"A Very Moral Night (Egy erkolcsos ejszaka)" *** (out of ****)
"A Very Moral Night (Egy erkolcsos ejszaka)" is a little seen Hungarian film directed by Karoly Makk, released in 1977. It was part of the Hungarian New Wave of cinema which included Marta Meszaros "The Girl (Eltavozott nap)" and Istvan Szabo's "Father (Apa)".
"A Very Moral Night" at first positions itself as a sex comedy but it never becomes the wild romp it promises. That is part of the problem with this comedy. It is never very funny and little on sex. But one can see the potential which is what makes it so sad when the film doesn't deliver and live up to what could have been.
Most of the film takes place in a brothel run by the madame (Iren Psota). Nearly all of her girls take an interest in Dr. Jeno Kelepei (Gyorgy Cserhalmi). He is not a particularly attractive man, he doesn't have much money and according to the ladies his so called "intelligence" doesn't impress them. Yet they all melt around him.
One day, over lunch, Jeno explains to the madame his mother sends him 120 crowns. His rent is 90. He complains it doesn't leave him much spending money, especially since he enjoys visiting the ladies at the brothel. The madame makes him a deal. He can live there and pay 80 crowns. Jeno agrees but informs the madame it can never be known to his mother (Margit Makay) where he lives now or else she will not send him any more money.
Because this is a comedy you can pretty much guess what happens. The mother one day pays an unexpected visit on Jeno causing major disruptions at the brothel. The girls must keep their work a secret until the mother leaves. She thinks it is a boarding house. The situations increases as Jeno is nowhere to be found. He is out at a poker game and no one can get in touch with him. The girls must watch the mother.
You have to admit this all sounds pretty funny. Just think of the idea of an elderly woman associating with whores. Now the film's title takes on a new meaning. We can sense a certain amount of sarcasm in it. For tonight these ladies will have to show respectability and morals.
But Karoly Makk doesn't allow the film to play out correctly. Makk doesn't seem to understand comedy. All the films I've seen directed by him have been dramas. I've never seen him approach comedy and this film makes a pretty good case why he shouldn't.
The film has no flux in tone. Nothing ever seems to build up tension. The situation never seems to increase. There are rarely moments when the viewer worries if the mother will find out where she is. Makk limits the suspense of conflict. The film is monotone. Comedy needs highs and lows. Especially this kind of comedy which could have been played as a sex farce.
"A Very Moral Night" however seems more interested in providing us with a social message rather than laughs. What I came away with watching this film is the idea of old society meets new society. The mother represents old morals while the the girls are new society. As I said this film was made in 1977. Many parts of the world were in a sexual revolution. American cinema was tackling the issue in more explicit ways. Watch "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" or even the Oscar winner of that year Woody Allen's "Annie Hall". Much of that film has to do with sexual hangups. "A Very Moral Night" is caught in a conflict. The mother seems to be rubbing off her old-fashion values on the girls. The mother makes the girls think of the life choices they have made. One of the girls, Bella (Carla Romanelli) breaks down and tries to commit suicide. She is in love with one of her customers, seeing the mother talk about her son and married life, fills Bella with guilt.
The film is based on a novel written by Sandor Hunyady and adapted by Peter Bacso and Istvan Orkeny. Bacso worked with Makk before. He wrote the screenplay to Makk's "Szerelem (Love)". But Bacso moved on to directing. His masterpiece may be "A Tanu (The Witness)". But Bacso, while a talented writer and director, has not made a great comedy I have seen. He has done some comedies though.
Karoly Makk needed to decide which tone the film should have taken. Either you treat this material seriously or take advantage of the comedic aspects of it. The comedy elements are too strong to have been avoided which is why I think going a bit over the top with the comedy, exaggerating it, would suit this film better.
A lot of my readers may not know much about Makk. He has retired from filmmaking but before that he has made some classics in Hungarian cinema. Six of his films have been nominated for the palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival. "Szerelem (Love)" is one of his masterpieces which was nominated as was "Macskajatek (Cat's Play)", and "Egymasra nezve (Another Way)". These may have been his best films. Despite these high points in his career Makk is not a favorite director of mine. I never or rarely feel he pushes the medium far enough. His films are usually shot very conventionally. There is little visually interesting about "A Very Moral Night". He seems reluctant to take chances, though I must admit "Szerelem" and "Egymasra nezve" are bold films which attack life under Communist rule in Hungary.
So much of this review reads as negative. But "A Very Moral Night" is worth seeing. I enjoyed the performance especially by the girls in the brothels. Bella and Darinka (Gyprgyi Tarjan) are very interesting characters. Darinka is the cliche whore with a heart of gold. She seems to be in love with Jeno, and even writes a letter to her boyfriend to call off their engagement. She is presented as young and "innocent". Innocent in the ideas of actually feeling love. And as I have mentioned the story has possibilities.
This is not a great introduction into Makk's work but once you have seen his other films and/or if you enjoy Hungarian cinema "A Very Moral Night" may pass as a clever diversion.
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