The Wages of Fear / Sorcerer

I realised the other day I had never seen Henri-George Clouzot's 1953 classic THE WAGES OF FEAR, that highly regarded thriller about the four desperate men driving two trucks of dangerous explosives over rough terrain in a South American jungle. who would survive?. I almost did not like it at the start as the first hour is spent setting the scene, but once they get going, and Yves Montand takes command - boy, does the tension build...

In 1977 William Friedkin, a hot director after THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE EXORCIST (and of course THE BOYS IN THE BAND) did a remake, with stunning colour photography of the jungles and Roy Scheider (hot after JAWS) in the lead, and its super fantastic now, with that great score by Tangerine Dream (me neither), but it, now renamed SORCERER, it was a huge box office disaster, as we were all loving those space operas by George Lucas and Spielberg or living the New York life with Woody Allen (ANNIE HALL) and John Travolta (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER), so SORCERER quickly got lost and disappeared from view, until a new issue recently. Its a keeper and one to see again, even if - like the Clouzot film there is a confusing opening section setting up the characters in various locations like Paris, Jerusalem, New York etc. Highly recommended - if only  for the scenes of the trucks crossing those bridges ... It must have been a tough shoot.
A gangster, a crooked banker, a hitman and an arab terrorist are stranded and on the run in a small village in South America. Their only chance of escape is to drive two trucks filled with unstable nitroglycerin up a long and rocky mountain road in order to plug an escalating oil refinery blaze. With their deadly cargo likely to explode at the slightest bump, the four men must put aside their differences and work together to survive. 
Trapped in squalor, unable to return to the lives they abandoned, they're driven by circumstance to accept a normally unthinkable job. They have to drive old, unstable dynamite from its storage site hundreds of miles over mountain terrain and washed-out roads to the location of an oil well fire so the blaze can be snuffed out. The pay is exorbitant -- but it's commiserate to the danger. The risks are colossal ... and they ultimately have no choice.
SORCERER is tense, suspenseful film-making at its finest. Friedkin creates a palpable sense of place, and Scheider is immensely powerful as a man whose every move suggests that he knows he's doomed. Taut with suspense, completely convincing and breathtakingly human, SORCERER is an unfairly maligned film that delivers in every way.
See both versions and decide which you prefer ...

Frantz, 2016

In the aftermath of World War I in 1919 Germany, Anna notice a stranger placing flowers on the grave of her fiance, Frantz. She now lives with Frantz's parents,  (a doctor who refuses to treat French patients) and his equally upset wife. In fact anti-French feelings run high in the town. The stranger is Adrien and he and Anna slowly get to know each other. He and Frantz were best friends in Paris and then both enlisted in their respective armies ...

This is a slow, languid film with marvellous widescreen black and white photography, with occasional moments of pale colour, and it confounds our expectations of where the story is going. Just when we think it is almost over there follows another departure as Anna travels to Paris to find the missing Adrien and ends up meeting his wealthy family. The upper class milieu of concerts and art galleries is nicely depicted, and is certainly a departure for Francois Ozon, the gay French director who has been very prolific - is it really seven years since his delightful POTICHE (reviews of this and other Ozons (SWIMMING POOL, UNDER THE SAND, 8 WOMEN. TIME TO LEAVE etc at Ozon label).

Paula Beer (new to me) is marvellous as Anna, a quiet controlled performance drawing the camera to her, and Pierre Niney is new too as Adrien. Highly recommended for when one is in the mood for something different (rather like Fassbinder's EFFI BRIEST also with that marvellous monochrome photography and hypnotic slow pace).

Co-scripted by Ozon loosely based on a 1932 Lubitch film BROKEN LULLABY.

RIP, continued

Danielle Darrieux (1917-2017), aged 100. Madame Darrieux, one of France's premier stars clocked up 140 credits, including several classics. I first saw her as Richard Burton's mother Olympias in ALEXNDER THE GREAT in 1956, when a kid, and she  did several other international films like THE GREENGAGE SUMMER, FIVE FINGERS, but will be always remembered for Max Ophuls' THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE ... , LA RONDE and more. She was delightful as the mother in Demy's YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT in 1967, and in her later years was one of Ozon's 8 WOMEN. She also replaced Katharine Hepburn in COCO on Broadway in the 1970s. 
She was tarnished with a Nazi smear during the war years, and one of her husbands was the "legendary" playboy Porfirio Rubirosa. 
See reviews at label.

Rosemary Leach (1935-2017) aged 81. Another venerable British actress it was always a pleasure to see, mainly in television roles as in THE  JEWEL IN THE CROWN and THE CHARMER, and as Mrs Honeychurch in A ROOM WITH A VIEW.

Walter Lassally (1926-2017) aged 90. Acclaimed cinematographer (I attended a lecture he gave at the BFI in the 70s), who was in at the birth of the English New Wave with his luminous work on A TASTE OF HONEY and THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER and TOM JONES. ZORBA THE GREEK in 1964 cemented his reputation and he also shot favourites like THE DAY THE FISH CAME OUT and SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. He also shot several Merchan-Ivory films,including HEAT AND DUST and THE BOSTONIANS. He shot several filmsnin Greece and had moved there.

Fats Domino (928-2017), aged 89. Fats was one of the first rock'n'rollers I saw as a kid, probably in THE GIRL CANT HELP IT or the few other movies in appeared it. we preferred him to the somehow more sleazy Chuck Berry. Fats and Buddy Holly and of course Elvis were our new gods then in those great '55 and '56 years. One only has to hear "blueberry Hill" or "Ain't that a shame" to bring it all back - his jovial brand of New Orleans and Louisiana boogie woogie and rhythm and blues remain timeless and was hugely influential.

Jeanne Moreau, RIP

We are sad indeed to read that French icon Jeanne Moreau has passed away at age 89. Moreau (1928-2017) also sang, directed and wrote screenplays and worked with an impressive roster of directors from her early days through the New Wave to the glory days of the 1960s: Malle, Truffaut, Demy, Antonioni, Losey, Bunuel, Duras, several collaberations with Orson Welles (THE TRIAL, CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, THE IMMORTAL STORY), and Tony Richardson, and in popular films like THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE, THE TRAIN, etc,

 We particularly like her in Demy's BAY OF ANGELS in 1963, and Malle's LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD in  '58 and VIVA MARIA in 1965 with Bardot,
 theres also of course LA NOTTE, LES AMANTS, EVE, THE VICTORS, Ozon's TIME TO LEAVE, and many more in a long,illustrious career., as well as JULES ET JIM and THE BRIDE WOREO BLACK with Truffaut, and LES LIAISONS DANGEROUSES with  Vadim in 1959. Reviews at Moreau label.
 She was also a rather glum MATA HARI in '64. 

Often referred to as "the  French Bette Davis" she could  look beautiful or ravaged at will, her mother was English but after her parents separated she could have grown up in Hove rather than Paris ...

More on these at label, including Fassbinder's QUERELLE - Jeanne was nothing if not adventerous! - not to mention LES VALSEUSES, while Marguerite Duras's 1972 NATHALIE GRANGER is mesmerising. We will remember her long walks around Paris and Milan in those Malle and Antonioni classics, and saw her 1976 director debut LUMIERE at the Film Festival that year, its a surprising charmer.

The French list .....

Continuing our Lists theme, 25 essential French flicks we love, from the Fifties to the Seventies, again two maximum from each director ... (AND, Those French Tough Guys). 

