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Hukkle (2002)

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23 comments in total

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18 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
speechless movie to make you speechless, 25 November 2002

Author: jozsefbiro from Budapest, HUNGARY

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The life of a small and poor Transdanubian village is presented in "the movie of noises". Dead and live matter, plants, animals and human beings are all shown as part of a greater unity. Noise is everything here: wind and water, cars and carriages, pigs, cats and moles, human activities like preparing food in the kitchen or the beat of sewing machines in a workshop are all equally important in the well composed symphony of noises. As a consequence, human actors do not speak: more precisely they occasionally do but we cannot hear what they say and their speech is just part of the noise. As the wonderfully photographed scenes advance in a slow pace, a dark and sad human ballad unfolds. The seemingly idyllic pictures hide a sick and hopeless local society where men are mostly useless and unemployed, where wives poison their husband (and accidentally others) and where all this is accepted as a fact of life. The story ends with the desperate expression of the local policeman who - although he is aware of all this - cannot decide what to do as practically all women (including his mother) is involved in the murders.

This is indeed a very strong movie, especially if you consider that it is the debut of a young director. The style, the visual and musical language is innovative and captures the viewer. I am not sure that the extreme story (the series of the murders) is really in place, perhaps a simpler, more down-to-earth story would have been a better choice, although I accept that the contrast of the dark and shocking story and the idyllic pictures adds extra and needed spice to the film.

In summary, this is in the "must" category. If you have a chance, go and see it!

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17 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
A triumph of minimalism, 12 February 2005

Author: slake09 from Silver Lake, Ohio, USA

This film challenges the idea that we need dialogue to define human interaction, or even interaction between humans, animals and the environment. There simply is no dialogue, just a bit of murmuring in the background and some singing near the end. It may sound boring, but isn't because you are constantly wondering what will happen next.

The movie covers the life of a small Hungarian village during the course of, more or less, one day. You see the people, the animals, underground, underwater, in the air, everything. Camera angles are exploited relentlessly to show every little thing, from a car door being unlocked to a fish striking at a swimming frog.

Because of the lack of dialoge, many things are up to the viewer's interpretation. One person may come up with a completely different view of what happened in the movie than another, even if they were watching it together. I watched this with my girlfriend, the red-haired queen of late night cinema, and we had a terrific argument over our differing opinions on what exactly had transpired in the movie. During the argument, she seized a burning stick from the fireplace and commenced beating me with it to emphasize her point, thereby proving the supremacy of a piece of wood over well-constructed film criticism.

This film should be seen by anyone who enjoys experimental film in any way, or simply wants to see something different but not boring. It is not over-repetitive, nor is it slow moving in any way. I applaud the director who can not only conceive of such a movie, but execute it in an interesting and watchable way.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
On my behalf, the movie is not about murder. It is simply about the cycle of life; mainly different causes of death thus beginning of life., 31 March 2005

Author: afiye tolsun from Turkey

I saw Hukkle two years ago at the national film festival of Istanbul (2002). One of my favorite films and number one in its own, unique category. Every comment is acceptable but with an objective approach i would say that the movie basically explains how murder is actually only death. there is no killer, or victim but death is just a part of the life chain; whatever the cause. And "murder" only exists in "supernatural" (ex. Hollywood) films.

Great film, wonderful. The subject in one hand, the cinematography in the other.. the colors and the natural cycle is shown as it is. Loved it. I just want to be able to buy the original DVD. Any clue anyone. Preferably online...?

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Ingenious film sans dialogue, 28 April 2003

Author: amzo from Bay Area, CA

There is something very mesmorizing about the rythmic hiccuping of an old man and the shots of pastoral Hungary. But that is not all the film is about. This debut film by Gyorgy Palfi hopefully is the first of many great films. At first this film may seem like a documentary about daily life in a small village, yet it becomes much more, and if you don't pay attention, you may miss the underlying story of a murder mystery. Also, the contrast of country life and technology is shown subtly.

At our showing of Hukkle at the SF International Film Festival, we were lucky enough to have the director present and he answered questions about the film. Though this film is fiction, the underlying occurences actually happened in a small village in Hungary in the 1900s.

Wonderful cinematography, beautiful scenery, unique sounds, and an original idea all contribute to making this film awe-inspiring.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Truly unique!, 1 February 2004

Author: Red-125 from Upstate New York

Hukkle (2002), written and directed by György Pálfi, fits into no

genre. It's a Hungarian film, with almost no dialogue, and it's truly

unique.

