L'affaire Abel Trem

There was a lot of hype around this film last year, which is not surprising, given the fact that not many film-makers tackle these days present-day politics in Hungary.

The basic premise is a bit implausible, which detracts from the story. I get it that the creators wanted to show how a minor thing can get blown up in today's political climate, but still, it makes the whole story feel a bit insignificant. Also, even though there are some funny/satirical moments, all in all, this is neither a comedy, nor a drama.

It can be felt clearly that the creators wanted to avoid vilifying either side (right-wing conservatives or left-wing liberals), but as a result of this, the film feels too cautious. Having said that, there are some effective scenes showing how deep political divisions run now in the country. I also liked the ambitious right-wing female journalist character, although her portrayal could have been more complex.

Even though the main character conveys very effectively what an awkward time adolescence can feel to a lot of people, this character is too uninteresting to be even remotely memorable. In this respect, this film reminded me of Ferenc Török's Moszkva tér, also with unmemorable adolescent characters.

The most complex character in the movie is probably the right-wing father, and I liked István Znamenák's performance. It is interesting that in the early 1980's, this actor played the teenage protagonist in Hungarian cult movie Time Stands Still (Megáll az ido), a film with plenty of memorable teenage characters.

Pacing is terrible. The first 40 minutes is just characters staring in the distance. Then for a while there is some action finally people start to have dialogs, backgrounds but everything goes as you would expect to go (especially if you're familiar with the Hungarian political situation), the movie doesn't really add to the conversation. And then the movie ends without resolution, solution or a true climax. Dialog goes from bad to ok (realistic), acting is ok-ish. All the characters are one or zero dimensional even though many have their lives shown both in the professional and the private aspect.

The movie is definitely not an explanation of everything, it's more of an example of the (stereo)typical.

A tale of inner adolescent confusion, and outer shame and family disgrace, whereby young offspring are largely pawns in the dilemmas acted out by the previous generation, and are taught that they must study, not fail: the only future they have lies in education. Fair enough, but a great many people on my radar did not finish college, choosing to rely instead on their sense of initiative and enterprise to get ahead, some achieving greater things than those with diplomas and degrees. This is also a tale of isolation and incomprehension, not just intergenerational, since it applies to the adults of all ages: the film has no toddlers but a profusion of muddled, inconclusive grownups.

This movie was an utter trash, it doesn't know what it's want to be and to be honest it's just not making sense at all - I'm saying this as a Hungarian.

It had a few scenes though that I though wow, okay not finally something happening, but the director decided to just left those threads as they are, without continuing them at all..After walking out of the theatre I felt like robbed - not only money-wise but time-wise too. This poorly made script could have been staged in less then an hour, but this slow, tragically bad acting most of the times lead to painfully long dialogues and scenes.

I think this is a perfect example how not to make a movie. It had a potential, they could create some kind of comparison to the socialist regime change in the past, but the awful director let that thread too to disappear in the ether.

I wouldn't recommend to watch this garbage to anyone, who loves movies. 1/10 (would give 0 to be honest)

Although the synopsis emphasizes the love story, the film is mostly about the problems of a divided society and how a small mishap goes a long way when it gets political. All this is beautifully embedded in a school-leaving story about love, exams and family relations. The story is very Hungarian, but it can be equally interesting for international audiences, especially for those where political divisions are taking a toll on all parts of society.

The film was made with a very low budget, practically no funding, but the brilliant acting and the captivating story really makes you forget about this fact. Definitely recommended (just as the previous two films of Gábor Reisz).