Janos Derzsi

At some indeterminate point in a dystopian near-future, Bogdanski Dolina - a grubby, unkempt Central European hamlet - buckles beneath the weight of misery. Armed barbarians guard the wire fences that ensconce the town, while the residents must contend with abusive draconian laws. The town governance is abetted, in its attempts to maintain order, by a TB camp - home to not only tuberculosis victims but also a host of societal rejects. But lives are about to grow a thousand times more unbearable with the arrival of a bizarre, totalitarian band of clerical oppressors, known as 'The Vicarage,' comprised almost entirely of onetime guards from the village, who sport cassocks and phony beards attached with cords. Thus begins Hungarian director Zoltan Kamondi's quaternary feature, the sociopolitical allegory Dolina. Kamondi sets up a half dozen crisscrossing subplots that unfurl in and around the village. In one, resident Colentina Dunka (Piroska Molnar), the lesbian proprietress of a combination brothel, hair-salon and bath house, schemes to drive one of her employees-cum-romantic pursuits away from her husband; she also plans and plots to orchestrate the return of her son, Petrus (Milan Vajda) from a lengthy exile. At about the same time, a new arrival turns up in town, Gabriel Ventuza (Adriano Giannini) and attempts to exhume the corpse his father, but encounters only frustration and hardship. Meanwhile, a dispute erupts between two Vicarage members, a small band of locals plots to spring an unjustly interred member of the TB facility from that hellhole, and reunite him with his Armenian relatives, and least two members of the community struggle with irreciprocal affections. And uniting everything is fear of the massive, oppressive impact that the new governing body will make on the tiny hamlet. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Directed, written, and co-produced by Zoltan Kamondi), Kisertesek ("Temptations") illustrates the struggle between ancient traditions and the modern world of restless young Marci (Marcell Miklos), a fatherless young man who is considered somewhat of an outcast within the community. Though his mother Anna (Juli Basti, has managed to make a perfectly respectable life for herself without the aide of a husband, she refuses to give Marci (Miklos) any information about his father's identity. The resulting tension between Marci and his mother only grows when Marci brings his passionate relationship with his lover Elvira (Kati Budai) inside of their household. A heated argument eventually extracts some information from Anna--Marci's father, Tibor (Janos Derzsi), is a local farmer who can barely make ends meet. Careful not to reveal their true relationship, Marci approaches Tibor about farmwork in exchange for room and board. Tibor accepts, and Marci finds himself in another sticky situation when he meets Juli (Julianna Kovacs), a 10-year-old gypsy girl with magical powers. The strange pair teams up and hatches a plan to rob the local bank by using Juli's powers to hack into the automatic teller's computer system, but tensions soon rise again when Juli becomes fiercely jealous of Elvira. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Frigyes Godros directs this look at 20th century Hungarian history as seen through the eyes of a single Jewish family. The film opens on Passover not long after WWI as the Vendel family celebrates their prosperous life running a furniture business. As the film progresses, the family endures WWII, Nazis, Communists, and 1956 Revolutionaries. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Bence Gyongyossy (son of director Imre Gyongyossy) made his directorial debut with this King Lear variation about storyteller Lover (Djocko Rossich), who gave his possessions to his two oldest daughters but lost touch with his free-spirited youngest daughter. When government officials announce the plans to destroy the gypsy village and relocate the inhabitants to modern apartments, Lover stays put. During a conflict, a Budapest functionary is killed, and Lover flees with the village simpleton, who becomes his companion in his wanderings. Rossich won a 1998 Hungarian Film Award for "Best Actor" (shared), and the 1997 Montreal Film Festival chose this movie for its "Best First Film" award. Alternate title The Law of the Gypsies. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This European epic is seven hours long. It is adapted from a novel by Laszlo Karsznahorkai and reflects the obsession of director Bela Tarr who began the film seven years ago. It took two full years to film this opus. The story is presented through a series of chapters of varying lengths with titles like "The News That They are Coming," "We, the Resurrected," "The Freeze," "Only Problems and Work." and finally "The Circle Is Completed." The enormously complex saga is centered in an abandoned farm machinery plant upon a Hungarian plain. There live a small band of hobos including three couples, a doctor with a drinking problem. All of them want to leave and they will do anything they can to do it. A set series of events occurs, but the story presents those events from each of the different character's viewpoints. The film ends on an ironic note. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Those who watch murder mysteries chiefly in order to savor the dark desolation which some of them bring to life will be overjoyed at this grim tale, which follows the attempts of an obsessed policeman to solve the serial killings of little girls even after he has been taken off the case. Most of the girls were killed in the woods, and the officer spends much of his time in them attempting to recreate the murders in his own imagination so as to understand them and perhaps solve them. Little comes of his efforts, but the sad mood of the blackened, wintery woods is strongly evoked. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This simple (though visually flawed) story of human tragedy is set around 1900 in Hungary and involves the life of a young farmhand. Before landowner Jozef Banffy (Jan Nowicki) kills himself, he leaves his holdings to a young peasant, Imre Tanyir (Peter Andorai) instead of his own family. Much later, Imre joins up with others who want to educate the peasant class and make them more aware of their rights -- a dangerous activity that quickly puts Imre at odds with the state and does not bode well for his future on the land. Someone has already been killed in a demonstration on the farm, and it is clear that the military is not above torturing the dissidents. Without a doubt, Imre is heading for trouble.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In a story that hops around a little, a priest arrives in a village to go from person to person offering his own form of consolation or advice. On his list of "clients" is a former Communist Party official who is now wheelchair-bound because of a sniper's bullet during the 1956 uprising; a woman dying of tuberculosis; an astronomer who sings with a punk rock group; a woman who leaves her soldier-husband to work in a nightclub; and their son. As these people suffer through personal travails, a surprise is in store for everyone -- the priest is not exactly who he seems to be. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A kindergarten teacher in her early 30s is forced to move from her apartment when her elderly landlady dies. She also is carrying on an affair with a married man. Forced into a marriage in name only to procure housing, her new husband demands his conjugal rights. She also sleeps with other men in exchange for money to pay for her new apartment. Realizing her lover will never leave his wife, the teacher seeks out the wife for a heart-to-heart talk. Both woman find themselves scheming to get rid of both of their husbands to insure their own space and personal freedom. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide