Sunset (2018 film)

 

Directed by Laszlo Nemes and written by Nemes, Clara Royer, and Matthieu Taponier, Napszallta (Sunset) is the story of a young woman who arrives in Budapest to work at a milliner which used to be a legendary hat store owned by her parents as she deals with the past and her family just one year before World War I. The film is a drama set during a time when the city was considered the heart of Europe as a woman arrives to find out what happened to her family when she was only 2 years old and why the man who killed her family did it. Starring Juli Jakab, Vlad Ivanov, Marcin Czarnik, Evelin Dobos, and Judit Bardos. Napszallta is a riveting yet evocative film from Laszlo Nemes.

Set in 1913 in Budapest during the final years of the Austrian-Hungary empire, the film revolves around a young woman who goes to the city during an upcoming celebration where she goes to a legendary hat store that was once owned by her parents until it was burned down where they claimed her parents when she was only 2 years old. It is a film about this young woman whose surname meant a lot to Budapest as it is known for its elaborate hat designs that posh women wear as she wants to know what happened to her parents as those she meet often turn her away from the truth amidst this growing social turmoil that is set to come. The film’s screenplay is straightforward in its narrative as it follows its protagonist of Irisz Leiter (Juli Jakab) who has been living in France for a few years as she arrives to the city where her family’s hat shop is at the center of the city which is considered to be the heart of Europe.

Owning the Leiter hat shop is an old family friend in Oszkar Brill (Vlad Ivanov) who is trying to get Irisz to leave the city with many claiming that her older brother was the one who killed her parents. One aspect of the script that is unique revolves around Irisz trying to get answers but either someone doesn’t reveal anything to her or often gives her something cagey along the way she treks throughout the city and areas outside to find out what happened to her parents. Irisz arrives during a moment where the Leiter shop is about to embark on a major event as a prince is set to arrive with his wife to see the new hats but also something much more. Notably as Irisz also notices this air of social turmoil lurking around as she visits an ailing countess and people who follow her brother where there is so much that is happening as she is confused by her surroundings and what is going on as well as this major event that is happening as if this idea of what Europe is finally starting to unravel.

Laszlo Nemes’ direction is definitely entrancing as it play into a period in time where old Europe is thriving and entering into this modern world of high fashion and high culture that is disconnected from what is happening in the lower class as well as those disenfranchised from high society. Shot on location in areas in and around Budapest, Nemes maintains this gaze as it is largely shot from Irisz’s perspective where the camera is often behind her and following her at times with its usage of close-ups and medium shots. Even as there are tracking shots throughout the film where Nemes would follow Irisz as she goes into the town square where there is so much happening as if the city is enjoying this air of decadence unaware that there are dark forces that are lurking. There are some wide shots in Nemes’ direction yet he maintains this air of intimacy but also a sense of claustrophobia in the crowd shots with the shop being a character in the film where it does have this air of beauty as the milliners are largely women as many of them have to have a certain look and wear white.

There is also this air of suspense and tension that looms throughout the film as it relates to the visit from the prince (Tom Pilath) and the princess (Susanne Wuest) where it’s not just about hats but something more that makes even Brill and the shop’s manager Zelma (Evelin Dobos) uneasy. Adding to this tension is what is happening outside of the city in the slums where Irisz gets a closer look into the world of the poor who feel slighted by the royals and the posh people in society as this hat shop as the symbol of this oppression. Even as the hats themselves represent this air of importance in its social status but also as a shield of the dark realities of the world where Irisz is forced to understand about everything Brill, her brother, and others are trying to shield her from. Amidst all of these revelations, Irisz gets a much closer look of a world that is coming to an end as the shop represents this modern idea of old Europe just as the continent is about to fall into chaos. Overall, Nemes crafts a ravishing yet unsettling film about a young woman uncovering the secrets of her family’s hat shop.

