Love (1971)
"Szerelem" (original title)

The wife of a political prisoner tends to her mother-in-law and keeps from the old woman the truth about her son, whom she believes is in New York making a film.

Director:

Károly Makk

Writers:

Péter Bacsó, Tibor Déry (novel)

Stars:

Lili Darvas, Mari Töröcsik, Iván Darvas

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lili Darvas	...	Az öregasszony
Mari Töröcsik	...	Luca
Iván Darvas	...	János
Erzsi Orsolya	...	Irén
László Mensáros	...	Az orvos
Tibor Bitskey	...	Feri (as Bitskei Tibor)
András Ambrus	...	Börtönõr
József Almási	...	Tanár
Zoltán Bán	...	Borbély
Éva Bányai	...	Feriék szolgálója
Ágnes Dávid	...	Feriék szolgálója
Mária Garamszegi	...	Feriék szolgálója
Alíz Halda	...	Tanárnõ
Magda Horváth	...	Kissné
Nóra Káldi	...	Az öregasszony fiatalon (as Káldy Nóra)

Storyline

Luca regularly visits her bedridden mother-in-law. Luca's husband, János, has been arrested on a trumped up political charge, and Luca does not know if he is still alive. Luca hides this from his mother by making up letters purporting to be from János who is directing a big film in New York. Luca discovers that János is alive, and is dismissed from her teaching job because of her husband. The dying mother anxiously awaits the return of her son from New York.

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Plot Keywords:

dying | letter | political prisoner | old woman | mirror | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Hungary

Language:

Hungarian German

Release Date:

22 March 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hungarofilm, MAFILM Stúdió 1

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.76 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Voted as one of the "12 Best Hungarian Films" ("New Budapest 12") by Hungarian filmmakers and critics in 2000.

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Connections

Referenced in Camera Buff (1979)

User Reviews

Beautiful

This movie artfully presents a strong psychological portrait of an aging Hungarian woman and her daughter in law. The sense of realism is very strong, in spite of a rather unconventional technique of focusing on objects or cutting to memories...in fact, these occasional jerky cuts enhance the realism of the characters.

It is slow paced, but very believable, and I found it to be extremely compelling to watch.