kevindpetty This was an interesting movie until the director thought it necessary to kill animals. It began with an interesting reliance on sound without dialogue. Mostly pastoral scenes with older folks - men with gin blossomed noses proliferated. It seemed like this film would continue in the vein of Bela Tarr and other Hungarian directors. Instead, it made a wrong turn. The director decided that he needed a little more reality. That added reality took the form of animal abuse. Not a new idea: Bunuel abused animals in some of his films, and a neo-realist Italian film whose name escapes me showed villagers torturing a pig as the director filmed it as an amoral and passive journalist. This film goes even further though. The director actually has at least one animal poisoned for the sake of a large;y absent plot line. But, it would not matter if the plot line was profound. Killing animals for the sake of a move is disgusting.

Ivona Poyntz An eerie, nearly silent presentation of life in an anonymous Hungarian village caught between the timeless traditions of old and emerging new technology: this dichotomy is shown sensitively and in symbiotic relationship: the new technology seems to enhance rather than destroy or clash with traditional social mores. Whilst none of the characters ever ostensibly talk, there is always a background buzz of everyday sounds which paint a fulsome audio picture of village life, as it unfolds through the goalposts of every human existence: birth, childhood, wedding and death: all sequences which are portrayed sympathetically with respect to the local meme.

slake09 This film challenges the idea that we need dialogue to define human interaction, or even interaction between humans, animals and the environment. There simply is no dialogue, just a bit of murmuring in the background and some singing near the end. It may sound boring, but isn't because you are constantly wondering what will happen next.The movie covers the life of a small Hungarian village during the course of, more or less, one day. You see the people, the animals, underground, underwater, in the air, everything. Camera angles are exploited relentlessly to show every little thing, from a car door being unlocked to a fish striking at a swimming frog.Because of the lack of dialoge, many things are up to the viewer's interpretation. One person may come up with a completely different view of what happened in the movie than another, even if they were watching it together. I watched this with my girlfriend, the red-haired queen of late night cinema, and we had a terrific argument over our differing opinions on what exactly had transpired in the movie. During the argument, she seized a burning stick from the fireplace and commenced beating me with it to emphasize her point, thereby proving the supremacy of a piece of wood over well-constructed film criticism.This film should be seen by anyone who enjoys experimental film in any way, or simply wants to see something different but not boring. It is not over-repetitive, nor is it slow moving in any way. I applaud the director who can not only conceive of such a movie, but execute it in an interesting and watchable way.

Red-125 Hukkle (2002), written and directed by György Pálfi, fits into nogenre. It's a Hungarian film, with almost no dialogue, and it's trulyunique.The work "hukkle" is an attempt to imitate the sound of a hiccup.Throughout a movie--set in a rural Hungarian village--an old mansits by the side of a road and hiccups. Meanwhile, life in andaround the village goes on as people eat, work, and play.Despite the idyllic nature of the landscape, something bad ishappening in the village. A police officer is investigating a crime,and the director appears to be providing clues for us about what'shappening and why.I never solved the mystery. The film curator at the GeorgeEastman House in Rochester--where the film was screened-- told us he had seen the movie five or six times, and would explain themystery to us after we'd watched the film. When he gave us hisexplanation, many members of the audience disagreed with him. Maybe you have to see the movie five times to get it, or maybe after five viewings you lose it.According to the curator, this film is due out on DVD, and it's worthfinding and watching. Hukkle is strange, and somewhatdisturbing, but it's not boring.