Cinematographer Matyas Erdely does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as its usage of sunlight is key to the film along with emphasis on natural and available light for many of the scenes at night as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Matthieu Taponier does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense as a lot of it has a lot of long shots to play into the drama. Production designer Laszlo Rajk, along with art directors Dorka Kiss and Attila Digi Kovari, does amazing work with the look of the shop in its interiors and rooms as well as some of the places behind the shop as it play into this air of secrecy where everything is trying to be concealed.

Costume designer Gyorgyi Szakacs does fantastic work with the design of the dresses of those times along with the suits the men wore while the hats that are created is a major highlight of the film as do play into some of the metaphorical elements of the film. Sound designer Tamas Zanyi does superb work with the sound as it plays into the natural locations and settings as well as scenes involving crowds and some eerie quiet moments in the film. The film’s music by Laszlo Melis is incredible for its serene yet haunting score with its emphasis on discordant string arrangements as well as elements of folk as it adds to the film’s suspense.

The casting by Eva Zabezsinszkij is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Enrique Keil as a royal figure wearing a monocle, Susanne Wuest as the princess, Tom Pilath as the prince, Urs Rechn as an anarchist figure in Ismael, Sandor Zsoter as a doctor late in the film who warns Irisz about what is happening, Judit Bardos and Dorottya Moldovan in their respective roles as hat girls in Szerena and Lili who both hope they go to Vienna, Christian Harting as a prominent social figure in Otto von Konig, Julia Jakubowska as the grief-stricken and ailing Countess Redey who had a past with Irisz’s brother, Benjamin Dino as a worker at the store in Andor who knew Irisz’s brother whom he is not fond of, and Levente Molnar as a mad coachman in Gaspar who knew Irisz’s brother.

Marcin Czarnik is excellent in his small role as a mysterious man called Sandor as he is often seen looking at Irisz as if he knows who she is while his motives are ambiguous. Evelin Dobo is brilliant as Zelma as the supervisor at the hat shop as a woman who is trying to conceal things from Irisz but also leave her clues as she also has to deal with a much bigger role she has to play for this upcoming event. Vlad Ivanov is amazing as Oszkar Brill as the owner of the Leiter hat shop who knew Irisz’s parents but also what happened as he is reluctant to divulge any details while he is part of something bigger that he doesn’t want Irisz to know about. Finally, there’s Juli Jakab in a phenomenal performance as Irisz Leiter as a young woman, whose parents once owned a hat shop that is now the center of Budapest’s town square, as she deals with the many secrets about her family as well as the secrets relating to this big event as it would lead to chaos where Jakab maintains this air of calm but also a haunting quality into a woman that is just trying to find answers about herself and her family as it is an unsettlingly eerie performance from Jakab.

Napszallta is a spectacular film from Laszlo Nemes that features an incredibly chilling performance from Juli Jakab. Along with its ensemble cast, ravishing visuals, its disconcerting tone, somber music soundtrack, and its exploration of a world not knowing it’s coming to its end. The film is an intoxicating yet densely-written film that explores a young woman’s search for her identity only to be front and center at an event that would set the stage for what is to come in the history of the world. In the end, Napszallta is a sensational film from Laszlo Nemes.

Related: Son of Saul

© thevoid99 2021

Son of Saul

Directed by Laszlo Nemes and written by Nemes and Clara Royer, Saul fia (Son of Saul) is the story about the thirty-six hours in the life of a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando unit who works at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. The film is a study of a man who is tasked to do a lot of the clean-up as he copes with finding the body of a young boy where he goes on a search for a rabbi to give the boy a proper burial. Starring Geza Rohrig, Levente Molnar, and Urs Rechin. Saul fia is a gripping and intense film from Laszlo Nemes.

Set in 1944 at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, the film is about the life of a Jewish-Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando unit who finds the body of a boy at a gas chamber as he decides to give him a proper burial. It’s a film told in the span of thirty-six hours where this man is tasked to do a lot of clean-up work and make sure the gas chamber is clean for the next group of people killed. When he finds that a young boy has survived being in the gas chamber and later die in the infirmary, he is consumed with grief as he tries to do what is right. Yet, the journey to find a rabbi as well as maintain his job becomes a risky one as Saul Auslander (Geza Rohrig) is trying to keep himself in check and not get killed. The film’s screenplay doesn’t really have much of a structure as it is more about Saul trying to do whatever he can in his journey to do what is right as he has to contend with other members of the Sonderkommando as well as the Germans running the camp.

