Gloomy Sunday (1999)
"Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod" (original title)

Budapest in the thirties. The restaurant owner Laszlo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his ... See full summary »

Director:

Rolf Schübel

Writers:

Ruth Toma (screenplay), Rolf Schübel (screenplay),

Stars:

Erika Marozsán, Joachim Król, Ben Becker

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Erika Marozsán	...	Ilona
Joachim Król	...	László
Ben Becker	...	Hans Wieck
Stefano Dionisi	...	András
András Bálint	...	Ilonas Sohn
Géza Boros	...	Geigenspieler
Rolf Becker	...	Herr Wieck
Ilse Zielstorff	...	Frau Wieck
Ferenc Bács	...	Botschafter
Júlia Zsolnai	...	Frau des Botschafters
Aron Sipos	...	Arzt
Ernst Kahl	...	Zeichner Torresz
Jörg Gillner	...	Chefkoch István
Denis Moschitto	...	Lehrling Inas
István Mikó	...	Kartoffelhändler

Storyline

Budapest in the thirties. The restaurant owner Laszlo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody triggers off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans goes and falls in love with Ilona as well.

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | pianist | waitress | suicide | restaurant owner | 

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Genres:

Romance | Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany Hungary

Language:

German English Hungarian

Release Date:

21 October 1999 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Gloomy Sunday

Filming Locations:

Alster, Hamburg, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,102 (USA) (20 June 2003)

Gross:

$223,827 (USA) (21 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Studio Hamburg Filmproduktion, Dom Film GmbH, PolyGram Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film has been running daily at the Academy Arts Centre Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand since 2001 - and you still have book in advance because it is sold out (it's shown in a small 11-seat theatre).

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Soundtracks

"Gloomy Sunday"
Version from Artie Shaw
Music by Alliance AG
Music by Schweiz

User Reviews

Perhaps I can shed some light

...on why this film is doing well in communities unafraid to see subtitled films. For one thing, the beginning and ending create and resolve a compelling mystery (most of the film is a flashback). For another, you may or may not believe that a song could drive people to suicide, but you must admit it is a beautiful, sad and haunting melody. The story held my interest, as did the characters. The other obvious appeal was the opportunity to gaze endlessly at the incredibly lovely and angelic Erika Marozsán. I am female and straight and I could not get enough of looking at her; I could easily believe that she might inspire a piece of music that conveyed its composer's hopeless longing for her. (And he wasn't so hard to look at himself!) The only thing I couldn't figure out about Mr. Simpson's comments was what the film had to do with New Zealand. Now I know: nothing! :-)

According to the Los Angeles Times review of this film, "The song was actually composed in 1935 by Rezsö Seress, with lyrics by László Jávor, and did in fact accompany a number of suicides as Europe grew darker; Billie Holliday recorded a popular American version." So I guess it's not so far-fetched after all! Who knew?