Gloomy Sunday (1999) User Reviews

Exquisite entertainment

[raymond-15 · 8/10 · 12 January 2003]

Fact and fiction combine to provide a delightfully entertaining film about a restaurant in Budapest. Clientele flocked there for the good food, the good music and I daresay the beautiful Ilona who served on the tables. What more could one wish for? Unfortunately the good times do come to an end when the Nazis sweep into Hungary and decide forthwith to eliminate the Jewish population.

Strange as it may seem the whole theme of the film revolves around a plaintive tune which first gained popularity in Budapest, later in Europe and then the whole world. The words to the song called "Gloomy Sunday" are full of despair.

The clients who came to the restaurant always asked for this particular melody to be played on the grand piano. It is played many times during the film. It is haunting and addictive. We find ourselves wanting to hear it again and again such is its hypnotic power.

All praise to Erika Marozsan who provides the romantic interest as Ilona in the story. I am told she is a newcomer to the screen, but as an actor she will surely be much sought after in the future. She is beautiful and her close-ups full of feeling. She has lovely hands that caress a lover's face with such gentle charm. She is much admired by Lazlo (Joachim Krol) owner of the restaurant and also by Andras (Stefano Dionisi) newly appointed pianist and composer of "Gloomy Sunday".

All goes well for the threesome until the arrival of a Nazi officer (Ben Becker) who takes a fancy to Ilona despite her constant rebuttals. In their position of power Nazis have the means of disposing of people who stand in their way.

This is a film of contrasts. First we have the beautiful setting which is Budapest, romantic songs and people in love. Then we have the Nazi occupation, loss of freedom and threats of Auschwitz.

This film must be seen to the end. There is an amazing twist of Fate in the last few minutes and it seems to me that at last in some remarkable way justice is seen to be done.

Surprise, surprise - this is good!

[Pucki · 9/10 · 21 November 1999]

I did not necessarily expect this to be a real good movie. Stories taking place during the Nazi regime and WW2, especially when made by Germans, sometimes tend to be ultra-politically-correct. But, surprise, surprise. Rolf Schübel's first feature (he did documentaries before) uses backdrop of Nazi-occupied Budapest to deliver a meaningful "menage-a-quatre", wrapped in a free interpretation of creation of famous suicide hymn "Gloomy Sunday". Fine acting all over the place, especially by Krol and Becker (still brave in German moviemaking to show a Nazi not as a complete monster, even if he is, after all, the bad guy), and despite the overall sad story executed surprisingly lighthanded. Drama, a touch of humor, some suspense and even some sex (however, the latter seems to be unnecessary sometimes - it would have worked without or with less). Not to be forgotten: excellent soundtrack album, including several versions of "Gloomy Sunday". Definitely one of the best German movies of 1999.

A Wonderful Movie That Is Not "Gloomy"

[sweetnlowdown2 · 7/10 · 24 July 2003]

"Gloomy Sunday" was a movie I happen to see by chance. Apparently my city is the only city in North America that is showing this movie. It is playing in one theatre in a small suburb. My father and I went to see this movie he wanted to see it because we are Hungarian and wanted to hear what kind of music would be played. To my surprise I found that I had actually enjoyed the movie. My expectations were low, only because I didn't have a clue as to what to expect but, I'm very happy I saw this film. It's one of the best films I've seen so far this year. The movie is about a few things. One of it's main story-lines concerns a love triangle concerning Laszlo (Joachim Krol), Ilona (Erika Marazan) and Andras (Stefano Dionisi). Laszlo owns a restaurant and Ilona is his girlfriend. Laszlo is hoping to have some music in his restaurant and hires a piano player, Andras. Andras likes Ilona. And Ilona it seems likes Andras. So he movie it seems will be a love story set during the beginning of WW2. But, there's also another story building. Andras has written a song called "Gloomy Sunday". He has written for Ilona. But soon the song becomes a hit. It's a beautiful song that seems to have a very strange effect on whoever listens to it. Soon afterwards people are committing suicide. And here we have a case of fact stranger than fiction. For it is this part of the story that is actually true. "Gloomy Sunday" is based on this story with the love theme used as a backdrop. I don't know if or when this movie will be wider release in North America. But I hope people will go see this movie. In fact though I doubt that people from this country have even heard of this movie. Here is a movie that NEEDS to be better known. It is a small gem. *** out of **** or a 7\10.

