Hukkle

The best movie I have seen in many many years. I very unique and well developed idea. To me this is what film making is all about. It was recommended by a friend who owns a video store in Hungary and sees countless movies all the time. I was simply mesmerized by the cinematography, sound, and video effects. Hollywood film making is way behind the sophisticated European thinking and creating. Now if I can just figure out where to buy this film in the US. Bravo Bravo Bravo

Hukkle is the first feature film of hyper-talented young director Gyorgy Palfi, and is a real masterpiece, the likes of which very rarely come out of the hands of a lively, extroverted 30-year-old. It is one of a kind, cannot really be compared to anything before it; you better judge it by itself. Hukkle does not have dialog or narration at all, what it has is pure rhythm. An old man who sits out in front of his country shack in rural Hungary starts hiccuping, thus setting the pace of the film. If one pays the attention Hukkle deserves, finds out that beyond the series of beautifully breathtaking pictures and unique sound effects the feature does have an underlying story unfolding. A murder mystery to be precise. Cinematorgaphy is at its best, while the mostly amateur cast makes the piece very documentary-like. This is wonder captured on film. A must see for all movie-admirers. It makes me very proud I once knew the guy who is to be credited for all this excitement.

Hukkle (2002), written and directed by György Pálfi, fits into no

genre. It's a Hungarian film, with almost no dialogue, and it's truly

unique.

The work "hukkle" is an attempt to imitate the sound of a hiccup.

Throughout a movie--set in a rural Hungarian village--an old man

sits by the side of a road and hiccups. Meanwhile, life in and

around the village goes on as people eat, work, and play.

Despite the idyllic nature of the landscape, something bad is

happening in the village. A police officer is investigating a crime,

and the director appears to be providing clues for us about what's

happening and why.

I never solved the mystery. The film curator at the George

Eastman House in Rochester--where the film was screened-- told us he

had seen the movie five or six times, and would explain the

mystery to us after we'd watched the film. When he gave us his

explanation, many members of the audience disagreed with him.

Maybe you have to see the movie five times to get it, or maybe after five

viewings you lose it.

According to the curator, this film is due out on DVD, and it's worth

finding and watching. Hukkle is strange, and somewhat

disturbing, but it's not boring.

This film challenges the idea that we need dialogue to define human interaction, or even interaction between humans, animals and the environment. There simply is no dialogue, just a bit of murmuring in the background and some singing near the end. It may sound boring, but isn't because you are constantly wondering what will happen next.

The movie covers the life of a small Hungarian village during the course of, more or less, one day. You see the people, the animals, underground, underwater, in the air, everything. Camera angles are exploited relentlessly to show every little thing, from a car door being unlocked to a fish striking at a swimming frog.

Because of the lack of dialoge, many things are up to the viewer's interpretation. One person may come up with a completely different view of what happened in the movie than another, even if they were watching it together. I watched this with my girlfriend, the red-haired queen of late night cinema, and we had a terrific argument over our differing opinions on what exactly had transpired in the movie. During the argument, she seized a burning stick from the fireplace and commenced beating me with it to emphasize her point, thereby proving the supremacy of a piece of wood over well-constructed film criticism.

This film should be seen by anyone who enjoys experimental film in any way, or simply wants to see something different but not boring. It is not over-repetitive, nor is it slow moving in any way. I applaud the director who can not only conceive of such a movie, but execute it in an interesting and watchable way.

I am happy that so many people from different countries have liked this Hungarian film - which is quite rare. I loved it, it is very cool, innovative and fascinating. The photography and sound design are excellent. I think it is not by chance that the first member of the crew named in the opening credits is precisely the sound designer.

You have to have some patience to get really into the film, but afterward, it is really worth it. Lots of black humor about eating and being eaten. In fact, eating does not mean anything good in this film...

The morale of the story is well summarized in the closing folksong "Ki az urát nem szereti" (Who does not love her husband). The only time where words are used in this film to say something....

And yes: "Hukkle" does not mean anything on Hungarian, it is an onomatopoetic (sound-imitating) word that imitates the sound of a hickup. (The real Hungarian word for hickup is "csuklás".)