Tiszta szívvel

Stumbling upon the 2016 Hungarian action comedy drama "Tiszta Szívvel" (aka "Kills on Wheels") by random chance here in 2022, I must admit that the movie's synopsis sounded interesting. So of course I opted to sit down and watch what writer and director Attila Till had to offer.

The storyline in the movie was adequate. I was, however, expecting a bit more comedy here, but writer and director Attila Till was focusing more on the drama aspect here. So the movie was a little bit different than what I was expecting. And with that being said, don't get me wrong here, because I am not saying that this is a bad movie. The storyline was actually adequately entertaining.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar the cast ensemble in the movie, but the three leading actors definitely put on good performances and carried the movie quite well.

This is somewhat of an acquired taste of a movie, as I don't think the storyline will find an appeal with just everyone in the audience. And while I did manage to sit through the entire movie, this is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, simply because the storyline was a bit too bland and mundane for my liking. However, I will say that "Tiszta Szívvel" is definitely worth checking out.

My rating of "Tiszta Szívvel" from writer and director Attila Till lands on a five out of ten stars.

Impressive Hungarian film set in and around a rehabilitation centre where two physically disabled young men attempting to create a graphic novel are befriended by a confident and rather angry and aggressive guy in a wheelchair recently released from prison. His incapacity would seem to have come from his duties as a fireman as opposed to birth defect but nevertheless strikes up a relationship with the pair. All fine and set for some bitter sweet and sentimental tale but no this does not go down the expected route and the clue is in the English title. Extremely well directed, this difficult subject, naturalistically dealt with and injected with the extra ingredients of separated parents and talk of expensive life saving operation explodes in our faces with Serbian gangs, drug deals and extreme violence. Kills on wheels, indeed.

Movie with a dark twist but very heart warming and soul touching.

I loved this movie because it was fresh, funny and the actors were amazing. I expected the usual nihilism of a Hungarian movie and I got great amusement. I also found the acting very credible. There's a little twist at the end, and hints all along that there would be one, but I guess the story would work without it anyway. And that's because the emotions and tensions shown are real, no hypocrisy. Sometimes social media and these positivity sites and articles try to make us believe that it's all right to live in a wheelchair. Well, in fact, life in a wheelchair just sucks. And that's the truth. But you can go ahead, struggle, make some progress, try to handle it the best possible way, but hey folks, let's just not be rosy here. Humour, though. It helps. It always does.

One more thing: there is a small scene where Zolika is out in his wheelchair on a sunny and tranquil day on a touristy square of Budapest and an elderly lady tries to give him small change and he does not accept it. That scene I found the most heart breaking, even though it is not very important from the story point of view. But it is so typical, how good hearted people are mismanaging the encounters with disabled people, due to lack of integration and education.

The Hungarian title means "With Full Heart" and that is how I recommend this movie.

A movie that was made in the wrong genre. It's not a drama, it's a bad documentary. Disturbing subplots obscure the point and frustrate the viewer. The film is based on short life situations presented one after the other. The topic is the vulnerability of people with disabilities. It is surprising that even those living on the periphery of society exploit them to the extreme. In various ways and purposes, with underworld means. Abandoning the classical literary structure did not work, and the plot's main line is therefore missing. The character portrayals are well done, this is one of the few positives of the film. The creators use too many tools for this stripped-down theme and could add little to the well-known ideas!