Haunting is the only way to describe the melancholic film Gloomy Sunday.

[Chris_Gardner · 21 October 2002]

The adult-orientated film explores such heavy issues as love, jealousy, hatred and betrayal in a graphic way that leaves the viewer reeling for hours afterwards. The German film, with English subtitles, begins in modern times at a Budapest restaurant where an elderly couple are enjoying a meal to celebrate the man's 80th birthday. He asks for the musicians to play 'that famous song' as he focuses on a photograph of a beautiful young woman at the piano. As the violin plays the notes of Gloomy Sunday he keels over and dies. What follows is not so much a 'whodunit' but who died and why. The audience is taken to pre-war Budapest restaurant owned by László Szabó (Joachim Król), a Jew, and his waitress and sometimes girlfriend Ilona Varniá (Erika Marozán). As the story unfolds the audience is introduced to the pianist András Aradi (Stefana Dionisi), who falls for Ilona, and composes the haunting Gloomy Sunday in her honour. A German industrialist, Hans Eberhard Wieker (Ben Becker), becomes a regular at the restaurant and he, too, falls for Ilona's charms. As the film progresses, and the men are vying for Ilona's affections, the song is recorded and sweeps the world. So heart-breaking is the song that more than one hundred people commit suicide while listening to it on their gramaphone. Some of these suicides are shown on screen. As World War II breaks out Wieker becomes a colonel in the German army and has a power over the other two men that, ultimately, leads to disaster for all involved. From a production point of view Gloomy Sunday cannot be faulted with authentic locales, clothes and music. Gloomy Sunday is a complex story that deals with the depravity of man, and its disastrous effects, as the three male leads share one women. Set against the backdrop of the holocaust there are elements of Schindler's List and a tone that matches Jane Campion's The Piano. Definitely an adult movie.

A " menage-a-trois" can be terribly pathetic

[crisbob · 10/10 · 7 April 2002]

Beautiful Budapest, end of the thirties. Lazlo Szabo a middle-aged jew Hungarian runs a chic restaurant with a beautiful waitress,Ilona who is also his mistress. One day they decide to hire a pianist, and it's Ilona who choose. And it's a good choice because the handsome young man, Andras, creates a wonderful mood on the premises. Little by little he falls desperately in love with Ilona and composes specially for her a song, very melancholic, and a bit misterious. He calls it " Gloomy sunday ". This song brings surprisingly a lot of suicides. The love-triangle functions pretty well until the time a german customer, Hans, who comes regularly in the restaurant falls in love with Ilona, without success.A few years later the german army invades Hungary, Hans is back as a highly placed officer and the jewish condition of Lazlo is going to complicate the lives of the four protagonists. This movie is a master- piece and I'd bet if the film had been produced in Hollywood with Stone, Douglas and Harrison Ford, directed by Cassavetes it would have gained several Oscars. It has all a movie fan can expect from a good film -and more. Beautiful scenery, very good story, marvelous music, talent of the actors, and even a bit of sex. I rarely see a picture twice on the same day. This time I did.

A triangle of love in the time of the Nazis

[DennisLittrell · 10/10 · 7 May 2010]

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

This is the kind of movie that brings to us a deep and abiding sadness that ultimately results in what the Greek tragedians called catharsis. Set in Budapest just before and during World War II we see the tragedy that engulfed Europe played out in a triangle of love involving a Jewish restaurateur, Laszlo (Joachim Krol), a brilliant young pianist, Andras (Stefano Dionisi), and a beautiful waitress Ilone (Ericka Marozsan). That triangle is besieged by an outsider who is the antithesis of all that love should be. He is Hans Wieck (BenBecker), a German Nazi.

Ericka Marozsan who plays the waitress Ilone is strikingly beautiful and sweetly and irresistibly charming as she must be since the two men agree to share her. They can't help themselves and in differing ways she loves them both. Whom she doesn't love is Hans Wieck.

Like so many movies set during this most shameful time for Europe and much of humankind in general, there is something close to an idyllic scene before the deluge, and then it all come apart in the most horrific way, with the cattle cars and the mindless brutality of genocide and war. And yet there were those who endured, signified in the movie as Ilone puts it, "après le deluge, nous"(which is a play on the words of France's Louis XV who supposed said in the face of revolution, " après moi, le deluge," meaning after they kill me, the flood.

(This is an almost totally irrelevant aside, but as I looked up the Louis XV quote I ran across a surprising but strangely apt usage of the phrase by Roger Bannister, the first person to break the four minute barrier in the mile race. He is quoted as saying "après moi, le deluge," meaning in his case, "after I break four minute mile barrier, there will be many others." He was right.) The plot revolves around a song "Gloomy Sunday," composed by the piano player. The song is sadly beautiful and for some people the effect is so intense that they kill themselves.

Now to a kind of explication of the story from the point of view of who got what and what the moral or existential lesson of the movie might be.

The film begins in the present. We see a maitre d' of a restaurant in Budapest--or perhaps he is the owner--awaiting an important party that will dine at his restaurant. They arrive. They are German. They dine. The song is played and the important man who had been there many years before during the war falls dead. We don't know it but he is the last victim of the song, and he is the ex-Nazi Hans, now a very successful business man. The maitre d' is the son of the beautiful waitress. But we don't know that yet. This is the kind of film that, when it is over, you will want to go back and see the initial scene again. When you do you will realize that it wasn't the song that killed him. The only way most people will realize that is to see the opening scene again. If you missed it, don't feel bad. I didn't even get it completely until just few moments ago.

Who got what? The evil Nazi who betrayed a friend and forced himself upon a woman he supposed loved and then betrayed her, became rich, successful and lived into his eighties. The brilliant composer died by his own hand ironically with the gun of the Nazi oppressor. The Jewish restaurateur, who is a wise and deeply loving man, is sent away on a cattle car and is never heard from again. Ilone is given the restaurant and bears a son. There is some ambiguity about who the father might be. He could be any of the three men. Since the way the scenes are ordered forcing us to see her pregnant at the grave of the young composer, yet only after she has been forced into intercourse by the Nazi, we are uncertain. The cinematic timing would suggest Hans, but what she says to the grave of the composer suggests the child is his. However when we see in retrospect (in the first scene of the movie) the man identified as her son (the maitre d') it is clear that the restaurateur is the father.

So who triumphs? Nobody of course. The seduction of Europe by fascism was a great tragedy for Europe. Ilone survives and the restaurateur survives in the person of his son. Again what is the message? And I think the answer is, there is no message, there is no contrived or ordered moral to the story. There are only the blunt and mindless facts of what happened to these people and to Europe leading to a sense of the melancholy mystery of life for which we have no answer.

Ericka Marozsan is my new true love. She is talented, captivating, sensuous, smooth and very winning. She is a bit too beautiful for these old eyes to bear. It is funny that I had never seen her before, but she plays mostly in Hungarian productions.

Excellent movie

[Dellamore · 10/10 · 30 December 2002]

It doesn't happen very often that I rate a movie 10 out of 10. Not even "Citizen Cane" got this highest mark.

But "Gloomy Sunday" really deserves it. A film that brings real pulsating life onto the big screen: Love - (mainly) three men who try to find their luck with the same woman.

Friendship - between two men and a woman. Loyalty to the end. Betrayal - Hans turns out not to be a real friend of Ilona and László. Melancholia - they do what they have to do, what life demands of them. Passion - in the good and the bad sense of that word. Revenge - not all sinners can get away with it, even if it takes time... The background for all this is the 30s and 40s in Budapest, Hungary, the Nazi threat right before your entrance door.

You might argue that the song itself isn't as powerful as you might expect it. All right. But the script is superb, a story that could really have happened like this, a narrative that doesn't bore you and develops it's characters properly so you understand them. Without inflating them to some unrealistic capsules. The figures aren't painted black and white, there is the grey you usually find in real life. The performances of the main actors are superb. Thinking of Ben Becker and Joachim Król this isn't a surprise. But also Erika Marozán and Stefano Dionisi, which I haven't seen in another movie before, do everything to grant them an Academy Award.

Maybe I can't express my admiration properly in English (which is a foreign language for me), but if anything I wrote gave you the idea that the movie might be interesting ... give it a try!

Masterpiece

[fregenold · 10/10 · 6 July 2020]

I wrote this review in December of 2012 when the movie was titled "Gloomy Sunday." A great movie experience. I'm 82 (then) and had been watching movies since I was 18 months old, held in my mother's arms. This is an unforgettable film. Every facet is superb. The acting is flawless, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the gripping story has every human emotion imaginable. It's hypnotic from start to finish, but keep in mind, you have to be attentive. There are some subtle touches that can go unnoticed if you're not carefully observing and listening, and missing them can possibly deprive you of fully understanding and enjoying the fantastic ending. The skilled director doesn't use a heavy hand, and that's admirable. Every single actor gives a perfect performance. Having studied acting for five years, I must mention that they don't act, they behave. Erika Marozsán's portrayal is colossal!. I've fallen in love with her. Even if I were 18 months old now, there's a scene with Joachim Król I'd remember the rest of my life. I've viewed that particular scene about eight times. Gut-wrenching, yet inspirational. Never in my life have a watched any movie four times, and I just saw this one again for the fourth time... in one week! If not for IMDb and Netflix, I would never have heard of it. And it received no nominations for the Academy Awards. Ridiculous! This is truly a masterpiece! I'd never written a review for IMDb before this, but for this film I had to do it. I cannot praise this movie enough!

Shoot the piano player!

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 31 May 2004]

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.

a fascinating moral parable

[lsimmonds · 8/10 · 28 August 2006]

This beautiful and moving film provides via a sensitively handled love affair an intriguingly subtle morality play.

The owner of a restaurant saves the life of a German who is trying to commit suicide after being turned down - by the restaurateur's mistress.

This character goes on to achieve power as a Nazi. He uses his power to save 1000 Jews from the concentration camps, and makes a fortune for himself in the process.

He does good simply to benefit himself. Was it right to save his life? Had he died, so many other lives would not have been saved. His life is interlinked with the lives and deaths of other people.

It would be unfair to elaborate further on this theme, as it would give away the plot.

The film also returns to the idea of life and death with its theme of suicide; suicide being the ultimate way to take control of your own life.

With all of these thoughts, it is still an entertaining and uplifting movie, with the most exquisite theme. Life and death are united in the English lyrics given at the end, which combine gloom and hope in the most extraordinary fashion.

A fair bit of philosophy built into a simple and tastefully done move makes for good entertainment.

The Final Cut

[valis1949 · 7/10 · 12 July 2013]

GLOOMY Sunday (dir. Rolf Schubel) A haunting and award winning German film that offers an imagined account of the making of the Hungarian pop song, 'Gloomy Sunday', and some of the mysterious history surrounding the tune.

This song is tied to a recurring urban legend that claims that many people committed suicide with this song playing, however when you check the facts, there seems to be no real evidence to support this allegation. This lugubrious pop tune happened to be written at the outbreak of WWII, and to make the claim that this song caused more people to end their lives than the immediate prospect of a world war seems almost too silly to imagine.

However, the film becomes more successful when it shuns the metaphysical aspects of the song's legend to develop a (fictional?) love triangle between the composer of the song and his employer and girlfriend who run the restaurant where the pianist entertains the patrons. The film slips into melodrama as the Germans occupy Hungary, and another possible lover of the restaurant's hostess is introduced who happens to become a colonel in the Nazi SS.

Although the film veers dangerously close to mawkishness, the 'doomed romance' described in the film does allow for somewhat of an entertaining experience.

The Song of Love and Death

[Galina_movie_fan · 8/10 · 22 October 2008]

Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod directed by Rolf Schübel in 1999 is a romantic, absorbing, beautiful, and heartbreaking movie. It started like Jules and Jim; it ended as one of Agatha Christie's books, and in between it said something about love, friendship, devotion, jealousy, war, Holocaust, dignity, and betrayal, and it did better than The Black Book which is much more popular. It is not perfect, and it made me, a cynic, wonder in the end on the complexity of the relationships and sensational revelations, and who is who to whom but the movie simply overwhelmed me. Perfect or not, it is unforgettable. All four actors as the parts of the tragic not even a triangle but a rectangle were terrific. I do believe that three men could fell deeply for one girl as beautiful and dignified as Ilona in a star-making performance by young Hungarian actress Erica Marozsán and who would not? The titular song is haunting, sad, and beautiful, and no doubt deserves the movie been made about it and its effect on the countless listeners. I love the movie and I am surprised that it is so little known in this country. It is a gem.

The fact that it is based on a story of the song that had played such important role in the lives of all characters made me do some research, and the real story behind the song of Love and Death seems as fascinating as the fictional one. The song was composed in 1930s by Rezsö Seress and was believed to have caused many suicides in Hungary and all over Europe as the world was moving toward the most devastating War of the last century. Rezsö Seress, a Jewish-Hungarian pianist and composer, was thrown to the Concentration Camp but survived, unlike his mother. In January, 1968, Seress committed suicide in Budapest by jumping out of a window. According to his obituary in the New York Times, "Mr. Seres complained that the success of "Gloomy Sunday" actually increased his unhappiness, because he knew he would never be able to write a second hit."

Many singers from all over the world have recorded their versions of the songs in different languages. Over 70 performers have covered the song since 1935, and some famous names include Billie Holiday, Paul Robeson, Pyotr Leschenko (in Russian, under title "Mratschnoje Woskresenje"), Bjork, Sarah McLachlan, and many more. The one that really got to me and made me shiver is by Diamanda Galás, the Greek born American singer/pianist/performer with the voice of such tragic power that I still can't get over her singing. Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", and in her work she mostly concentrates on the topics of "suffering, despair, condemnation, injustice and loss of dignity." When she sings the Song of Love and Death, her voice that could've belonged to the most tragic heroines of Ancient Greece leaves no hope and brings the horror and grief of love lost forever to the unbearable and incomparable heights.

8.5/10

Melancholic drama that works for the most part

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 10 March 2016]

"Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod" is a German film from soon 20 years ago written and directed by Rolf Schübel. I have to say I am not really familiar with him, but I see that this one here is really his only famous work, even if he is still working in the industry today. The film runs for slightly under 2 hours, but never really drags which is a decent achievement. The cast includes Joachim Król, Ben Becker, Sebastian Koch, Denis Moschitto and Oscar nominee Ulrike Grote. I am not familiar with the female lead, even if she is really stunning or the third male lead actor. The film is set in Hungary, so it should not come as a surprise that many of the actors for smaller characters are Hungarian themselves.

The movie is about a young woman who is torn between 2, maybe even 3, men, but this is just the side-plot. It's not about whom she will pick as her beloved, it really is a lot more about the political circumstances of that era, especially in the second half of the film when Becker shows up again as a decorated soldier and Hungarian Jews are constantly killed in Nazi gas chambers. So it is a bit a mix of relationship drama and war-themed contents and I liked it. I think Schübel found a good balance between love and death in his film here, as the title already suggests. There are no moments of true greatness, but it is a very watchable film and I was entertained from start to finish. I also like it when characters are fairly unclear if they are good or bad and have shades of character. Becker's is the perfect example for this and even if he probably never reached his father popularity, he is one of the best things about this movie here. I recommend watching it. Thumbs up.

fictional nonsense

[fluffy_gray_cat · 4/10 · 25 May 2005]

This wasn't what I expected out of a WWII film. The whole film seemed like a total insult to what people had to go through during WW2 and the only thing that this film shows is how a stupid love triangle got broken up. At the beginning when the 80 yr old man dropped dead after hearing "the famous song" and people saying that it's cursed, I already had impatience for it. I don't like superstitious themes in any kind of film genre except horror; any other kind of genre seems totally out of place. Pet peeve. The worse part of the film were the characters who I couldn't identify with or hold sympathy for any of them. They were at best self-indulgent, debauched, selfish, had lack of humanity and uncaring for the world around them. I thought the most despicable character was Ilona who expects the world to revolve around her fingers, self-absorbed, manipulative, depraved, and unadaptable. At least Andre had some sort of conscience and killed himself knowing that his music caused suffering instead of getting rich off dead people unlike Laslo. It was war, people (Jews, Poles, Gypsies, etc.) where being hauled off in cattle trains by the minute, Nazis shoot people as sport and seize control of government, homes, businesses and yet a menage a trois was living a happy dissolute life because they have each other... that's suppose to be touching?! Give me a freakin' break!!!

Perhaps I can shed some light

[julane · 18 June 2004]

...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?

Masterpiece

[kireyxof2002 · 10/10 · 27 December 2012]

Gloomy Sunday-IMDb A great movie experience. I'm 82 and have been watching movies since I was five years old. This is an unforgettable film. Every facet is superb. The acting is flawless, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the gripping story has every human emotion imaginable. It's hypnotic from start to finish, but keep in mind, you have to be attentive. There are some subtle touches that can go unnoticed if you're not carefully observing and listening, and missing them can possibly deprive you of fully understanding and enjoying the fantastic ending. The skilled director doesn't use a heavy hand, and that's admirable. Every single actor gives a perfect performance. Having studied acting for five years, I must mention that they don't act, they behave. Erika Marozsán's portrayal is colossal! I've fallen in love with her. Even if I were five years old now, there's a scene with Joachim Król I'd remember the rest of my life. I've viewed that particular scene about eight times. Gut-wrenching, yet inspirational. Never in my life have a watched any movie four times, and I just saw this one again for the fourth time… in one week! If not for IMDb and Netflix, I would never have heard of it. And it received no nominations for the Academy Awards. Ridiculous! This is truly a masterpiece! I've never written a review for IMDb, but for this film I had to do it. I cannot praise this movie enough!

Beautiful

[rupanisp · 10/10 · 13 December 2003]

Beautiful acting and directing. Very well written script.

One woman and three men.

Human Relationship at its best.

One woman can change everything wrong in life...

Restaurant ( Food ) is the most important thing beside woman.

It is better to feel than to think and be creative...

Thanks and Regards.

Sam Rupani

Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

10/10 A masterpiece

[aussiemalwayi · 10/10 · 12 September 2019]

Great storyline which includes Music, Romance, Desires, Sorrow, Nazi invasion, Pain of war. Gorgeous 'Erika Marozsan' is the diamond of this movie. This film won't make you bore for a single minute, A MUST WATCH..

A moving legend created around a moving song

[VoiceOfEurope · 9/10 · 28 June 2007]

We have seen hundreds of portrayals of the horrors of the Holocaust. This bittersweet romantic piece however, does not revolve around it, but keeps a balance between a sensitively depicted threesome of one beautiful woman, a restaurateur and a pianist-composer and the historical background which influenced it and eventually sealed its fate. The film also creates a rather fictitious legend around how the infamously harrowing hit song Gloomy Sunday conceived and left its mark not only on music history but also on demography.

Gloomy Sunday is a very intelligent piece, co-production of Germany and Hungary with the best assets of the two diverse cinematic visionaries combined. It is realistic yet playful, bitter but hope-inducing. A good cast and nicely composed pictures are an extra value. Very well done. Get your handkerchiefs ready. It surely will move you.

Apart from... Open relationship... movie is good.

[afterdarkpak · 6/10 · 17 July 2020]

Its a good movie , with some good soild performance. and good quality production for Hungary cinema. But. open relationship..,, means one beautiful woman banging two guys .?.. in name of love?.. well.. she was with restaurant owner for 4 years. but she drops her panties n fell in love with piano dude in seconds. .. so yeh . she In love with piano guy.. but she doing pity sex for the restaurant guy. by the way... i was not expecting that end... its kinda good surprised ending..

Wow, what a fantastic film

[jimmynz · 8/10 · 13 February 2006]

Contains minor spoilers: Well as you can see in the trivia, the film has been playing at the Arts Center Academy Cinema in Chch, NZ for the past 5 years. I live in Chch, NZ and went to see it yesterday in this very cinema. Cinema- well it's actually a black room with 11 seats, 2 speakers and a 60 inch screen, and a small café outside of it. Going 5 years and still going apparently...

Now I'm no drama lover. Gimme action, horror, scifi any day. Anything with sex and violence and explosions are good. So I had reservations about seeing this. But wow I must say, this is a contemporary classic. It's the sort of film they must be showing film students in Germany, since the film is in German with subtitles.