• LA RONDE (1950) / MADAME DE … (1953) - Ophuls. Classic French cinema avec Danielle Darrieux & Co. 
• M RIPOIS (KNAVE OF HEARTS) 1954 / PLEIN SOLEIL (1959) – Rene Clement: Gerard Philipe and Alain Delon both at peak perfection in Clement's perfect films. Maurice Ronet is also terrific in SOLEIL as a very unpleasant Dickie Greenleaf ,,,,
• AND GOD CREATED WOMAN / HEAVEN FELL THAT NIGHT – as was Bardot in 1956 and 1958 in these Vadim scorchers! She WAS the female James Dean.
• LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD (1958) / LE FEU FOLLET (1963) – Malle - Malle's electrifying films still dazzle now, as does Maurice Ronet and Moreau ...
• LOLA (1961) / BAY OF ANGELS (1963) – Demy - 2 gleaming monochrome classics, as good as Demy's musicals, Anouk and Moreau at their best (Of course we love Demy's 2 pastel musicals and his 2 enchanting fairy tales as well, Demy label).
• AMELIE, OU TE TEMPS D’AIMER – Michel Drach, 1961 - not seen since at the Academy in Oxford Street London in 1964 when I was 18. Jean Sorel and a Victorian romance at moody Mont St Michel (my favourite place in France). 
• UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME - Lelouch. We just love Anouk and Trintignant and that lush score and visuals. Perfectly 1966
• LA FEMME INFIDELE / INNOCENTS WITH DIRTY HANDS (1975) – Chabrol's valentines to Stephane and Romy ... (just two from my 14 disk Chabrol set)
• UNDER THE SAND / TIME TO LEAVE – Ozon. A brace of Ozon classics. TIME TO LEAVE is harrowing, Rampling is perfect UNDER THE SAND (as was Deneuve in POTICHE).
• 400 BLOWS / HISTORY OF ADELE H. – Truffaut. Isabelle Adjani mesmerises as Adele H in 1975. and the first Antoine Doinel from 1959 is New Wave personified. 
  
• LES DRAGUEURS  - Mocky. More perfect 1959 French new wave as we take in Paris by night with Anouk and Belinda Lee.
• CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 – Agnes Varda, 1962. 
• LES VALSEUSES - Blier's shocker from 1974 still packs a punch as tearaways young Depardieu and Dewaere go on the rampage, in those flaired jeans. 
• THE BEST WAY TO WALK – Miller. Claude Miller's delicious 1976 drama
• THE WILD REEDS (LES ROSEAUX SAUVAGES)  – Techine. Andre Techine's gay classic from 1994, Gael Morel shines. 
• INDOCHINE – Wargnier - A Deneuve epic from 1992, almost a French GWTW.
  
• CESAR & ROSALIE – Sautet. Romy and Montand are perfect leads. One of Schneider's 6 with Claude Sautet, each is perfect. 
• PLAYTIME -Tati. TRAFIC is fabulous too as Monsieur Hulot goes travelling, 

12 FRENCH TOUGH GUYS:

• RIFIFI – Hossein in Dassin's 1955 masterclass
• MELODIE EN SOUS SOL – Verneuil's 1963 caper with Gabin & hot shot young Delon as they rob a Cannes casino, the playoff is perfect, 
• LE SAMOURAI – Melville's masterpiece from 1967
• LE HOMME D’ RIO – De Broca. Belmondo dazzles in Rio in 1964 with Dorleac. 
• BORSALINO – Deray. Delon and Belmondo ramp up the glamour in 1970
• THE WICKED GO TO HELL - Hossein's slick 1955 thriller with his wife Marina Vlady, and Henri Vidal.
• TOI LE VENIN -  Slick Hossein thriller from 1958, "Night is not for sleep" indeed! 
  
• UNE MANCHE ET LA BELLE (KISS FOR A KILLER) - Super Verneuil 1957 thriller with Vidal and Mylene Demongeot and Isa Miranda. 
• CHAIR DE POULE – Duvivier's jet black thriller from 1963 with Sorel and Hossein (right)
• LE CIRCLE ROUGE / ARMY OF SHADOWS – Melville's downbeat wartime epic with Signoret, Ventura & Co. 

More on all these at labels, particularly PLEIN SOLEIL, MR RIPLEY etc. 

Pour le weekend

Our French favourites: Deneuve, Dorleac, Adjani & Huppert, Aimee, Audran, Hardy, Laforet .... plenty on them at labels! 

Pour le weekend ...

An Alain Delon tribute, using mainly clips from our perennial favourites PLEIN SOLEIL, L'ECLISSE, LE SAMOURAI ...

Above: Renato Salvatori & Alain in Visconti's ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS; Alain with Monica .... and with Visconti and Claudia on THE LEOPARD.

100 today: Danielle Darrieux

Happy 100th birthday to another French legend, the effortlessly elegant Danielle Darrieux, whom we have posted on here a few times. 

In movies since the 1930s, we know her best from classics like Ophuls' MADAME DE ..., ALEXANDER THE GREAT, THE GREENGAGE SUMMER, Demy's LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT, MARIE OCTOBRE, Ozon's 8 WOMEN, Mankiewicz's FIVE FINGERS etc.  Reviews at label.
She joins that select group including Olivia De Havilland, Kirk Douglas, Vera Lynn ... 

