The Annunciation

This is a very well acted play (brought to film, then to video), however, it is not likely that the majority of movie watchers will take pleasure in it. The beginning is biblical fact, and then it becomes the writers idea. It is based upon the book of Genesis and Ecclesiastes, with a touch of the New Testament. In the beginning it is Biblical Fact (Genesis)-> Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, tempted by Satan to eat of the fruit that gives the knowledge of good and evil. HOWEVER, after they are sent from Eden, the story becomes the imagination of the writer! When I first watched this movie, I shook my head and thought it was a heartless, worthless effort to depress people. I just wanted it to end. BUT the ending summed it all up for me and I appreciated the entire movie for it! I do not know why the entire movie is performed by children (between 8 and 12 years of age), but I do know that they did an outstanding job!!! Yes, it is STRANGE, but isn't that what makes a movie unique!?

I am afraid that nobody will understand this movie unless he or she doesn't know one of the greatest Hungarian dramatic play of the XIXth century: The Tragedy of Man, written by Imre Madách. The plot: after the loss of the garden of Eden, Lucifer, the demon of Denial shows to Adam and Eve the different ages of mankind, to prove them that there is no reason for them to live. In their dream they live for a while in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, in medieval Byzantium, in the revolutionary Paris, etc. This is a romantic and pessimistic vision -- with a strange, optimistic ending. The director of this movie had a great idea: he has chosen not grown up actors and actresses, but little boys and girls, so the plot is even more complex, more poetic and more visionary. A beautiful movie to watch -- but if you don't know the drama of Madách, perhaps you won't understand everything. Anyway, it is worth the time!

The Annunciation is a film which you should watch when you have nothing better to do on an otherwise humdrum day. From the first to last this movie is a kaleidoscope of images, created to mesmerize the mind. Director Andras Jeles uses child actors to weave a visual tapestry of Godly virtues and human weakness intertwine with historical events. Somewhere between the Creation of Man and his Redemption, the viewer is set adrift in a sea of spectral images, who' purpose is known only to the director or to Pablo Picasso. Despite some provocative moments such as baring all with a nude Adam and Eve, the collage of words and historical settings the film overwhelm the viewer and destroys what little message the director intended to impart. From a Western point of view this film is far too complicated to be easily absorbed and thus fails to be recognized as anything but an art form gone mad.

Some movies tell a very good story, others get lost in the imagery and scenes. This movie falls in between both of these cases. I think it starts off telling a great story and from an unique perspective. As the story continues though, it becomes more and more obscure in the historical imagery and myths. By the time the movie ends, you are just grateful to make it until the end, but not without dozing off from time to time.

Believe it or not, I still enjoyed it, just don't make a sequel, please!

A downbeat, hypnotic retelling of Mankind's story from Adam and Eve to the present, played entirely by children. But don't expect a romp -- these kids are deadly serious as they tackle issues of mortality, religion, and the struggle of class against class. Brilliant photography enhances the deliberate pacing, yet the film is never boring. Literary sources include Emily Dickinson and William Blake, and every line is delivered with full conscious intention. Especially effective is the Byzantium sequence, where a single syllable (homousios, or homoiousios) means the difference between life and death. Seldom has the narcotic influence of religious power been so effectively portrayed. The use of a cast composed entirely of children is a conceit that lends itself to preciousness, but here it succeeds without the least trace of "cuteness". In sum, a daring, challenging, and ultimately worthwhile experiment.