THE LAST SONG: An interview with Gloomy Sunday star Erika Marozsan. By Warren Curry 11/5/03

Gloomy Sunday's Joachim Krol and Erika Marozsan

Talk about a small phenomenon -- the German film Gloomy Sunday (Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod) played at a theater in Christchurch, New Zealand for over 80 weeks straight, and has been playing in the Chicago area ever since it was first released in the city back in June. The rest of the U.S. will soon discover what Gloomy Sunday is all about, as Menemsha Films will release the movie in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington D.C. on November 7, before it expands to more cities.

Starring Erika Marozsan, Joachim Krol, Stefano Dionisi, and Ben Becker, and directed by Rolf Schubel, Gloomy Sunday is based on the novel by Nick Barkow. Mixing fact and fiction, the film is set in 1930s, and later, 1940s Budapest, Hungary, as the Nazis strengthen their devastating grip on the country, and a haunting new song called "Gloomy Sunday" plays in the background while an alarming number of suicides are committed in both Europe and the U.S. At the heart of the film is a uniquely diplomatic love triangle, which involves a restaurateur (Krol), a pianist (Dionisi) who performs at his establishment, and the captivating woman (Marozsan) they both love. Gloomy Sunday is a welcome throwback to a brand of "old-fashioned" moviemaking rarely seen in the world of contemporary cinema -- a European film that can be appreciated by even those American moviegoers not usually fond of foreign fare.

I had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Hungarian actress Erika Marozsan, who plays Ilona, the film's radiant, and much desired, young woman, at Gloomy Sunday's recent Los Angeles press day.


(Read the review of Gloomy Sunday.)

How did you get involved with the film?

I got the script and loved the story. Then I met the director, Rolf Schubel, and I had that feeling after our meeting -- I'm going to get the role! I know there were a lot of questions about it, but I had that kind of feeling. Then we had to do a lot of casting in Hungary, Germany, Italy, France, all over Europe, and it took almost 5 months, but it turned out that I got the role.

What aspect of the script did you initially respond to the most?

My favorite things in the world are food, music and love, and that's what the film's all about. I thought it might be very good. Before the second World War, when the film takes place, to have good food, to live for culinary pleasures, it is a little bit strange; not very usual. To have a melody, to have a song, that also (drives) people to commit suicide; the song is getting famous for death, it's also controversial. The third subject, the love, that she's in love with two men, and there's a third man who is in love with her -- that's also not usual. I thought this mixture could make a good movie, and the director wanted to make it very emotional and passionate. Those things impressed me in the beginning.

In the press notes, you say that you're old fashioned, and I'd assume quite different from your character…

No, no, no, it is a misunderstanding. I was asked about what I thought about being in this kind of relationship, and I said it is not for me -- I am good with one man. But I can imagine that someone is in love with two men deeply for her entire life. It lasts forever, her love for these two men. That's why I said that, but it doesn't mean that I'm old-fashioned. (laughs) I hope I'm not. We wanted to make the figure in the film very modern. Compared to that time, she was modern, and she had this kind of unusual relationship.

What were then some of the things that you could relate to in the character?

Ilona is really a sympathetic person to me. She's always honest, and she fights for her and for the happiness of her two lovers. She never gives up, and she's the strongest character in the film. I think this is maybe the part of the character that I really loved and gave me the feeling that I could play this role. As a woman, you have to keep your family.

What was the most difficult part of making the movie?

Well, making a movie is difficult in itself…I don't know if there was a particular scene that was especially difficult to make. Sometimes the emotional things are more difficult than the scenes where you have to ride the bike for hours and don't feel your muscles. The love scenes are all difficult in a way, but also not difficult because this is really what you want to do. I like when the scenes are difficult because it means that maybe they'll be good. The scenes without difficulty are not very good scenes, so I like a film when there's a lot of difficulty. Which doesn't necessarily mean you work so hard; it could be done very easily.

What's the film industry in Hungary like?

We had a very good time in the '60s, '70s, '80s, even the beginning of the '90s, we had a thriving film industry. We made a lot of films, also for TV -- long films for TV. We had a lot of good directors and actors, actresses; I was very fond of the Hungarian films. After the political change in '89, everything became structured in a different way, because the financial grounds became different. Of course, during communism, you could fight against politics in your art. There was no push to make a big success with your film, so you could do everything that you want. It was really a good ground for making films.

During the '90s, in Europe came a lot of American films and there really was no more place for Eastern European films, but now I guess it's getting better. In the past few years, the film industry is better in Hungary. There is more financing, and we make a lot of European co-production films. It's getting better, and I hope as a Hungarian actress you could make an appearance in the U.S.

I understand that you spent a lot of time this summer in Los Angeles, the capital of the film industry in the U.S. What do you think of the city?

I've been in Santa Barbara for three months, not Los Angeles, but I've visited Los Angeles a couple of times. Santa Barbara is a fantastic city, very beautiful, and my boyfriend is studying at Brooks Institute of Photography, so that's why I came here as well.

I have some friends in Los Angeles, who showed me the city. You have to discover the city by yourself, because you really can get lost in the city -- it's huge. You can't compare it to Hungary, to Budapest. Through the point of view of my friends, I like the city very much. I know it's very hard, and the competition is very big, but if you have the chance to work here, it's a fantastic place, because everything is set for the work. This is a town with two faces, and it's very good to discover both the good face and the bad face. But I discovered the good face, and I like it very much.

You've done a lot of theater work. How do you like acting in films as opposed to the stage?

I like both. First of all, I played in a feature film when I was 15 in Hungary, so that was my first experience being an actress. I liked making films; being in that film influenced me a lot. After I graduated at the Academy of Theatrical and Film Art, I started to play in theaters. I played in a lot of big plays by Shakespeare, Moliere, a lot of fantastic plays. I loved it a lot. I wouldn't be happy just making films without theater and theater without film. For an actress, I think it is very important to play in both.

What has Gloomy Sunday done for your career?

It has changed my life. In the last two years, I haven't played in theater because it was impossible to organize my schedule with the theater. I made a couple of German films, a couple of co-production films in Europe, and an English film called The Poet which is coming out soon. Gloomy Sunday opened a door to the world for me.

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