Hinter der Tür

This is a very interesting film. The first half is quite good & creates the requisite mystery around the elderly cleaning lady. I was curious to know who this audacious lady was, why she aroused such loyalty among her acquaintances & why she never opens the door to her home for anyone. So far so good. Oh, I did have a few issues with the abrupt manner of acting & editing, but I managed to maintain my interest as it has the appeal of a beautiful art film. However, things went down fast in the second half. The scenes seemed even more rushed. Besides, the addition of fantasy elements is always a sore spot for me.

So, in a nutshell, it started out interesting but went downhill from there.

Not having read the novel, I am not sure whether the film is great or if the film was infused greatness by the novel. The subject is remarkable. The performances of the two leading ladies are remarkable too, with an unforgettable turn by Ms Mirren. A highlight are cameos by Czech director Jiri Menzel as a lung surgeon with director Istvan Szabo standing behind him at the door as his colleague. Evidently Szabo and Menzel were mutual admirers. Szabo's "Budapest Tales" and "Mephisto" are superior to this noteworthy work.

First of all this is a Hungarian made film and using Hungarian actors with the exception of Britains Helen Mirren - and it is entirely in English.

You might wonder why Helen Mirren appears in this film and compare her role in 'the Queen' and 'The Tempest". If it was not for Helen Mirren, I doubt this film would have any publicity or marketing potential at all.

Helen Mirren plays an eccentric maid called Emerinc who basically works for a family across the street. She has had an interesting life but lives somewhat reclusive and nobody ever enters her house, hence the title of 'The Door'.

The film is essentially about Emerinc and her relationship with her employers. The story in a sense is very ordinary but this is a very interesting drama because it gives an insight into Hungarian folk life and provides a terrific acting platform for the great talents of Helen Mirren.

I liked the film very much. It is not a thriller in the normal sense but a slow slow drama which tells a story about a lonely woman and her relationship with her villagers.

While there is a definite dearth in good movies around at the moment, this one stands out as different and very watchable. Enjoy!

This is an interesting movie. I've seen where many gave the movie bad marks. But, I think it is the artsy nature that causes misunderstanding. I found It unique, entertaining and sad.

After the first few minutes of The Door, I was thinking, will I be able to watch this all the way through? This was because it had the hallmarks of an arty, experimental film that usually winds up too boring to watch. Happily, this turned out not to be the case.

I started out watching The Door thinking that if Helen Mirren was in it it couldn't be too weird or pretentious. And, it wasn't. But it was different, creative, engrossing and interesting. The film's Tag Line indicates that it's about a relationship between two women with the focus on the relationship. This was true however I would amend that to say that the focus was really on Mirren's character who was the oddity in it. She was the pivot around which everyone and everything revolved.

The film was written, directed and photographed well enough that it wasn't boring. And, the acting, especially of Mirren, helped immensely. Someone without her skill and talent wouldn't have pulled it off. The character she played was unpleasant, bossy, critical, and lived by her own rules. At the same time there was enough about her that was positive to allow the film to work.

This is the kind of film you don't want to miss if you like to watch those that are not only entertaining but are something of a phenomenon, causing you to think.