Amour

Love between husband and wife. A tender film. Terrible historical times in Hungary for people who were honest and had principles. Wonderful performances of the mother, son and most of all the daughter-in-law Luca (Mari Torocsik). Director Zoltan Fabri introduced Ms Torocsik to Hungarian cinema by giving her the main role in in "Merry Go-Round." Lili Darvas as the dementia-affected dying mother-in-law of Luca gives an elegant performance. Karoly Makk's contributions are the visuals and the delicate editing of dry leaves and the mirror images of the wet and desolate roads. A typical top-notch Hungarian film of the Seventies that saw the emergence of directors Fabri, Istvan Szabo and Sandor Sara. Deserved the Jury Prize at Cannes, losing out the top spot to Losey's "The Go-Between."

"Szerelem"/'Love" is considered one of the best films ever made in the history of Hungarian cinema.Its theme as well as acting performances of its main actors are so captivating that it can easily be included in the list of greatest films ever made in the history of world cinema.There are remarkable acting performances by Lili Darvas,Mari Töröcsik and Iván Darvas.However,what makes Szerelem a very special film is its ability to capitalize on a bunch of lies which are woven in its scheme of narrative elements.The whole idea of director Karoly Makk and his screen writer Peter Bacso is to suggest how far can one go with lies.One has to be genuinely artistic for having one's lies accepted by others.They chose to take inspiration from a short story by famous Hungarian writer Tibor Déry who saw worst days under communist rule when ordinary people were imprisoned without the knowledge of their relatives about their well being.This film's title love has multiple connotations.Hence,it is for viewers to make their own judgments whether they take it as a love of a mother for her son who is not present in her midst or the love of a wife for her husband who is imprisoned.

Hungary, 1953, during the Stalinian purges.

A woman is waiting for the very hypothetical release of her husband, in prison for political reasons. Unemployed, on the verge on poverty, she takes care of her mother-in-law.

She is regularly harassed by policemen or party members. But she endures, keeps going, keeps caring tenderly. Little is said.

How can you express waiting, longing, tenderness, hope? This is where great acting and directing takes place.

For this is a movie about love as an impetus of life and resistance, love as a politically deviant behaviour. It is also a movie about hope as a force of imagination. This woman and her mother-in-law, without speaking, imagine their life with the missing son/husband. A movie, made of memories and expectations, unfolds in their mind and we can actually understand and see this. Creation also offers a power of resistance. The end of the film, almost wordless in an intense moment of emotion.

The photography is totally stunning.

'Can you get used to me again?' asks Janos.

'I love you', Luca replies.

'I've grown old', says Janos Luca washes his body.

'Will you sleep with me tonight? Asks Janos.

'Yes.' 'Will you stay with me all night?' 'Yes. Every night, as long as I live', replies Luca.

It is almost the only words spoken between them and it was near the end of the film. Early on we see Janos's, dying, bedridden mother but we never see him with her and it is Luca, her daughter-in-law most of the time. Luca tells her that the doctor says she is well and will live to a hundred years. We are not sure but we are not too sure of anything. There are her flashbacks when she was beautiful and then she has some wonderful letters that Luca reads for her or she can sometimes through her magnifying glass but we realise his letters cannot be true because we gradually realise that Janos must be a political prisoner. It is a simple tale but such waiting, longing and tenderness and towards the end it is almost unbearably difficult and intense. The cinematography is brilliant and it is splendid throughout and the acting tremendous.

This movie artfully presents a strong psychological portrait of an aging Hungarian woman and her daughter in law. The sense of realism is very strong, in spite of a rather unconventional technique of focusing on objects or cutting to memories...in fact, these occasional jerky cuts enhance the realism of the characters.

It is slow paced, but very believable, and I found it to be extremely compelling to watch.