|
GLOOMY SUNDAY Send This Review to a Friend
Shown at the 2000 Jewish Film Festival in New York and finally in commercial release here, "Gloomy Sunday" would be completely ludicrous if it did not deal with such serious matters as the persecution of Hungary's Jews under the Nazis, sending of Jews to the extermination camps and Nazi corruption enabling some targeted victims to buy their way to safety.
The basic situation involves the Jewish owner of a popular Budapest restaurant, the pretty assistant he is in love with and a handsome, moody young pianist who plays a song he has composed. The minute people hear a few bars they are so enthralled that they return again and again to savor the music. That's a heavy load for a song to carry, certainly for this supposedly magical but boring piece. The composition becomes popular worldwide but it has a drawback. It tends to drive people to suicide. Understandable.
A love triangle develops between the restaurant owner (Joachim Król), the musician (Stefano Dionisi) and the assistant (Erika Marozsán), who gets the best of both worlds by sleeping alternately with the two men. They accept the situation as better than losing her. Complications arise when a young German patron (Ben Becker) is also smitten and later returns as a Nazi officer and occupier.
Meanwhile, the music goes on and on and on. As matters get lethal, the German takes to accepting bribes for lives and has the power to determine the fate of the restaurant owner. In the post-war period, when he returns to his favorite haunt for a bit of nostalgia there is a final twist. If a screenplay could have been devised without the musical foolishness, the film, directed by Rolf Schubel, might have been better.
However, there is an historical basis for the tale, as such a song did exist and was associated with suicidal tendencies. It's just that the film becomes too pretentious by far. Rolf Schübel directed from a screenplay that he wrote with Ruth Toma based on Nick Barkow's novel "Gloomy Sunday." A Menemsha Films release.
|