Laszlo Nemes’ direction is very entrancing for the fact that it is shot largely inside the camps as there aren’t a lot of exterior shots in the film as it’s shot on location in the small town of Budafok near Budapest, Hungary. Shot in the Academy aspect ratio of 1:37:1, the film has this presentation that is very narrow and claustrophobic as it play into the sense of realism that occurs inside the camps as well as a look into the gas chambers and where these men had to sleep at. That sense of intimacy in the direction as well as not using a lot of wide shots play into a world that is quite dangerous and everything has to be up and running. The usage of the medium shots and close-ups add to that claustrophobic tone while much of the film is shot with hand-held cameras to play into that urgency and immediacy inside the camp including the ovens.

Nemes also goes for these long and intricate tracking shots as it play into a lot of what goes on where Nemes knows when not to cut for dramatic effect while just letting these scenes play out. Even towards its third act where Saul does whatever to find a rabbi as it include this intense sequence of him going into the woods where Jews are being executed. The film’s climax doesn’t just involve Saul’s chance but also a realization of what is happening as it play into the danger that is the life of a Jew inside this concentration camp. Overall, Nemes crafts a very visceral and riveting film about a man trying to bury a boy at Auschwitz.

Cinematographer Matyas Erdely does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography as it has this air of realism in its look while using some light for much of the interiors while emphasizing on natural lighting for the exterior scenes in the film. Editor Matthieu Taponier does nice work with the editing as it is largely straightforward as it doesn‘t play into any kind of stylish rhythms while using cut-to-black for the opening sequence. Production designer Laszlo Rajk, with art director Hedvig Kiraly and set decorators Dorka Kiss and Judit Varga, does amazing work with the look of the infirmary, ovens, and gas chambers of what play into this intense world of the concentration camp.

Costume designer Edit Szucs does terrific work with the costumes as it has this sense of de-colorization as well as not going for any style other than the uniforms of the Nazis. Sound designer Tamas Zanyi and sound editor Tamas Szekely do excellent work with the sound in playing up the atmosphere of the camps in and outside as well the sounds of the gas chambers and the people screaming from the inside heard by those outside of the chambers. The film’s music by Laszlo Melis is wonderful as it is mainly played during the final credits as it’s really just somber string music that play into the tragic events that occur in the film.

The casting by Eva Zabezsinszkij is superb as it feature some notable small roles from Juli Jakab as prisoner named Ella who would give Saul a package used to buy things, Todd Charmont as a French rabbi Saul would find late in the film, Kamil Dobrowolski as a section captain, Jerzy Walczak as a rabbi who refuses to help, Uwe Lauer as a commandant, and Christian Harting as another commandant who watches over the men dig ashes into the river. Sandor Zsoter is excellent as Dr. Miklos Nyiszli as the camp doctor who helps Saul hide the boy’s body as well as try to do whatever he can to keep it a secret from the Nazis.

Urs Rechn is brilliant as section captain who tries to maintain some order while secretly trying to plan a revolt against the camp. Levente Molnar is fantastic as Abraham as a Sonderkommando worker who also tries to stage a revolt as well as maintain a low profile. Finally, there’s Geza Rohrig in an incredible performance as Saul Auslander as this Sonderkommando member who finds a boy in the gas chamber as he tries to do what is right while coping with the danger of his personal task along with the presence of the Nazi.

Saul fia is a phenomenal film from Laszlo Nemes. Featuring a great cast, a discerning tone, an eerie soundtrack, and intoxicating visuals. It’s a film that doesn’t just showcase some of the darkest aspects of the Holocaust but what a man tries to do to try and do something good in a very dark world. In the end, Saul fia is a tremendous film from Laszlo Nemes.

Related: Sunset (2018 film)

© thevoid99 2016