For the weekend 2: Samba Saravah

We always like posting items on French legend Anouk Aimee, 85 yesterday - maybe the most glamorous and mysterious of the French stars. We love her in Lelouch's UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME in 1966, here is that yummy Samba sequence again. 

Anouk was also Demy's LOLA in 1961, JUSTINE in 1969 - a favourite cult movie here - and we like her deliciously decadent Queen Bera in Aldrich's campfest SODOM & GOMORRAH in 1962 ... she also pioneered the "sunglasses at night" look with Marcello in Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA, at the dawn of the Sixties. Lots more Anouk at label ...

Male Hunt, 1964

Here's a rarity indeed - I had not even heard of it until pal Jerry found it - AND it features a lot of those European favourites early in their careers back at the dawn of the 1960s. LA CHASSE A L'HOMME (MALE HUNT) features Belmondo, Brialy, Claude Rich, Catherine Denueve and her sister Francoise Dorleac (their only other teaming apart from LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT in 1967), as well as marvellous Marie Laforet, plus Bernadette Lafont and Micheline Presle, Michel Serrault.

Shot mainly in Paris, it includes locations at Rhodes and the ruins at Lindos - a favourite place of mine. It comes across now as an unpretentious comedy, directed by Edouard Molinaro, with a lot of attractive young players, no doubt made for the home market - which is probably why we never heard of it in London then. Belmondo has a nice bit as his usual young rascal. 

This captivating comedy has a number of amusing twists and turns. It stars Jean-Claude Brialy who is determined to get married despite efforts of some people to dissuade him including Claude Rich and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Catherine Denueve, Marie Laforet and Francoise Dorleac are some of the girls. Dorleac is extremely good here, she has never been better, and Laforet is as eye-catching as she was in PLEIN SOLEIL. 

Molinaro (who later directed LA CAGE AUX FOLLES) had a very good eye for comedy. IMDB lists it as a 1964 film but it looks earlier to me - most of the cast were firmly established by then.

An omelette and a glass of wine ...

Its a pleasure to discover Elizabeth David's books on French and Italian food and cooking, originally published in the 1950s and early 60s, when mediterranean food was rare and considered exotic in postwar England, after the age of rationing and wartime shortages.

Long before Mary Berry and Delia, Nigel and Nigella, Jamie Oliver, James Martin and Rick Stein, Rachel Allen and Rachel Khoo, the Chiappa Sisters and The Hairy Bikers and and all the rest with their TV series and books (I won't even mention the ones who annoy me and whom we ignore)  - Elizabeth David (1913-1992) trod a solitary path with her cool prose extolling the virtues of European cuisine in her books and articles for "Vogue" and "The Sunday Times" and other magazines, at a time when now everyday items like olives, figs, garlic, pasta were scare even in London, so she became a major influence on the evolution of British cooking. She was wise to retain her copyrights so was able to republish her writings for her various books. 

AN OMELETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE is a perfect compilation of these articles, covering her travels in France and also Italy - which led to her books ITALIAN COOKING, FRENCH PROVINCIAL COOKING, A BOOK OF MEDITERRANEAN FOOD, SUMMER COOKING, and a little Penguin I first got some decades ago, I WILL BE WITH YOU IN THE SQUEEZING OF A LEMON - included in AN OMELETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE. 

I like this paragraph: "Let's just have an omelette and a glass of wine. Perhaps first a slice of home-made pate and a few olives, afterwards a fresh salad and a piece of ripe creamy cheese or some fresh figs or strawberries.... How many times have I ordered and enjoyed just such a meal in French country hotels and inns in preference to the set menu of truites meuniere, entrecote, pommes paille and creme caramel which is the French equivalent of the English roast and two veg, and apple tart and no less dull when you have experienced it two or three times," 

Viva Elizabeth David - may her books long continue in print to delight us. They also convey that sense of living in postwar London in areas like Kensington and Chelsea, a vanished world now. 
David was following by those other food writers and columnists like Jane Grigson, and Katharine Whitehorn at "The Observer" whose writings became that invaluable book for us young bedsitter folk: COOKING IN A BEDSITTER, and then the young Delia and Lindsey Bareham ... then Mary Berry took over. 

