"Love Film" *** 1\2 (out of ****) Istvan Szabo's "Love Film (Szerelmesfilm)" is a film about a lot of things. Some may argue it is a film which takes on too much. But I see it as a celebration of life. It is a film which addresses such issues as of course love (look at the film's title), life, memories, the past and love of country.
I will admit, at times, it does seem Szabo has too much on his plate and can't give each of these themes its proper share of time but by the end of the film it all feels complete. We have been on an emotional journey.
Szabo is one of my favorite directors. I've mentioned him on here from time to time but never reviewed one of his works. There was always some other film beating him out. Though he is perhaps the most famous Hungarian filmmaker. It is debatable if today's audiences remember Miklos Jancso or Karoly Makk but I'm willing to bet you have seen an Istvan Szabo film before without even knowing it. His current, English language films include "Being Julia", which won Annette Bening an Oscar nomination and my favorite "Sunshine (A Napfeny ize)" with Ralph Fiennes.
American critics usually don't give him the credit he deserves. They always mention "Mephisto" as his great work. It was the beginning of a trilogy which starred Klause Maria Brandauer dealing which doomed figures in historic times. The other entries included in the series were "Colonel Redl (Oberst Redl)" and "Hanussen". Szabo also has the distinct honor of making the only Hungarian film ever to win the Academy Award for best foreign language film ("Mephisto") back in 1981. His films have been nominated three other times and has had four films which were nominated for the palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival.
"Love Film (Szerelmesfilm)" is one of Szabo's early works. It was the third film made by the director, though he had also worked on several short films as well. It is experimental in nature, playing around with time structure consisting of many flashbacks and fastforwards. The film resembles a disjointed memory trying to be put slowly back together.
As the film starts a young man is recalling a memory which never happened. He admits it is a fake memory but the image is so strong it has remained indelibly printed in his mind. We see this happen over and over again throughout the film. We also see images which don't correspond with the narration we hear. But isn't this the way life works? Don't we all remember our past differently? We glamorize our past. We make certain moments more romantic, sadder, happier or exciting than they really were. Or as in the case of the young man, perhaps we even invent moments.
The young man is Jancsi (Andras Balint). He has loved Kata (Judit Halasz) since childhood. Though they have not seen each other in over ten years. After the uprising in 1956 Kata left Hungary and moved to France. This was typical at the time. Several Hungarians moved westward usually settling in England, France, Canada or even America. But Jancsi has stayed in Hungary. It is his home and he cannot leave it. All of his memories are here. No matter where he may be his thoughts will always bring him to the place he calls home.
Jancsi has decided to visit Kata. The majority of the film deals with his train ride as he recalls memories of the past and special moments in their childhood. Jancsi romanticizes moments as the first time he held Kata's hand. And suddenly we recall the first time we held a special person's hand and all that implied. How nervous you were to reach out or accept the other person's hand. Back then it was a major step. These are the kind of memories "Love Film" is filled with.
But in these happy moments we realize life isn't always happy and Szabo is not afraid to show them in this film. We see the army tanks rolling into Budapest, bringing back strong feelings to anyone living there at the time. My father and my grandparents still like to tell me about their memories. It was 1956 as the Soviet tanks rolled in and within more than a week thousands were murdered, including children and women, many of which were also raped.
"Love Film" is sometimes seen as an unofficial sequel to Szabo's previous film "Father (Apa)" which also starred Andras Balint. In that movie he also has a tendency to misrepresent the past, as he glamorizes his father's life, who died when he was a child. His father also dies when he is a child in this film too. Szabo's real life father died when he was a child too. But both movies are about a love of country. Neither character would ever dream of leaving Hungary, no matter how painful the memories are.
After 1956 Istvan Szabo stood in Hungary. Claims were later made, which Szabo admits to be true, that he was blackmailed into working as a spy for a communist agency. Szabo says he did so to protect a friend. This leads one to wonder do the characters in "Love Film" represent two different sides of his personality? Kata who left Hungary in hopes of a better life and Andras, whose heart would not allow him to leave. Many now interpret his "Mephisto" as semi-autobiographical, despite being based on a novel and really being an adaptation of the Faust legend.
"Love Film" might be Szabo's best of his early films. "Love Film" could have only been made by a director with confidence. It is too ambitious to be made by a director without a strong vision and an understanding of how cinema works. Though I'm afraid one might have to have some understanding of the history of Hungary to enjoy the film. Of course viewers will be able to relate to certain moments in the film but certain memories may mean more to Hungarians.
Sadly "Love Film" didn't go on to earn any award nominations. If you go to imdb.com there are no external reviews, so it is hard to say what the critical reception was at the time. Still I admire "Love Film" greatly. It is a tender, poignant, human film. It deals with many emotions we can all relate to. For these reasons it is one of the masterpieces of cinema.
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