La Belle et le vagabond

Setting: 1970s Hungary (Eastern Europe), somewhat loosening communist dictatorship.

Content: The plot is minimal, Juli (Jaroslava Schallerova) is engaged to Savanyu (Mark Zala) - a nickname meaning "sour" in Hungarian - , but she encounters and starts fancying a travelling musician, Geza (Lajos Balazsovits). This description is misleading, because Juli is totally passive and she lets happen whatever the men want to do to her whether it is the more traditional Savanyu or the more modern Geza.

Rather than this plot, what actually happens in the movie is a series of everday situations of the young people, in which we can see them being somewhat restricted by the old world, but they are already more powerful.

Realization: But rather than all of the above, what we really encounter for most of the runtime is a series of songs mostly in the format of concerts. I think the songs do not fully reflect what's in the film, so they rather serve it by providing the contemporary atmosphere. The musicians (except for Geza, who is "just" an actor) are some of the iconic Hungarian bands of the era. Think of it as a Hollywood film featuring the Beatles, Doors, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin in one. Accordingly, the camera shows rather groups of peoples than individuals.

Summary: I think this is a less focused work by Meszaros dealing with that particular age and somewhat feminism, just like in her previous films. It is more fun for Hungarians, who are emotionally involved with the featured musicians, but that generation, who enjoyed the changes and the music of that era is now disappearing.