La Contrée des orages

Szabolcs (András Sütö) plays in a German football team, as does Bernard (Sebastian Urzendowsky). A lost match and an ugly confrontation leads Szabolcs to reconsider his life. He goes back to Hungary for simplicity & to build up an inherited broke down house and to bask in his newly found solitude. He meets Aron, a local who welcomes him by stealing his motorcycle. In a odd turn of events, Szabolc hires Aron (Ádám Varga) to help him rebuild his property. A mutual attraction develops to the detriment of Szabolcs, as Aron's mother and local mates disapprove of their relationship. Violence ensues for both. A sexual friendship of the same sex attraction breeds contempt with the towns people, as Aron's dependent mother denounces her son's lifestyle to the local bullies in an attempt to "correct" his behavior. A confused yet curious Aron expresses his affection for Szabolc with a mix bag of emotions and several eruptive confrontations that will ultimately lead to a very shocking and disturbing finale.

This Hungarian/German co-production may very well be reflective, and a testament of the the state of affairs and societal hostilities that still remain in place in a few rural towns within eastern Europe where the enabling, persecution & disdain for same sex couples seems to remain latent. This mentality shepherded by religious intolerance is what leads the violence and the hostile living conditions for anyone not subscribed to the few who have self appointed themselves as the enforcers of the town's moral code of conduct.

Hungarian director Adam Csaczi's unveiling of the story with its sweeping cinematography, superb direction and acting is poetic, lyrical and subtly mesmerizing.

Question: Does the world need another movie about homophobia? Answer: No. One was enough.

We need to know that it exists; we don't need to be obsessed with it. We don't need to experience over and over - vicariously, through characters in a movie instead of our own bodies - the pain of being hated because we're different. We need to stop wallowing in rejection. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as victims and celebrating our victimhood.

Many gay men disagree with me. Many gay men think Brokeback Mountain is the greatest gay movie ever made. If you're one of them, if your favorite gay movies are ones where the gay character(s) get rejected, humiliated, beaten up or killed (often by the straight men they love) then you will probably like this movie. I'm not saying any of that happens in this movie, so this is not a spoiler; I'm just saying if you like movies in which gay men suffer because they're gay, you'll probably like this one.

Personally, I'm tired of that suffer-for-being-gay crap. But I'm equally tired of gay movies at the other end of the spectrum, in which toned, tanned, hairless gym bunnies with huge - muscles - celebrate their own fabulousness while inferior (ie, normal) gay men worship them and brain-dead queens twitter comically in the background.

AND I'm tired of movies that try to have it both ways, with an hour of pain and rejection followed by a miraculous happy ending, in which the hunky, white-toothed prince carries his frog bride off into the West Hollywood sunset.

What I want, and what I believe most gay men need, is movies about ordinary gay men, whose lives are fun but not fabulous, who have friends - gay AND straight - who love and support them, not because they're rejects who need that support but because they're interesting men who are fun to be around.

I want movies in which gay men live full, rich, happy, challenging lives with AND WITHOUT partners, in which a gay man isn't defined or validated or made whole by the man who loves him any more than a woman is and - even more important - would laugh at such a stupid idea. We need liberated gay men in movies just as we needed liberated women in movies 50 years ago.

I want movies in which no one is humiliated or beaten. I want movies in which no one vomits. I want movies in which the stupid phrase "unconditional love" is never heard.

NOBODY loves unconditionally. It's not possible for human beings to love unconditionally. That's as big a lie as Prince Charming. We love what makes us happy, what makes us feel useful and wanted and valuable. That's good, not bad. Unconditional love doesn't exist, so we need to stop insisting on finding it.

All I'm saying is that we gay men need to accept the fact that we are human beings, and we need movies that show us acting like human beings instead of like caricatures.

Beautifully shot with sparse dialogue and apparently based on a true story, it's a great film as long as you're ok without a happy ending.

Taking place in a small village in Hungary, there's some homophobia which could be triggering but then again that's the world we live in. It might not be pretty but life isn't always.

This isn't an American film so don't watch it if you're expecting one. Shots are long and there can be stretches where not much is said but the actors do a commendable job regardless. I would give it 7/10 but I had to deduct one for the ending. It was literally jaw dropping and left me feeling a let down. That being said, if you don't mind dark endings, then it's definitely worth a watch.

I was really shocked with the ending of this. It was really hurtful to watch the end 😢 Nevertheless I did enjoy the whole plot.

The fact that it's based on a true story shows in the authenticity of the film and a storyline that doesn't fit a straight line narrative and Andras Suto's performance is so strong and the process of discovery is tangible. The emotional depth of the film is less about discovery of sexuality and more about discoveries of oneself and how shame and pressure to conform also clouds the discovery process. That is the best part of the film, it's not about sex, but about what sexuality is and if the characters can embrace that especially given the circumstances. The ending of the film feels abrupt, but the story is far from a conclusion. That's what makes it really satisfying because it leaves self discovery to continue and sometimes it's a long journey of hatred and shame and maybe you never figure it out. It's a powerful story with great performances.