Zoltán Kamondi started his career with experimental and short subject feature films, then in 1991 he made his first feature, Paths of Death and Angels with his constant collaborators, director of photography Gábor Medvigy and composer László Melis. The director-scriptwriter called his work a "dream-film". Reception, although everybody acknowledged the authors' undoubted talent, was rather mixed in Hungary. Abroad - in Cannes, Tokyo, Chicago - the film was more obviously successful, it was especially the French who liked it. This was followed by experimental, documentary and short subject feature films for seven more years.

The Alchemist and The Virgin is important from several points of view. The simple fact that it was made may offer hope for the ones who despite the evidently harsh circumstances still wish to make feature films. It is also important because according to the authors' intentions, which the film itself also confirms, it strives to bridge the gap that lies between works categorised by the usual terms "art-movie" and "popular-movie". The same factors make it important in Kamondi's career. According to the director alchemy, with a purpose spiritual and materialistic at the same time, works as a metaphor for our age. The basis - the alchemist makes gold out of plastic, which proves to be useless, turning back to plastic - is the illustration of this age-metaphor. Its story is the elaboration of the metaphor by uniting the different topics.

László Sziráki is a chemist with excellent gift. Despite his financial difficulties his life seems to be on track. He teaches at the university, his experiments are going well, he has a wonderful grandmother, whose name itself suggests her wisdom, and who possesses an air of art-loving, calm, bourgeois lifestyle. It was her, Zsófika, who brought up Sziráki, the reason remaining a secret on purpose. No matter how much Sziráki rebels against this bourgeois, sophisticated atmosphere, he cannot escape its effects. There is an almost mystical telepathy between the two of them: musical pieces and poems carry the message. Into the life of the man burning with desire to find the Opus Magnum, suddenly bursts Eszténa who is also searching for something that she herself doesn't know: Her life is determined by becoming a woman and virginity. Her parents, especially her father, love her more than anything else. His friend, Maci, the strong, simple but sensitive gladiator adores her. The plot's main line is provided by the ruthless menage-a-trois of Sziráki, Eszténa and Maci - it is an easily understandable dramaturgy, the comic twists of which follow the story through. The Opus Magnum-line, the mystical point of view of the story - and this is what makes the structure successful - is in organic unity with the main plot, it cannot be detached from it, it remains unseparable.

We see a tale, a strange and ruthless adult tale. But since it is a tale, it has a happy ending: "they lived happily ever after". This ending, the happy reunion is just as problematic as in the case of children's tales. This adult tale is further elaborated by our behind knowledge. We know that Eszténa and Sziráki come from Krúdy, who uses similarly strange tale and legend topics; it is not with the plots of his stories, but with his wonderful "sidetracks", similies, character-changes that he tells us what he considers worth knowing and what we can only learn from him.

The gloom of the film also evokes Gyula Krúdy. Originally, Kamondi wanted to make a film from a Buddhist tale of a thief who wanted to get a wonderful sword, with which he could defeat everybody and earn a lot of money. He doesn't know what he has to do in order to get the sword, so he visits a monk who tells him: nothing's more simple than that! You have to withdraw from the world, meditate for forty years, and then the sword will appear by itself. This is exactly what happens, but by the time the sword appears, the thief doesn't need it any more. The journey itself, the struggle devaluates the aim, and to the changed personality of the much suffered man reaching the aim means nothing any more. This is also catharsis, but a different kind.

This background story reveals the hardest task of today's filmmaking. Making a film that has "spirit". A spirit that can be relevant in this plastic-age. Progressing on the narrow path between emotionalness and seriousness without tending either to the left or to the right, which would mean losing creditability. The other trap is unifying elements rooting in different cultural areas, creating a coherent style. Kamondi solves this problem by straightforward, impulsive storytelling and with the help of the sometimes ironic humour dominating throughout the story. The excellent director of photography Gábor Medvigy also serves this unifying method by photographing in a clear and simple, almost unnoticeable, unique way. This is supported by László Melis' intensive, not over-emphasized but instantly recognisable music.

The director was brave to have given the main roles to actors unknown to Hungarian audiences. It was worth taking the risk: Mariusz Bonaszewski and Danuta Szaflarska are both excellent. The real revelation of the movie is the intelligent and beautiful Eszter Ónodi, who plays her first leading role here. Norbert Növényi's Maci (Teddy Bear) is a true delight: in his mimics and gestures we can observe evil being born. We have never seen in Hungarian films such a big-hearted dumbass, who's almost unable to speak and who does incredible things. As Eszténa's parents, Erika Bodnár and Péter Haumann are what they have to be: bitter and tired adults who don't understand a word of what is happening to their daughter.

This tale-like, grotesque and philosophical adventure movie managed to create the above mentioned, almost impossible balance. Its carefully elaborated form, unique style and "spirit" make it worthy of our attention.