This is a quiet Hungarian movie about Szabi, a gay lad from rural Hungary. He befriends a guy on his soccer team in Germany (Bernard), but then gets sent home when they have a fight in the shower.
Now back in his grandfather's old house in the country, he runs into Áron, a beautiful, handy young man who helps him repair the old house he's living in. One thing leads to the next, and he and Áron enter into a relationship. Áron is confused but eventually accepts his gayness.
At this point Bernard shows up again, and things get complicated. He was in love with Szabi all along. Inexplicably forgetting all about gorgeous Áron, Szabi hops into bed with Bernard. However, after some awkward moments, in the end Szabi chooses local boy Áron (of course!) After seeing these beautiful young men in this idyllic setting, one wonders why everyone goes to Budapest when the action seems to be out here.
The themes here are coming out, finding love and homophobia. Yes, the same themes as Brokeback Mountain. Parents and the town find out about it all, and their reactions are not positive at all, especially towards Áron. Things get ugly and violent and tragic.
I thought the whole thing was very well done, and fairly interesting, although a little on the melancholy side. This is not a zippy American production. It's very much an Hungarian movie but I suspect Hungarians might cringe at this portrayal. I think it's important to remember that if the film had been set in Budapest, the story would have had a very different outcome. Rural Hungary here is a moral landscape, like Brokeback Mountain or an American small town in the 1950s.
It's sometimes hard to dispel the mistaken notion that gay people lead tragic, doomed lives. Movies like this don't exactly help. However, a movie about happy gay people leading ordinary lives wouldn't be much of a movie. There wouldn't be any story or character development.
At least now we understand that the tragedy befalls them not because they're gay (e.g. the sex things are shown quite positively and beautifully in this movie), but because of homophobia. This movie has that message too. It seems to be a story that filmmakers need to tell over and over again, in different settings and in different contexts. Bad things happen to gay people, yes, but it's not because they're gay. It's because they are persecuted. If Shakespeare were alive, he'd be telling the same story. It's too perfect.
Now back in his grandfather's old house in the country, he runs into Áron, a beautiful, handy young man who helps him repair the old house he's living in. One thing leads to the next, and he and Áron enter into a relationship. Áron is confused but eventually accepts his gayness.
At this point Bernard shows up again, and things get complicated. He was in love with Szabi all along. Inexplicably forgetting all about gorgeous Áron, Szabi hops into bed with Bernard. However, after some awkward moments, in the end Szabi chooses local boy Áron (of course!) After seeing these beautiful young men in this idyllic setting, one wonders why everyone goes to Budapest when the action seems to be out here.
The themes here are coming out, finding love and homophobia. Yes, the same themes as Brokeback Mountain. Parents and the town find out about it all, and their reactions are not positive at all, especially towards Áron. Things get ugly and violent and tragic.
I thought the whole thing was very well done, and fairly interesting, although a little on the melancholy side. This is not a zippy American production. It's very much an Hungarian movie but I suspect Hungarians might cringe at this portrayal. I think it's important to remember that if the film had been set in Budapest, the story would have had a very different outcome. Rural Hungary here is a moral landscape, like Brokeback Mountain or an American small town in the 1950s.
It's sometimes hard to dispel the mistaken notion that gay people lead tragic, doomed lives. Movies like this don't exactly help. However, a movie about happy gay people leading ordinary lives wouldn't be much of a movie. There wouldn't be any story or character development.
At least now we understand that the tragedy befalls them not because they're gay (e.g. the sex things are shown quite positively and beautifully in this movie), but because of homophobia. This movie has that message too. It seems to be a story that filmmakers need to tell over and over again, in different settings and in different contexts. Bad things happen to gay people, yes, but it's not because they're gay. It's because they are persecuted. If Shakespeare were alive, he'd be telling the same story. It's too perfect.