Sándor Baski Exam movie
Kriszta Goda: Just Sex and Nothing Else

342 KByte

When more than one month after the premier I wanted to buy a ticket for Krisztina Goda’s film in one of the multiplex movies, the cashier uttered a sentence I hardly ever heard in such a context in connection with a Hungarian film: ”There are a few seats left in the first row”. And yes, the twenty-row hall was packed full, and the audience laughed for one and a half hours.

It is unlikely that they – and the other 200,000 spectators – were attracted to the cinema by the impressive commercial campaign, since there was nothing like that, moreover, even the trailer was surprisingly bad and positive reviews do not generally move the audience either. The recommendations of friends, relatives and acquaintances, however, are more powerful, which justifies the commonplace that audience-friendly films will sooner or later find their way to the viewers.

”The film is a romantic comedy for intellectuals. And there is a shortage of this genre. We are targeting the audience that are the fans of Woody Allen-movies.” (index.hu) Krisztina Goda said these words before the premier, but knowing the end result, it is hard to believe that she really meant it, or if she really did, she must be a director of modern-age Hungarian film history who makes wrong bets in the most elegant and lucrative way. Since Just Sex and Nothing Else is nothing but pure popular film of the kind that gets its charm from cheeky self-confidence, consciousness and being the least frippery, with which the film-makers also apply the rules of the genre. It is an obligatory routine task in Los Angeles or England, but in Hungary – where most popular-film-makers cannot even answer the trivial question ”What’s the purpose of my movie?” -, it belongs to the category of celebrated curiosities.

Romantic comedy is a well-defined genre, also including singles-films, which becomes obvious already in the first scene. Here we can see the heroine, Dóra, fantasizing about her current boyfriend leading her up to the altar in an appropriately orderly manner. In the following scene, after the bitter awakening, it turns out that the biggest pain of the 33-year-old woman is that she does not have children. So, we immediately get to know the leading character’s purposes in life from the fast and striking exposition, as it also becomes obvious for the audience that Dóra is going to achieve these aims with Tamás – she has just met under embarrassingly intimate circumstances – about one and a half hours later. In the beginning obnoxiousness is mutual, especially when they learn that the other one is in fact a colleague: Dóra is the script-writer and Tamás is one of the characters in the play adapted from Dangerous Liaisons. During their work together, their differences in ideology and mentality arise: Tamás, known as the irresponsible womanizer, finds Dóra’s text too sentimental. This contrast provides the playful tension of the first part of the film. The perfect symmetry of the character-structure is provided by the two supporting actors. Dóra’s girl-friend, Zsófi – who believes in promiscuity and shares the principles of Samantha from Sex and the City – is perfectly counter-pointed by Tamás’ friend, the reserved and boring Péter. He is also an alternative for Dóra: she has to choose between the two men and this situation is again built upon the basic clichés of the Bridget Jones-type singles movies, even though eventually Dóra decides differently than her British counterpart.

The system of relationships is highly elaborate among the characters, and the ideology of the film is also precisely drawn, using the features of different types of singles films. The piquant basic situation recalls the spirituality of frivolous Sex and the City: the idea of autonomous woman who finds men superfluous and goes on a sperm-hunt would probably appeal to all feminists. The situation, however, is immediately toned by the fact that Dóra is not driven by self-consciousness, rather by constraint, and in it she rather resembles Bridget Jones. As a matter of fact, she would not want to bring up her future child without a father, but she cannot see any other solutions. Yet, the method she uses while searching for the right sperm-donor is again similar to the style of masculine New York women. At the beginning of the film, the construction workers stare at her like she was a piece of meat, and in the same manner, she picks the man to be ”tapped” solely on the basis of physical features first in a sperm bank, then through an Internet sex ad (but the fact is that she is talked into it by the free-spirited Zsófi). When this method fails, she decided to behave as a man and will take an advantage of Tamás just the way he does it with women. But she can not enjoy this revenge - which feminists may find highly painful -, because first she has a twinge of conscience, then she falls in love with the man and with this the film returns to the more conservative trend. So much so, that Dóra, who does not trust Tamás’ fidelity, is finally ready to accept the peaceful, boring, but secure life that Péter can offer. The ending of the film eventually gives the synthesis of the two trends: with a serenade Dóra shows Tamás that he is the chosen one, which is on the one hand an open and voluntary surrender, but on the other hand, it is a reverse and ironic situation, too, because as opposed to traditions, the woman gives a serenade to the man, i.e. she is in the position of the ”challenger”, which does not make the earlier feminist overtones invalid.

