Unfortunately, as much as I wanted this short to succeed, it has failed miserably in my eyes. I saw this film after it received numerous awards around the world (the latest one at the Sundance Film Festival) and I have to say, I expected much better than this.
There is not much of a story, so there isn't much to spoil, but I won't spoil it because it doesn't even deserve to be mentioned. Naturally, this is not why the film is weak; I think (or at least hope) that everyone has seen good 'Art' films (with a big A) that don't have much of a story, but somehow truly gives back the taste of life and its spirit, and is somehow unique.
I believe this film doesn't have anything in it to compete at the top level. I even doubt that the filmmakers themselves knew what they were trying to achieve. The film looks and feels cheap, the story is weak, the beginning of the film is hilarious and false - although it was intended to be dramatic and dead serious; the film has no real conflict etc.
The worst thing though which can be said about BEFORE DAWN is that it looks and feels like a student film (albeit a high budget one). I just didn't care about the whole thing, and although I tried, I just couldn't immerse myself in the film. There was no film magic you see. Not one good scene, that could save it from disaster. Especially the ending: WHAAH (you'll see)!
I was also disappointed by the fact that the most famous filmmakers of present day Hungary helped the young Bálint Kenyeres make this film. How could they not see how powerless and weak this film is?
I say this all as a Hungarian. In my opinion, if you want to see a good recent Hungarian film check out HUKKLE by György Pálfi. If you want to see good short films, watch British ones. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, overall, Hungarian film still cannot compete with the Western European big guns.
