Like one of the previous reviewers, I also saw this Hungarian art movie at a film festival many years ago – I think it was the Mar del Plata film festival in 1997. I was very impressed by the film but since the movie was never released commercially in my country, nor I ever heard or read about it again, I sort of forgot about it (the fate of many good movies, unfortunately, especially those shown at film festivals, is that they are soon forgotten about). A few days ago, for some reason I remembered this film, and was lucky to find out that it was available for viewing on you tube in a very fine copy.
So now about the movie, this is set in Hungary in 1914, just before World War I. The protagonists of the film are two teenage brothers, Janos and Erno Witman. Just after the film begins, their father dies, and they resent their mother taking very soon a new husband, whom they hate. As the movie progresses, we realize more and more that the emotionally distant brothers are pretty disturbed individuals, as they torture animals, become friends with a prostitute, and feel increasingly estranged from their mother.
The slow, leisurely paced film is helped a lot by the very beautiful color photography, that contrasts the cozy interiors with the wintry streets outside. Also, by the fine reconstruction of its era. Director Janos Szasz hand is so assured I'm surprised this film is not better known (Szasz has only made a few films after this, none of them widely seen).
