Corps et âme

Enyedi has made a beautiful love story weaving a little bit of magical realism into it. This felt like an introvert's fantasy realized on the screen. There were so many moments that could have gone wrong if tweaked a little bit to either side but they felt perfect here. With beautiful cinematography and great performances, this is one of the best romances of the year.

Who would have thought that scenes of two deer, slowly moving through a snowy forest, could be so meaningful? Apart from being beautiful nature shots, there is a special meaning to them in this film, when it turns out that the two protagonists both dream of being a deer. That's the magic of cinema: to give images a deeper emotional meaning than they seem to have at first sight.

I loved everything about this film. The slightly bizarre story to begin with: two people discover that they're having the same dream every night. The way they discover this is priceless in itself. I also loved the two characters: both are slightly handicapped, one physically and the other one emotionally. Actress Alexandra Borbély is great, playing a girl with autistic spectrum disorder. And above all I loved the way the director takes her time to let the story develop: slowly but very deliberately, taking care of every small meaningful detail.

This is a very tender movie. The viewer can't help but sympathize with these two lonely people, both trying so hard to understand each other. It's making a great case for human dignity, mutual understanding and tolerance.

'ON BODY AND SOUL': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A Hungarian drama which is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. It tells the tale of two slaughterhouse workers that have been having the same dream every night, in which they meet as deer in the forest. The film was written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi, and it stars Geza Morcsanyi, Alexandra Borbely, Zoltan Schneider, Ervin Nagy and Itala Bekes. It's received nearly unanimous positive reviews from critics, and it's won multiple other prestigious awards as well. Netflix is now distributing the movie, in the US, through it's streaming site. I found it to be well made and touching.

Endre (Morcsanyi) is the CFO at a slaughterhouse, which has just employed a young new quality manager named Mária (Borbely). Endre is attracted to Maria, and he tries to converse with her, but she has difficulties talking with people due to her extreme social issues (similar to autism). When there's a minor theft at work, all of the employees are interviewed by a psychologist, as part of the investigation. While they're interviewed, Endre and Mária realize they've been having the same dream every night, in which they're both deer. This creates a very odd relationship between the two.

The movie is really well acted, and the characters seem very believable and real. The slaughterhouse scenes are also really realistic, and extremely disturbing (especially for a vegan like me). The romance of the film is beautiful, and oddly touching too (so are the dream sequences). I especially like that the main female character has such extreme social issues, and a freakishly good memory (these are both things that I can really relate to). There's also an extremely shocking, and suspenseful, romantic climax. It's also oddly touching and weirdly beautiful though. Overall I thought it was a really well made and effective film.

Saw this at the Berlinale film festival 2017, where it was part of the official Competition. Possibly a spoiler but no secret anymore: It won the Golden Bear for best film. Unusual love story in an even more unusual setting, namely a slaughterhouse. The two main protagonists, the financial director and a newly appointed quality controller, are both not socially streetwise. Their personalities with their deviancies are very well portrayed, letting them stand out from cardboard characters that appear in some (other) love stories.

The movie opens in a forest where we see one male and one female deer, watching each other from a distance. At later moments, we see variations of the same scene. But before we think this is some form of running gag, we get the reason why it is important and why it is repeated with small variations. It comes to light as a side effect of a psychological screening of all personnel working in the slaughterhouse, that the two main protagonists have identical dreams at night with said two deer in a forest. Initially, they both consider it unbelievable. And the resident psychologist even assumes that she is the victim of a practical joke, and does not believe it either. Their disbelief ends when they compare notes, and observe the similarities as well as the progress in the dreams, in hindsight easy to be derived from our knowledge what to look for as the couple grows closer together in cautious steps.

All in all, the screenplay demonstrates very well how the two main protagonists get attracted to each other, and how the rest of the slaughterhouse staff behaves around them. They are not exactly outcasts but not an integral part of the social structure either, so gossip and unfriendly comments are to be expected. The slow progress in their courtship is juxtaposed with the two deer in their respective dreams who come closer together in tiny steps. It is all very unusual, but one never gets the feeling that it is too far-fetched.

I always think A good movie is one that can touch your heart and move your feelings ,The good story does not necessarily make a good film , this is Unusual romance from Unusual Director Ildikó Enyedi ,It won the Golden Bear for best film but also deserve an Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film . the magical realism Presented in this film tell us that Love Is beautiful dream & Life deserves to live To experience love . I think movies like On "Body and Soul" Explain The big difference between European cinema and Hollywood , in Europe Cinema is an art of soul and heart & that is what cinema was invented for thanks Mária and Endre ,Alexandra Borbély&Géza Morcsányi for For the beauty that you have done thanks Máté Herbai for great Cinematography thanks Adam Balazs for the beautfuil music thanks for all cast &crew