"Kontroll" *** (out of ****)"Kontroll" begins with a warning from a Budapest Metro worker informing us that the events which take place in this film and the characters represented in it are purely fiction. There were in fact two versions of this film. One with the introduction and one without it. When I saw film in theaters, back in 2005, and the DVD copy I own, both had the introduction.
But this opening immediately sets up the concept of what is real and what isn't? A theme which will be played through-out the film. Is this really a metro worker or not? (In fact it actually is a real metro worker. Many people were afraid audience members would think this is based on a true story.)
This introduction is followed by a scene where a drunken woman comes down an escalator, opening a bottle of champagne. She waits for the train to arrive. She is alone, we suspect it is very late, as no one else is around. Being alone, waiting for a train can be scary. The viewer senses her fear as she looks around impatiently for the train and the surrounding area. We see the lights from the train in the distance. Soon the platform light starts to flicker, the screen turns to black and the lights come back on. The train is now closer, it passes the woman. All we see are her high heels, still on the platform as the train speeds by.
The sequence is followed by a man sleeping on the same platform. Is what we just saw this man's dream? Are we still in a dream? Here again the concept of fantasy vs reality is presented. What exactly is real?
As it turns out in the past month seven people have died by the train platform. Did they jump or were they pushed? The metro company at first feels it was suicide and starts to worry about their image. The man we saw sleeping on the platform is actually a "kontroll" agent or a ticket inspector. His name is Bulcsu (Sandor Csanyi). These inspectors go on the train and check if everyone has a ticket or not. This part of the film is true. There are such people who ride the metro as many people do try to ride for free.
Bulcsu has a crew of co-workers who are part of his team. They include a new kid, Tibi (Zsolt Nagy), Laci (Laszlo Nadasi) and Muki (Csaba Pindroch), who suffers from narcolepsy. Constantly going from conscious to unconscious. Another example of fantasy vs reality.
Early on in the film two of the co-workers get into an argument leaving one of them to say "he is a product of his environment. When you are surrounded by aggressive people you become one." The viewer may not realize it at the time, but that is a key line into the film. Does it serve as a defense of the killer? Is he a product of his environment?
"Kontroll" simply could have worked as a thriller revolving around the serial killer but it doesn't want to settle for that. It wants to be more than a genre film. It wants to make a social commentary. In an interview with "Film Freak Central" director Nimrod Antal said "I saw things when I returned to Hungary that really bothered me, for sure, some aspects of how society has sort of sheared off into haves and have-nots after the fall and I do try to portray a little of that in the picture."
Of all the metro workers the one we follow the most is Bulcsu. We learn he has dropped out of society. He lives in the metro underground. Back in the real world we learn he use to be a big shot. He had a good job, making a lot of money. While his profession is never revealed I gathered he was some sort of architect. He says he simply couldn't deal with the struggle of everyday life. He couldn't handle the pressure of trying to prove he was the best. But now as a "kontroll" everyone hates him. No one pays attention to him. He is invisible.
Later in the film one of the co-workers, Laci, snaps. He kills a man who hit him after he asked him for his ticket. Laci says he cannot deal with the job anymore and the way he is treated. And now we are back to that line about being a product of our environment. Laci is now worst then the people he complains about. He has now killed.
The film ends with the image you see on the poster. Bulcsu agrees to meet with the daughter of one of the train drivers, Szofi (Eszter Balla) at a costume party being thrown on the platform. She dresses as an angel or a fairy. She leads Bulcsu to the escalator where he goes to the top as we see a shining light awaiting him. Has she become his angel? She guides him towards the light and back into society.
The film was the feature-length debut of Nimrod Antal, who was born in the U.S. to Hungarian parents, in Los Angeles to be exact. He went to Budapest in 1991 to attend the Budapest Film Academy. He never graduated from there but did find work directing music videos and directing two short films. He is a very talented director. He has a wonderful visual eye. The most striking thing about this film may be the visuals and the cinematography by Gyula Pados.
What I don't really like about this film however is the blend of the two ideas. The social commentary and the serial killer story. Perhaps the two together could have made a great film but Antal, I felt, never quite balances the two equally. Either story could have been entertaining to watch separately. And to be honest, I wish we had more of the serial killer aspect of the film. Antal would go back to this idea when he directed his English language debut film, "Vacancy", a Hitchcockian thriller.
But much of "Kontroll" works and is worth seeing. Antal will hopefully be around for a long time.
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