Gloomy Sunday (1999)

Follows three men who are in love with a most beautiful waitress: An intellectual restaurant owner, a mysterious musician and an erratic businessman; taking place during the WWII.

Director:

Rolf Schübel

Writers:

Ruth Toma (screenplay), Rolf Schübel (screenplay)

Stars:

Joachim Król, Erika Marozsán, Stefano Dionisi

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
Áron Sipos	...	Arzt (as Aron Sipos)
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:

suicide | sex | jumping off a bridge | world war two | unrequited love | 

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Genres:

Romance | Drama

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Certificate:

12

Details

Country:

Germany Hungary

Language:

German English Hungarian

Release Date:

21 October 1999 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Gloomy Sunday

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

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 Nazi called Wieck, played by Ben Becker, is a fictionalized SS Col. Kurt Becher, the who was acquitted in Nuremberg of war crimes and who ended up the richest man in Germany.

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Goofs

When the trio goes to a movie theater, they watch a newsreel that declares that the song "Gloomy Sunday" "drove 157 people in Hungary to suicide in the past eight weeks." We don't know whether that statement ever actually appeared in a German newsreel during the war. In any event, there is no evidence that the song ever actually drove more than a handful of people--if any--to suicide.

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Quotes

László: Everyone would like it all: something for the body, something for the soul. Something that fills you up, something that makes you hungry.

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Shoot the piano player!

Rolf Schubel, the director, has created a movie around a menage a trois that was very civilized. Ilona loves Joachim, but she also loves Andras, the piano player. Andras, is the composer of the suicide provoking song that was the rage of the 30s in Budapest, as well as in the rest of Europe.

The setting is a somehow fancy restaurant in Budapest at the onset of World War II. Laszlo, the owner, is having an affair with Ilona, his assistant, who also works at the restaurant. Enter Andras: Ilona is instantly smitten by his good looks, his obvious youth, in contrast with Joachim, who is much older but might not be exactly what she wants to find between her sheets. Joachim goes along with the very civilized arrangement among them. One night is spent with Andras and the next one with Laszlo, who after all, is the one with the money and paying the bill!

Of course, the story is too good to be true. There is Hans, the young German who adores the fine cuisine offered at the restaurant and is taken with Ilona's beauty. Hans will return as a Nazi officer and he'll be the force that destroys the happiness of this trio and who, at the end, has to pay for the horrible things he did in his youth. This part was very predictable, since one knows after seeing so many stories like this, it always ends tragically because of Nazis, even friendly ones, as Hans was, deep down inside hates Joachim because he had what he never could have, Ilona. Therefore, Joachim will have to disappear from the picture.

The film is easy to watch. The melody will stay with the viewer forever, but alas, like a good Hungarian dishes, too much paprika will spoil the goulash.