| HUNGARY |
| FOREST |
Benedek Fliegauf |
Best First Film winner at the Hungarian Film
Awards, the enigmatic Forest hovers provocatively between
off-beat humor and sinister drama. Bookended by images of
a crowd outside a Budapest shopping mall, a series of seven
vignettes portray the “psyche of the city” with
disturbing intimacy: a stranger invades a woman’s apartment,
insisting she take his dog; a father expresses concern for
his maturing daughter that degenerates into an unhealthy obsession/repulsion
with her body; a young woman is haunted by the memory of her
grand-mother. Fliegauf’s probing camera zeroes in on
faces, hands, telling gestures, and uncomfortable moments,
creating an unexpectedly spooky, claustrophobic mood from
the seemingly mundane. “We constantly play roles, and
I’m interested in the times when something completely
prevents us from playing our normal roles. In these moments
our true self appears, our self-confidence disappears and
we vaguely become aware of what we fear the most.”—Benedek
Fliegauf. “There is a devilish cleverness about this
film, as its initially casual narrative reveals a brilliant
structure of ellipses and nightmare logic that transcends
mere coincidence or the everyday… The viewer is initially
confronted with key events, actions and reactions, but is
denied access to what might be called the big picture—and
the effect is invigorating.”—Toronto Film Festival.
(95 mins.) This year’s Hungarian submission for the
Best Foreign Film Oscar.
First Feature.
SHOWTIMES: 2/14, 1pm GU; 2/16,
8:30pm and 2/18, 6pm B2. |
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