Fifth short film directed by István Szabó. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won a Special Award. There is practically no argument, because it is nothing more than an act of love for Cecília Esztergályos, who at that time was Szabó’s girlfriend.
Tag: FHD
A story from Victoria, British Columbia, of one young man who, despite a crippling malady, is determined to experience as many of life’s offerings as possible. Brian Wilson is spastic, confined to a wheelchair, but he works at a job, looks after himself, and moves about from place to place on his own. Every day has its challenges and victories, and sometimes defeats. With this example of personal courage, the film provides insight into the private and daily struggle of the disabled.
A famous actor leaves the theater without reason to live at his friend’s tugboat. The people from his surroundings find out more about his move and come to the riverbank, trying to live freely themselves. The question is who found what.
After Liptus arrives in a small village from the city, he calls his best friends, Miron and Melita, on winter holidays in Kopacevo. That same night, while they are all sleeping cozily, from their deep sleep Miron and Melita are woken by the disturbing sounds of villagers, carrying flares and disappearing into the darkness at the end of the street. At the docks, they find Halasz, a boy known for his bravery. He is cold, pale from shock, and babbling a white ghost. While most of the villagers don’t believe Halasz’s story, older citizens recall a long time ago when a forgotten spirit would scare people at night in dark and foggy swamps.
A prisoner attempts to have one forget the bleakness of prison existence through coloured crayon sketches drawn on the wall. However, the prison officer does not hesitate to stamp out even this small pleasure. Adapted from a press caricature, titled “Művészek/Artists” by György Várnai, which was published in 1966 in the popular satirical weekly “Ludas Matyi/Mattie the Gooseboy”.
Never one to shy away from uncomfortable topics, Kei Kumai adapted Shusaku Endo’s 1957 novel The Sea and Poison into one of the most complex studies on film of medical ethics. The movie (sometimes graphically) describes the use of eight downed American fliers as subjects of experimental surgical techniques at Kyushu University’s medical school and hospital in the summer of 1945, in the course of which all eight prisoners were murdered.
Ulveczky, the unbridled bull of the village, is incapable of living in the small community like others. He runs his farm and lives his life as a tyrant. His licentious temperament leads him to take whatever he wants, women included, who are swept off their feet. His victims include a beautiful young girl who nearly dies when the man tires of her and ejects her from the farm. With great difficulty she restarts her life, hoping that she has finally freed herself of the brute who, however, does not let go so easily.
Told from the perspective of two children, The Small Town describes the relationship between members of an extended family in a small Turkish town. Told in four parts which unfold with the seasons, the film is a touching and bittersweet portrait of childhood and fears. Intimately observed and beautifully shot, Ceylan’s feature debut won the Caligari Prize at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.