Radics Béla: a megátkozott gitáros

The documentary style constantly disrupts the narrative flow. The Csernus segments feel forced, and it's unclear why they were necessary. The acting is practically nonexistent, though this is, unfortunately, a common issue in Hungarian films. On the positive side, a fair amount of archival footage was included, which is impressive considering that not much material about Béla has survived. It was also nice to see the recollections of the still-living members, as they provided at least a small personal insight into the story. However, the parts about the restoration of the celluloid film seem completely pointless and don't really fit the movie. One thing is certain: this film didn't bring us any closer to him either.

The film was welcomed for its novelty. Because of the different approach to the spoken film language, the director was invited to the Catalina Island Film Festival (September 2023), where I spoke about it during a panel discussion. The Hungarian actors played well and authentically in the dramatized parts of the film (the alternation of which with traditional documentary elements is a distinctive style of creative-documentary films). The younger audience welcomed it and highlighted during the audience meetings that it was very useful to continue and reconstruct the former concert excerpts that appear in the archive recordings. The film, according to the majority of opinions about it, and also according to his former fellow musicians and friends, explained Béla Radics' life very accurately and depicted it on a cause-and-effect level. Thank you to my great actors and crew for their hard and outstanding work.