It is obvious that if the film-makers had a more powerful, more explicit message that goes beyond the clichés of the man-woman theme, they could have elaborate on it even within the frames of templates and stereotypes. But instead of the promised Woody Allen-style intellectual approach, Krisztina Goda, Gábor Heller – who also studied the basics of script-writing abroad – and Réka Divinyi – also ”trained” through serials – decided on a lighter comedy, so as regards the amount of jokes, the film is more like a one-and-a-half-hour sitcom than a romantic movie.

In accordance with that, the performers never say more than two sentences at a time, but instead what we hear are classic fast dialogues with quick and effective ”one-liners’. Due to the pressure of jokes we sometimes hear unnatural ones, too (e.g. ”I work here.” ”I don’t.”), but the bantering of the two heroes is humorous and witty (”Why” How old are you?” ”Why, how long is your dick?” ”Thirty.” ”And I’m twenty years old.”). There are also familiar situations known from cabarets, based on misunderstanding, while we can see the excellent varieties of the set up and pay off of jokes. The best example for this is the scene where Péter – in Dóra’s flat – spills tea on himself, then sits on a chair that collapses under him. The scene may not sound too interesting written down, but it does work, because it has been nicely prepared: earlier we saw Dóra sticking back the ear of the jug with a chewing gum and also how she fixes the leg of the chair, but then we could not have imagined that all these would be the source of humor later on – earlier these events told us a story of a frustrated single woman’s personality, who neglects her personal environment. Yet, the effect of gags is strengthened by the fact that clumsiness is an integral and dramaturgically well-grounded part of Péter’s personality. The other figures in the film are also typified, just like this: Károly Gesztesi’s arrogant theatre director, Antal Czapkó’s Turkish buffet owner and Adél Jordán’s nymphomaniac actress are all portrayed with caricature-like features without pushing the story from the safety of comedy to the riskier satire. Goda also makes use of the rather subjective (female) perspective of singles movies without any hidden intention, only using them as purely technical means to present humorous series of images. Not only can we peep into Dóra’s short but rather telling world of imagination and dreams, but we can also see the frighteningly realistic donor candidates of the sperm bank and the open-air bath through her eyes.

No matter how unbelievable it may seem for the Hungarian audience trained at unfortunate popular films, these scenes of different tones can link together in an easy way seamlessly, thanks to Goda’s sophisticated technical knowledge. The most frequent effect is the overlapping sound which makes it possible for the plot told without ostentatious sets in short cuts and ansnitts to proceed without a break – taking the voluble tempo of the dialogues – at a fast pace, intentionally. The locations – theatres, dressing rooms, buffets and cafeterias – are all characteristic and typified (perhaps only the main characters’ flats are furnished in an exaggerated IKEA-style), but they do not distract attention from the figures. Even the outside locations – the busy underground tunnel, the crowded open-air bath or beautiful Andrássy Street – function submissively as scenery.

The atmosphere of the movie is modestly reserved and elegant, despite the piquant theme and some vulgar jokes, which make it different from both of the Bridget Jones-films. Apart from the swing background music providing the basic tone and the theatrical surrounding, Sándor Csányi – making excellent use of his charm – and Judit Schell – who successfully preserves her dignity even in the rather broad situations – contribute significantly to the mood of the film. It is mainly due to them and the supporting actors - portraying the typical theatre figures with great talent – that the film can be regarded as a standard romantic sitcom, but it also invokes the mood of classic Hungarian burlesques and comedies: the chill moulds imported from the west were successfully filled with unique flavors.

Yet, the excellent usage of the rules of the genre and the clichés is far from being an easy task – many Hungarian directors could talk about that. What you need here is a bit of a talent which Krisztina Goda has here, judging from the impressively self-confident presentation of her film. The film also achieved its desired aim, as shown by rating figures. If one day she decides to overcome the clichés just as ambitiously and bravely as she was using them in the film, she might as well produce a movie that has a longer ”warranty” and a longer-lasting message.

Translated by Andrea Danyi

 

Judit Schell and Kata Dobó
Judit Schell and Kata Dobó
140 KByte
Sándor Csányi
Sándor Csányi
127 KByte
Sándor Csányi and Judit Schell
Sándor Csányi and Judit Schell
160 KByte
Kata Dobó and Judit Schell
Kata Dobó and Judit Schell
152 KByte
Sándor Csányi and Adél Jordán
Sándor Csányi and Adél Jordán
139 KByte
Zoltán Rátóti and Judit Schell
Zoltán Rátóti and Judit Schell
122 KByte

 
hírek hírek filmek filmek arcok arcok gondolatok gondolatok szemle szemle Örökmozgó Örökmozgó képtár képtár sőt sőt mozgóképtár filmspirál repertórium linkek FILMKULTÚRA '96-tól tartalom címlap kereső