Szerelem (1971) Reviews

This tender black-and-white Hungarian drama takes place in the '50s. A woman's (Mari Torocsik) husband has been arrested by the Hungarian secret police and imprisoned as a dissident. The young wife lives with her mother-in-law (Lili Darvas), a sweet and magnetic woman, appears to believe that her son has emigrated to America. Unable to do anything about her husband's imprisonment, the daughter-in-law keeps the old woman's good cheer alive by concocting a series of letters from her husband, wherein he does incredible and wonderful things. The two of them share the older lady's memories of a gentler time. When the husband is finally released, his mother has already passed away, but the love he and his wife share is shown. The role of the mother-in-law was played, at the request of the director, by octogenarian Lili Darvas, the wife of the famous Hungarian playwright and novelist Ferenc Molnar (1878-1952). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi