Control

Weird, whacky, amusing, unsettling with a thumpingly good soundtrack, Kontroll is a funky cult-style adventure in the Budapest subway system, the scarily unbalanced but mostly good-hearted (and fictitious) ticket inspectors, their adversaries, games of dare, the weirdos that play games of evasion, a gorgeous woman dressed in a teddy bear suit and so many other out-there and unpredictable aspects that you never know whether a seen will make you laugh or jump. Not for the very squeamish. The movie is perhaps slightly longer than it needs to be, but the aesthetic ending more than makes up for the sometimes dissipated storyline. The ingenious lighting and costumes, and the sheer audacity of the script and execution shriek of great things to come from this director.

The Independent Film Channel has been screening the full length version of Kontroll (111 minutes by my reckoning), widescreen, with nice clear subtitles. I watched the first 3 minutes and was hooked, open-mouthed, for the duration of the movie. The stunning "railing" sequence, a spine-tingling dolly shot that simply refuses to cut away, is like one of those dreadful nightmares wherein one is being chased by the dark, hooded figure who gets ever closer ... in fact the entire movie is a dream-state, a blossoming of those flowers of evil any city dweller has sensed in a subway late at night, when there are few people around ... it took me back to my days (or nights) working late in the West End of London, and catching the last, late underground train home ... Strange that nobody has commented on the way the movie navigates the low-key sexual tensions between the (almost entirely male) characters, with the leader of the rival "railing" gang making a gay-baiting comment about his antagonist ... and thus it is even more interesting that the young woman - Bela's daughter - is reductively described by many reviewers as Bulscu's 'girlfriend' when she doesn't really fulfil that prosaic a dramatic function, any more than the 'pusher/shadow' is a literal serial killer in the manner, say, of Lustig's 'Maniac'. She occupies a similar space to the magnificent owl, a being that sees what is going on in the darkness (and that also is sacred to Athena, goddess of -among other things- wisdom). And while the subtitles refer to her as wearing a "bear" suit, viewers on IMDb and amazon seem to think she's in a "bunny" suit, while I would swear she's in a kangaroo cozzie. In fact the presence of real or masquerade animals in the movie is mythically interesting - I counted 3 dogs, for instance, and was reminded of the 3-headed dog Cerberus, the Guardian of the Underworld in classical mythology (also a reference Fincher made in 'Se7en') I could write reams about this astounding movie. Dream-like, nail-biting, humane and terrifying in equal measure, it's a work of which all involved in its making must be amazingly proud. And can anyone identify the brilliant young man who plays the dazzlingly choreographed fare-dodger, spraying Tibor's face with ... what ? Crazy Foam ? Shaving cream ? ... and parcouring magnificently down the escalator before meeting his (shocking) fate ?

This is just an amazing and wonderful film. It's funny, romantic, creepy, exciting and thought provoking. Too bad this weekend people are lining up to see A Lot Like Love.

The photography is dazzling, the music heart pounding, the acting is masterful... It's been a while since i enjoyed a movie this much. Hope you get a chance to see this, you won't regret it.

The movie is a very strange and quirky dark tale of a bunch of outcasts that spend their time working as ticket inspectors in the subway, but their leader is a haunting and charming guy that is obviously dealing with his demons and has exiled himself to the subway. In his quest for finding life again, so much stuff happens. The story is beautiful, but pretty dark and creepy at times, and the romantic plot between him and the gorgeous teddy bear girl in which both share their "outcastness" is perfect.

Please go see this, you deserve it.

for the first time again since Avalon I felt completely lifted to another world... I didn't know what to expect when I decided to watch this one tonight as opener for the Fantasy Film Fest in Hamburg... I was skeptical since the last openers were highly promoted but quite dull... This one is different... A team of very different persons work together as ticket inspectors... each of them is differently weird but fun to watch... The whole movie happens in the subway and stations... no daylight... The images are great and the music fits perfectly to this extraordinary composition. Just don't ask what this movie is about... or if there is a story being told... I don't know... I don't care... I loved to watch and I hope to join this ride soon again...

What an unexpected pleasure! It doesn't happen very often to me that I go watch a movie completely in the dark; when I do, it's usually because somebody dragged me to it - as was the case here - and more often than not, I regret it afterwards. This was a very welcome exception. What a find! This movie has simply everything: great characters, superb cinematography, a kick-ass soundtrack; it's a comedy, a mystery thriller, a drama and a romance - and the performances and the direction are flawless. The main storyline follows Bulcsù, who is a ticket inspector for the Budapest subway. He lives in the dark, depressing tunnels below the city and never leaves them, having chosen his own personal hell after a life above which he seems to desperately want to forget. Bulcsù is a very ambiguous character and it's precisely the ambiguity and the symbolism of his story which make this film stand out for me. You have to fill in a lot of the blanks yourself and the further the story progresses, the more you're left wondering and guessing. I will not spoil anything here, but what makes me call this film great instead of just very good, is that there is a wide range of different interpretations possible for this marvelous movie, from the mainstream one to the dark and disturbing or even the religious - and they all work beautifully. Great, smart entertainment and outstanding cinema. 10 out of 10.

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