Adozione

Katalin Berek has a checkup She's 42 and wants to see if she can have a child. She wants one, but her lover doesn't. He is a married man, and they understand he's not going to leave his family. Miss Berek is trying to write a letter apologizing for upsetting him when Gyöngyvér Vigh walks into her life. Miss Vigh has her own letter, this one to her mother saying she's been neglected, and she is going off to lead her own life. Then, while she's putting her own life in order, she stays with Miss Berek.

Márta Mészáros's movie about what defines family is neither subtle nor deep, but watching Miss Berek figure it out on her own is rather interesting, and reasonably paced; I never grew impatient with her not getting it sooner. Even the 1970s depression that hangs over this movie and never quite lifts seems appropriate.

Marta Meszaros was born in 1931 and still making films having made about thirty and shorts and TV also previously married to Miklos Jancso. Mostly known for Diary For My Children (1984) and recently Aurora Borealis: Northern Light (2017) and Adoption made earlier with an award at Berlin. The film is rather sad with the woman in her 40s and really wanting to have a baby but her lover not happy as he already has a wife and children. A young dysfunctional girl, she thinks, it might be an idea, although it is rather silly and it becomes complicated she is already unhappy with her life and her parents. The end is very sudden as she runs for a bus, although it doesn't look like being a good outcome. Nevertheless I thought it was well done and especially of the young girl and the older woman, and of course everyone at the wedding.

Based on the first 30 min, which was all I could take, this film, consisting mostly of chain smoking Hungarians earnestly and humorlessly conversing about motherhood and adoption, seems designed to repel viewers. C minus.

As austere as any Bresson, this film shows Meszaros' brilliance as a filmmaker. The story is simple, the acting understated and powerful, the black and white photography masterful, the atmosphere strained and grey. Without once mentioning politics, it could not be a more powerful indictment of Communist society.

It is, a sad comment on the state of film distribution in this day and age that the works of Meszaros, the most prolific woman filmmaker of all time, should be so little available. Come on, Amazon, get with it!

"Remarkably, she doesn't opt for a radical strategy to tackle the sexism issue head on, Kata, through Berek's sterling interpretation, who particularly resembles Helen Mirren but foregrounds her steely fortitude, unalloyed emotion to the fore with flying colors, is not designed to be a crusader, no banner is brandished, no rousing speech is required, she is a feminist fighter in the most pragmatical way, do the right thing within her capacity, she sees the problems (whether it is in the self-seeking Jóska or the national institution), but realistically, she is not in the right position to challenge the status quo, in lieu, she smartly capitalizes on her savoir-faire to get things undone, actions are louder than words, Kata is a heroine that we can all emulate."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore