianist named Laci who is looking to get laid after a recital. He wants a blonde, he says rudely to some fawning brunettes. Sure enough, a blonde happens by, and is apparently unable to resist this talentless drunk. It turns out Mari's married to a deaf-and- dumb zookeeper, Janos, who rescued her when she was a teen runaway. And so an unlikely triangle emerges. The film recounts the sordid unfolding of this affair between unlikable people, and the beginning of Mari's singing career. It ends with Laci being murdered by Janos (that's the first scene, so I'm not giving away anything here). The title seems to refer to the white man's fable of Inuit men offering their women to their guests, though no mention of this is made.
The director shows undeniable talent in eliciting natural, unconstructed performances from his principals, and an eye for minor detail that lends the film an air of gritty and squalid realism. One scene stands out: starting with a scuffle between Laci and Janos, and ending with the three jamming together, Janos on drums, Laci on piano, and Mari's voice. Speaking of which, it's awful: flat, and off-key, and we are forced to listen to her caterwauling "blues" numbers not once, but several times. The audience burst into spontaneous laughter during one of her songs, which began "This will never end..."
Maybe there is some aspect of East European realism that escapes me here, but I am truly baffled as to why this movie was made. This tale of unpleasant marginal characters is unredeemed by any relevance to a universal human condition, the relationships are abusive, not to mention the sex, and I am honestly unable to see how any of these characters could be attracted to any of the others. And especially the unbearable singing is difficult to sit through. A truly tiresome film.
-- Balaji
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