There are those jobs in life in which the job becomes the person's complete identity. Preacher. Policeman. President. Suppose you had one of those jobs in which convey a very negative identity. A job in which everyone hated and loathed you. I don't mean just looked down on like a garbage collector or feared like a policeman, but just purely despised. The movie "Kontroll" operates within this context: the world of ticket inspectors in the Budapest underground metro system.
Now I need to explain a bit of this unique context. Like most transit systems in the world, you need to have some sort of ticket or pass to ride. What makes the Budapest system different from many is that there are no physical barriers- turnstiles or gates- that you must pass through for you to get onto the trains. It is completely possible to use the system free of charge with little effort. Those of us who live here call it "black riding". It happens a lot. To combat "black riders", the mass transit company has a small army of plain clothes ticket inspectors who often pop out of the crowd in a train, tram, or bus, put on an armband (their only piece of uniform) and greet you, "Jo napot kivanok". Literally that's, "I wish you a good day". In reality it's, "Show me your ticket, or else." Now about the movie. Up front I need to tell you that after a single viewing I think this might be one of my top ten favorite movies. Easy. But before you rush out and watch the film on my recommendation- some have recently been disappointed with my recommendations- I need to make a couple of caveats. First of all, this movie is steeped in dark symbolism and psychology. If you felt that the ending of Fight Club was a little too weird for you, then you won't like Kontroll. The movie doesn't easily resolve either. So, if you're comfortable with dark symbolism, depressive psychology, and murky resolution, then this is your movie.
Kontroll actually came out about 18 months ago in Budapest. The posters made it look like a cute comedy about ticket inspectors and it really didn't pique my interest until my friend Gabi saw it. This movie is no comedy. Kontroll is one of the best views into the world of depression, despair, and angst. Leave it to the Hungarians to make the perfect movie on these subject (I'm not ragging on my Hungarian friends here... I think that they would all agree with me).
The music, the visuals, the situations, the writing, and the acting blend well and create an atmosphere that is believable and characters that you really care about. The impetus for watching the film was simply to see a movie filmed in the underground metro of my home town. I thought it would be something to recommend to the folks back in America for a glimpse of what life is like here in Budapest. The underground metro of the movie is a bit more edgy and macabre than the reality of the underground. What it does capture well is the sense of spiritual and psychological reality of Budapest itself.
And now for the best part. (Am I gushing yet?). Kontroll is one of those movies that- and probably by accident- captures the reality the true Narative we all live in whether it is Budapest or Atlanta. The story boils down to the struggle of evil in ourselves and our need of a redemptive agent to free us from a fallen world. I'm not sure that Nimród Antal necessarily intended this much for his film, but I think that the Narative we live in just shines through some works of art despite the artist. This happens in Shindler's List as well. Yes, I just compared this movie to Schindler's List.
If you want to see what life "looks" like in Budapest, then rent a tourism video. If you want to see what life "seems" like here (and maybe where you live too), then you gotta see this film.
Now I need to explain a bit of this unique context. Like most transit systems in the world, you need to have some sort of ticket or pass to ride. What makes the Budapest system different from many is that there are no physical barriers- turnstiles or gates- that you must pass through for you to get onto the trains. It is completely possible to use the system free of charge with little effort. Those of us who live here call it "black riding". It happens a lot. To combat "black riders", the mass transit company has a small army of plain clothes ticket inspectors who often pop out of the crowd in a train, tram, or bus, put on an armband (their only piece of uniform) and greet you, "Jo napot kivanok". Literally that's, "I wish you a good day". In reality it's, "Show me your ticket, or else." Now about the movie. Up front I need to tell you that after a single viewing I think this might be one of my top ten favorite movies. Easy. But before you rush out and watch the film on my recommendation- some have recently been disappointed with my recommendations- I need to make a couple of caveats. First of all, this movie is steeped in dark symbolism and psychology. If you felt that the ending of Fight Club was a little too weird for you, then you won't like Kontroll. The movie doesn't easily resolve either. So, if you're comfortable with dark symbolism, depressive psychology, and murky resolution, then this is your movie.
Kontroll actually came out about 18 months ago in Budapest. The posters made it look like a cute comedy about ticket inspectors and it really didn't pique my interest until my friend Gabi saw it. This movie is no comedy. Kontroll is one of the best views into the world of depression, despair, and angst. Leave it to the Hungarians to make the perfect movie on these subject (I'm not ragging on my Hungarian friends here... I think that they would all agree with me).
The music, the visuals, the situations, the writing, and the acting blend well and create an atmosphere that is believable and characters that you really care about. The impetus for watching the film was simply to see a movie filmed in the underground metro of my home town. I thought it would be something to recommend to the folks back in America for a glimpse of what life is like here in Budapest. The underground metro of the movie is a bit more edgy and macabre than the reality of the underground. What it does capture well is the sense of spiritual and psychological reality of Budapest itself.
And now for the best part. (Am I gushing yet?). Kontroll is one of those movies that- and probably by accident- captures the reality the true Narative we all live in whether it is Budapest or Atlanta. The story boils down to the struggle of evil in ourselves and our need of a redemptive agent to free us from a fallen world. I'm not sure that Nimród Antal necessarily intended this much for his film, but I think that the Narative we live in just shines through some works of art despite the artist. This happens in Shindler's List as well. Yes, I just compared this movie to Schindler's List.
If you want to see what life "looks" like in Budapest, then rent a tourism video. If you want to see what life "seems" like here (and maybe where you live too), then you gotta see this film.