New year re-views 5: Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

LA LA LAND got me in the mood for those Jacques Demy musicals once again - we love THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, but even more, his 1967 THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT, which is sheer endless delight, as per my previous items on it, here's a reprise:

This was bliss to see again recently, to see it in colour and widescreen is magical. It is another all singing musical with great colour and sets – the whole town of Rochefort seems to be dancing at one stage. The sisters Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac star, with hoofers an older Gene Kelly, George Chakiris in tight pants, and a blonde Jacques Perrin as a lovelorn sailor. It all works perfectly now and I urge anyone who has not seen it to seek it out on dvd, as it is not as well known as the more famous Cherbourg film, it is in fact a perfect 60s film, which I have written about here several times already. We also get Danielle Darrieux as the girls' mother, and Michel Piccoli as her admirer.
The BFI dvd includes Agnes Varda's documentary on the film's 25 year anniversary party held at Rochefort, which sadly Francoise Dorleac was a major absentee ...

C for Chabrol ....

My movie buff pal Martin has covered Chabrol's 1968 LA FEMME INFIDELE in his Facebook "Auteurist History of Cinema" feature, under 'C' - which makes me want to see it again, Here is my own 2012 review:

Also to be seen now, goodness knows when, are two Claude Chabrol box sets, 14 films in all!, along with his LA CEREMONIE. We saw a lot of Chabrols back in the late '60s and into the '70s, when he was doing that brilliant series of thrillers with his then wife, the marvellous Stephane Audran, particularly LE BOUCHER and LA FEMME INFIDELE and the brilliant THE BEAST MUST DIE etc. I liked that comic thriller in bright Greek sunlight LE ROUTE DE CORINTH (with Seberg and Ronet), Romy Schneider and Steiger in INNOCENTS WITH DIRTY HANDS (a valentine to Romy really), and that good Canadian one with Donald Sutherland BLOOD RELATIVES, so I really must find time to go back and see all those ones I missed like those with Isabelle Huppert (VIOLETTE NOZIERE, MADAME BOVARY). Chabrol was nothing if not prolific, good though to see how highly regarded he is now. It was also fun getting his throwaway 1960s comedies like LES GODELUREAUX and the delicious 1965 romp MARIE CHANTEL V DR KHA, and also new editions of his first successes LE BEAU SERGE and LES COUSINS - as per reviews, Chabrol label. 

It is an absolute pleasure seeing LA FEMME INFIDELE again, that perfect late '60s setting, as the loving jealous husband Michel Bouquet begins to suspect the wife he loves so much is having an affair during her frequent trips to Paris. He soon discovers the truth and calls on the lover, Maurice Ronet. It is a brilliant scene as the men talk, the lover feeling awkward and guilty, the husband not knowing what to do - but a casual remark of the lover suddenly leads to blind anger ... as in PLEIN SOLEIL and LE PISCINE there is that sudden murderous attack, with Ronet once again the victim. The husband thinks he has covered his tracks, and the ideal domestic life with their son resumes - but of course, being Chabrol, those police and detectives keep calling and finding out more details. It is all impeccably done with those lovely circular camera movements as we circle the husband and wife as they both realise the trap they are in. She finds the evidence and cooly destroys it as she is now back in love with her husband. Stephane Audran is of course so divinely cool and poised and attractive here. Classic French cinema then.
What will Martin do next? D for Demy perhaps ?

Italian rarity: Adua & her friends - hungry for love

Another Italian rarity, one I had not heard of until recently. How could a film featuring Simone Signoret (just after her ROOM AT THE TOP success and Academy Award) and Marcello Mastroianni (just after LA DOLCE VITA) be so unknown?, and also with French actress Emmanuelle Riva (just after HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR) who died last week aged 89. It was released in the UK at the time, titled HUNGRY FOR LOVE, which must have lured in the "dirty mac brigade".

ADUA AND HER FRIENDS (ADUA ET LA CAMPAGNE) When a brothel closes because of new laws, four of the prostitutes decide to go into business running a restaurant. They discover they cannot escape their past.

