In
1936 Budapest, both Communists and Fascists were actively engaged in underground
organizing. Just about everything going on was a crime, but a lot of it was
just called politics. There was plenty of the grubbier, more conventional crime
going on as well. That is cynical reporter Zsigmond Gordon’s beat. His latest
story initially looks like the sort of sad case nobody gives a second thought
to, but it threatens to implicate some very powerful people in Éva Gárdos’s Budapest Noir (trailer here), which screens
during the 2018 Washington Jewish Film Festival.
Budapest
is on edge, but some people’s nerves are more jangled than others. The film
commences against the backdrop of the funeral for recently deceased Prime
Minister Gyula Gömbös. It might sound like an overstatement to call him “pro-Jewish”
by contemporary standards, but for the head of state of a nation bordering Austria
in the mid-1930s, he was about as progressive you could hope for. Alas, “was”
is the key word.
Political
issues are largely off Gordon’s radar. While laying low in a café during the
state funeral, the reporter gets conned into picking up the check for a rather
sultry young woman. The next time he sees her, she will be surrounded by a
chalk outline. However, he knows she is not just another dead
lady-of-the-night, because he found her file in the police chiefs desk. She
also happened to be Jewish, which will be significant.
Determined to see her case through, Gordon
follows her trail to a ritzy brothel catering to the elite upper echelon of
government officials and a sleazy Communist pornographer. He will have help
when his on-again-off-again lover Krisztina Eckhardt returns from Germany with
some incendiary photographs of life under National Socialism. However, he will
use all the subsequent chases and brawls as an excuse to avoid the topic of
their relationship.
Screenwriter
Andras Szeker’s adaptation of Vilmos Kondor’s novel is not the twistiest,
turniest narrative ever, but it addresses the 1930s Hungarian Jewish experience
in intriguing and provocative ways. Frankly, it is an inspired selection for
the WJFF. Yet, for most people it will be the ultra-stylish noir business that
really matters. Technically, it is in color, but Elemer and Marci Raglyi’s
cinematography is all shadows and noir. Plus, there is also a tasty swing soundtrack
that is mostly appropriate to the era. Of course, there are plenty of old world
locations in modern Budapest, but the sets and interiors are also carefully
detailed. For instance, the wooden street trolley Gordon sometimes rides looks
like it is the real deal, painstakingly preserved by a museum.
The
cast never quite lands a knockout, but they are steady as it goes. Krisztian
Kolovratnik is suitably square-jawed as Gordon (a former boxer), but he also
develops some credible Nick & Nora chemistry with Reka Tenki’s Eckhardt. Tenki
is terrific as the activist photographer, while Franciska Torocsik’s all-too-brief
appearance as the ill-fated lunch guest definitely follows in the suggestive film
noir tradition, as established by the likes of Martha Vickers.
Budapest
is possibly the most beautiful city in the world, but all that old European
elegance is absolutely perfect for a throwback thriller like this. Based on Budapest Noir, we can only hope Gárdos
and Kolovratnik can continue adapting the Kondor’s four other Gordon novels. It
is a great deal of atmospheric fun, but there is still holds serious historical
implications. Highly recommended, Budapest
Noir screens again this Saturday (5/12), as part of this year’s Washington Jewish
Film Festival.