The work "hukkle" is an attempt to imitate the sound of a hiccup.

Throughout a movie--set in a rural Hungarian village--an old man

sits by the side of a road and hiccups. Meanwhile, life in and

around the village goes on as people eat, work, and play.

Despite the idyllic nature of the landscape, something bad is

happening in the village. A police officer is investigating a crime,

and the director appears to be providing clues for us about what's

happening and why.

I never solved the mystery. The film curator at the George

Eastman House in Rochester--where the film was screened-- told us he

had seen the movie five or six times, and would explain the

mystery to us after we'd watched the film. When he gave us his

explanation, many members of the audience disagreed with him.

Maybe you have to see the movie five times to get it, or maybe after five

viewings you lose it.

According to the curator, this film is due out on DVD, and it's worth

finding and watching. Hukkle is strange, and somewhat

disturbing, but it's not boring.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
hypnotic, 11 July 2003
Author: insomnia from Australia

The setting for this most unsettling of films from 27 year old director, Gyorgy Palfi, is a tiny village somewhere in Hungary. The scene is one of bucolic

boredom - at least that's what you might think, if you don't pay attention. We see an old man sitting outside his house: he has the hiccups. We see a girl feeding a dog while listening to music through a headset. Men play a game of skittles. A man herds a pig down a street. Woman busily at work in a clothing factory. A

husband and wife and their children, sit down to lunch. A mole burrows, and

hens peck for worms. Palfi's camera lovingly observes these rituals of everyday life: farm machinery, insects at work, flowers blossoming, a lone jet fighter screams overhead. Pigs mate, meals are carefully prepared, then hungrily

consumed. A body lays rotting on the bottom of a lake, while above, a couple

fish for their dinner. A cat dies of poison meant for humans. People die. Funerals are held. There is a serial killer about. There is no dialogue, but the soundtrack teems with a veritable chorus of machinery whirring, bees humming, pigs

grunting, moles scratching. Never does one's attention flag during the film's economical 75 minutes running time. This is one 'out of the box', allright. 7 out of 10

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Wow. Great film., 2 June 2003

Author: plaidpotato from United States

It's hard to describe this film. It's quite unique. The closest I can compare it to are maybe the Cremaster films of Mathew Barney, but it's really something all of its own.

Hukkle is kind of a symphony of sights and sounds, without any real dialogue. It's just rhythms and patterns and cause and effect, and it's very very cool. Often funny, often disturbing, always fascinating. It's sort of like a nature documentary, with humans as just one of the subjects, just one part of the ecosystem. And underneath it all, there's a strange murder mystery.

I saw this film as part of the Seattle International Film Festival. I hope it gets a wider release, because I'd like to see it again. I want to work out some of the details that I missed the first time through.

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Lyrical Drama, 10 February 2003

Author: meanrat1 from Netherlands

Unique! This film doesn't describe itself easily, but above all it's a very lyrical film underlined with a beautiful dramatic story about the life on the country somewhere in Hungary. All seems to go very peacefully, but somewhere underneath the skin it's like the animals in the film want to say that there is definately something going on!

The way you will find out about what is going on will leave you speechless for some time, wanting to see the movie again to possibly find hidden clues and/or messages you've failed to see the first time. This may be the best film that'll be released this year...

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Eating and being eaten, 15 June 2003
Author: meitschi from Vienna, Austria

I am happy that so many people from different countries have liked this Hungarian film - which is quite rare. I loved it, it is very cool, innovative and fascinating. The photography and sound design are excellent. I think it is not by chance that the first member of the crew named in the opening credits is precisely the sound designer.

You have to have some patience to get really into the film, but afterward, it is really worth it. Lots of black humor about eating and being eaten. In fact, eating does not mean anything good in this film...

The morale of the story is well summarized in the closing folksong "Ki az urát nem szereti" (Who does not love her husband). The only time where words are used in this film to say something....

And yes: "Hukkle" does not mean anything on Hungarian, it is an onomatopoetic (sound-imitating) word that imitates the sound of a hickup. (The real Hungarian word for hickup is "csuklás".)

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Sit, watch, listen, 4 February 2003

Author: MrCz from Rotterdam, Netherlands

I saw this movie on this years International Film Festival of Rotterdam. The reason I really love this film is not so much the story which isn't very outstanding. It is the way the story is being told. Almost no talking, just fabulous images and sounds. If you like any work of Bert Haanstra you will surely love this film.

If you have any chance to attend a screening: go go go!!

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