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Sunset - Napszállta

Directed by László Nemes

Starrings: Susanne Wuest, Urs Rechn, Vlad Ivanov, Evelin Dobos, Juli Jakab, Björn Freiberg, Judit Bárdos, Mónika Balsai, Levente Molnár, János Kulka, Marcin Czarnik, Sándor Zsótér, Áron Öze, Christian Harting, Julia Jakubowska, Tamás Varga, Dusán Vitanovics, Péter Fancsikai, Uwe Lauer

Year: 2018

Country: Hungary, France

Review Author: Roberto Matteucci

"He drowned in the Danube."

On the eve of the World War I, Hungary was part - with some autonomies - of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At that time, the economic situation had improved considerably:

"The total population of the country rose from 15 to about 21 million inhabitants in 1910; the residents of Budapest from 270,000 (1869) to 880,000 (1910) ... "(1)

The production of the agricultural sectors had increased notably.

In addition, industrial development was big:

“In 1913 the railway network reached the 21,800 km of extension covering almost the entire country ... with a number of passengers that in about twenty years (from 1890 to 1913) had risen from 29 to 166 million and, the total of goods had passed from 26 to 87 million tons. "(1)

Bank branches, workers, factory machines grew exponentially.

The result was a remarkable economic improve: “National income tripled with an annual growth of 2.5%. These figures demonstrate the indisputable economic progress of the Hungarian state in the dualistic period." (1)

Despite the gross domestic product, something was wrong in Hungary.

It was the period of nationalism and the independence pressures were strong. Economic disparities among the population was large, or at least there was no widespread increase, causing large immigration to America.

The result was the World War I, a tremendous defeat and the end of the Empire.

When the armistice was signed on November 3, 1918: "... the war, which he had seen, Hungary mobilizing nearly 4 million men and counting 660,000 fallen, was over." (1)

Understanding the history of Hungary before the Great War is the point of departure of the film Napszállta - Sunset of the Hungarian director László Nemes presented at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.

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We are in 1910. In the wall hangs many vintage photos about Hungarian capital show both nostalgia and the crucial moment experienced: "Sunset is a film about a civilization at its crossroads." (2)

A woman with a veil is in Budapest, she is very beautiful. She enters a high-class and expensive hat shop. She starts trying on them with great seduction. She is not there to buy them; she would like to find a job in the boutique by the name Leiter.

The girl's name is Leiter: "... I am the daughter."

She is the daughter of the previous owners who, we do not know why have abandoned the activity and the city.

Írisz Leiter is the unique and solitary protagonist of the story:

"...I’ve been drawn to a main character that is partly surrounded by mystery and whose actions the audience has to assess and re-assess continuously, even becoming at some point a figure of an unexpected dimension, like a strange Joan of Arc of Middle Europe." (2)

The continuation is a series of events, searches for his brother, mysteries, enigmatic characters, inexplicable happenings. Above all, there is the return of a heavy but unknown past. The director does not show it, does not tell it, we know nothing about it, except for a few details, which complicate even more.

Does Budapest hide anything, perhaps for the movements of nationalistic and political riots? László Nemes has no interest in helping us to understand, rather he has the opposite goal: “... the viewer is invited on this journey to find, along with the main character, a possible way through this maze of facades and layers. ... " (2)

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The characteristics of language are decisive.

The elegant chiaroscuro accompanies Leiter, an energetic, stubborn woman: "I can take care of myself."

When she comes out everything is filled with light because Leiter is the centre of the film, the camera is always on her: "This is reflected in a camera that hangs on Irisz’s every move, just as it did with the protagonist in Son of Saul. There is a technical similarity in both films, as they stay with the main character. We are in a labyrinth uncovering the world from their perspective, and in Sunset, we wonder about the brother: who is he? What happened with the family? And who am I? It’s a question for the self, and that is something that I’m interested in, as well as why we are with her throughout the whole film." (3)

The other wayof analysing the woman isthrough the subjective shot by thousand looks, they observe her constantly. We do not see them, but we understand their fundamental and mysterious existence: "László Nemes: “I’m really interested in the subjective experience and how interesting our subjective experiences can be, yet it’s interesting how little cinema conveys this experience in movies. Films are moving more and more towards being about finding an objective perspective, and the camera can be everywhere. We are moving away from a unique standpoint." (3)

Spoiler Alert! The following text contains spoilers for Napszállta - Sunset

There is a deep connection between Budapest and Mrs Leiter. We see it in the many invitations to leave, to abandon the capital. It is a sign after the previous escape with the parents. The new union between Leiter and Budapest could overturn destiny. Moreover, this happens with the final editing of the film. A rebellion, an assaulted palace, the fire and the matching cut brings us into a trench of the mad and disgraceful World War I.

The author's languages have metaphysical style, the surrealism of the subject, non-existent contiguity and mainly an embarrassing logic. The secret and the mystery are in the "heat wave in Budapest" and in the confusion in the town. Allegory of Budapest is the hat shop. Inside it occurs a strange ritual, an unlikely atavistic cult, a human sacrificial ceremony. What happens to the chosen girl? The answer is in the words of the director:

"The film is very frustrating to watch sometimes. It’s a movie about frustration. I admit that I’m guilty as charged because frustration is part of the process, especially in a world where you don’t want to feel like that and want immediate satisfaction. I am completely against this trend." (3)