This story of four prostitutes forced to fend for themselves when a new law closes the bordellos of Rome has the required gritty social realism, but there are scenes of happiness and humor too. They pool their savings to open a trattoria, but find they cannot get a license. A prominent fixer with connections obtains the license for them, on condition that they conduct their old business upstairs and pay him an exorbitant monthly fee. The women are not anxious to turn tricks for a living any longer and find joy in running the restaurant. The women long to settle down -- one (Riva) has a child, another meets a man who loves and wants to marry her. Only one  (Sandra Milo) is tempted to return to her old life. Signoret, the major character here and as wonderful as ever as the worldly-wise Adua - but she too is a fool for a no-good man. Enter Mastroianni as a glib car salesman, hustler and womanizer. While the trattoria is a success, it does not bring in the kind of money demanded by their "patron," which leads to conflict. In this genre, happy endings are rare.

The girls end up exposing their pimp who wants them to resume their old business, using the restaurant as a cover, and they are all exposed in the papers. Society does not give girls like them a second chance, The last scene,  with the girls back on the street in the rain, is suitably right and downbeat. Signoret as Adua though is so enterprising and attractive it is hard to believe her wet, bedragged prosititute would be overlooked for a younger girl.

Nicely directed by Antonio Pietrangeli, I have seen several of his lately, who died early at age 49. This one won Best Italian Film of the Year at Venice in 1961. (See I KNEW HER WELL. below).

1960 was certainly a year for prostitution in the cinema: NEVER ON SUNDAY with happy hooker Melina, BUTTERFIELD 8 and GO NAKED IN THE WORLD with Liz and Gina both taking a tumble at the end (at least Liz got that Oscar), THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG, GIRL OF THE NIGHT, and Shirley Jones winning an Oscar in ELMER GANTRY - now there's ADUA AND HER FRIENDS!
It was of course that strange era of strip clubs and clip joints, as exemplified by EXPRESSO  BONGO, TOO HOT TO HANDLE, PASSPORT TO SHAME, THE WORLD TEN TIMES OVER, BITTER HARVEST, THE BEAUTY JUNGLE etc, and glamour girls like Diana Dors and Belinda Lee (SHE WALKS BY NIGHT, 1959) before the new permissiveness of the dawning Swinging Sixties. Bardot in Paris was mining a similar seam with steamy items like LOVE IS MY PROFESSION and LA VERITE.

Paris la nuit avec Theo et Hugo

THEO & HUGO, 2016. Hugo (François Nambot) and Théo (Geoffrey Couët) meet, in a highly-explicit fashion, in a French sex club. After they put their clothes back on and head into the Paris night, their conversation about how their sexual encounter had a deeper meaning seems to indicates the start of romance (though one has to ask who looks for romance in a naked sex club?) But their budding affair comes under strain when the confession of a mistake by one of the young men prompts a revelation from the other. 

This is pretty much a two-hander film which both actors rise to – including having real sex with each other. Paris by night is fascinatingly depicted too – I used to know to well in the 80s – as we take in the kebab shop and the first metro. The long central hospital sequence is interesting too, as the film plays out more or less in real time.

The long twenty-minute opening sequence in the sex club may be an eye-opener for some, but once the actors get dressed and venture out into the Paris night as they tentatively get to know each other the plot develops as we take in the consequences of having unprotected sex …..a more explicit WEEKEND (2011) then.

I like directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s earlier JEANNE AND THE PERFECT GUY from 1998, also an Aids-related subject starring Virginie Ledoyen and Mathieu Demy, the son of Jacques Demy and Agnes Varda. This latest film of the duo Ducastel and Martineau is another major landmark in gay cinema.

A different kind of gay flick is the Hungarian LAND OF STORMS from 2014, by Adam Csaszi. It drew me in with its slow moody pace, as we follow the young footballer Szabi, who has an intense relationship with  fellow player Bernard, as he returns to his rural village to renovate a house he has inherited as he wants to give up football; he hires surly local youth Aron to help and another relationship of sorts develops, to the annoyance of Aron's ailing mother and the villagers. Bernard turns up to re-claim Szabi who has to decide what he really wants. The ending though is a nasty surprise one is not expecting, but I suppose it highlights the East European homophobic mindset (though Hungary, like the Czechs) had a booming porn industry.