The 4 main characters are Laszlow (restaurant manager), Ilona (Waitress), Andras (Composer) and Hans (Nazi corporal). It's set in Nazi occupied Hungary during the time Hitler was effecting his 'final solution'. The title 'Gloomy Sunday' comes from the song the composer writes which gains him notoriety, and attracts attention to the (Jewish) restaurant. The film is largely about the love triangle between Andras, Ilona and Laslow. At least until Hans returns half way through the film.

The character of Hans appears initially as a lonely, rejected young German man, who after being rejected by Ilona, comes back years later a changed man, a Nazi colonel on charge of the rounding up of Jews in his area. He turns out to be one of the films most 'important' characters. (I won't give away the ending).

So all in all, there's romance, there's (some) comedy, there's mystery, and it's all tied in with the Nazi's 'final solution'. After you finish the film you walk away feeling the film is very thought provoking... still thinking about each of the characters and how they changed during the course of the film. It's also worth noting too, that this is not an 'artsy fartsy' film. The dialouge is simple and the story is easy to follow. WHich is appreciated since I don't speak German and was reading subtitles.

So anyway, if you don't like dramas but you do like a genuinely good movie, then give this one a try.

fetching

[sriksp · 10/10 · 8 October 2003]

must have seen this over 10 times in 5 days.movie grabs your attention form the very first frame.three things that stand out, the haunting theme song,the very lovely waitress in the restaurant and beautifully photographed budapest.also the very impressive performances by the three male performers.

Captivating In Parts

[SwollenThumb · 7/10 · 15 May 2018]

Captivating in parts. Good production values and WW2 atmosphere except for the restaurant setting - cold and bare. Not my idea of a cosy Hungarian restaurant!

run-of-the-mill love story

[alexandermangoldt · 5/10 · 16 February 2006]

Although I am German and although I found out that a lot of Germans usually talk very fondly of German films (even the bad ones) I just have to resist this impulse. German films are, in comparison to American films, generally very bad. The Americans just know how to entertain whereas the German actors (even the so called good actors) always look clumsy and helpless when they act. I can't think of any German actor that could probably deliver the same performance like the top American actors. Please don't get me wrong: There are some good German films (Das Boot, Sophie Scholl) but usually they have to do with WW II and then it's very often not the actors that make the movie interesting but rather the plot (which is so good that even German actors can't mess it up). There are very many bad American films, too, but still even bad American movies have sometimes very fine actors in it. Anyway, regarding GLOOMY Sunday: Krol doesn't deliver a convincing performance, he just knows how to look sad and happy at the same time. The pathos and melodrama was overdone and the news reel about the people that committed suicide because of the song just made me laugh. Ben Becker displays no passion for his role, he just blurts out the lines of his script and intermittently he tries to look the mean Nazi which doesn't work either. The song of gloomy Sunday is played far too often throughout the movie, I almost had the impression that the director thought every time that he discovered a whole in the plot: Oh, no problem, we'll just play the theme song again. The ending was ridiculous too and had a very controversial message: It says that revenge is OK, and that Eichmann deserved to die (an eye for an eye) and all that BS. You should watch Dead Man walking instead. So, hopefully, we'll be getting some better German movies in the future, I still can't believe that people wasted their money on this one. Maybe I should become a director myself, then we wouldn't have to see bad German films ever again. Watta you think?

Beautiful and powerful

[Gordon-11 · 31 October 2007]

This film is about the life of a woman, who got caught between 2 lovers against a backdrop of the turbulent times of the Holocaust.

Words cannot describe how beautiful and powerful this film is. Everything is excellent. The sets are beautiful, and the scenes are beautifully composed. Ilona is great as the lady which every men would fall in love with. She has this graceful elegance which is very magnetic. Laszlo's work as the restaurant owner is convincing, he has every detail of the restaurant under control. The music is great. When I listened to the song "Gloomy Sunday', I felt this chill spreading through my body, as if I was going to be the next victim. Another highlight for me is the uptight secretary who lives by the book, which is clearly a satire about the German culture. The plot is highly touching and powerful, and I do urge everyone to see this beautiful film.