GLOOMY SUNDAY Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Rolf Schubel Producer: Richard Schops Writers: Ruth Toma, Rolf Schubel; based on the novel by Nick Barkow Director of Photography: Edward Klosinski Cast: Erika Marozsan, Joachim Krol, Stefano Dionisi, Ben Becker Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

(Read the interview with Erika Marozsan)

Review by: Warren Curry
11/3/03

Sometimes a European film doesn't feel like a "European film." Such is the case with Gloomy Sunday, a German movie that's tone and, for the most part, plot elements seem to take their influence from Hollywood's output of decades past. Director Rolf Schubel tackles weighty subject matter, but Gloomy Sunday completely exists in a very discernible movie world. Naturalism isn't this film's goal, which makes the melodramatic leanings easier to swallow. Schubel distinguishes himself as a skilled storyteller, exploring his characters deeply but with an eye toward constantly advancing the story.

Gloomy Sunday begins in contemporary Budapest, Hungary at the 80th birthday party of a highly successful German businessman named Hans Wieck (played in this scene by Schubel). Celebrating at a restaurant known as Szabo, an eatery where a young Hans spent many happy days, the party suddenly turns tragic when the man unexpectedly falls to his death after he spots a black and white photo of a woman. Oddly, the death is blamed on the song, "Gloomy Sunday," which the pianist had begun playing at Mr. Wieck's request.

We then return to Budapest in the late 1930s to find out just who Hans and the mysterious woman in the photograph are. The beautiful woman is Ilona (Erika Marozsan), the lover of Laszlo Szabo (Joachim Krol), who owns the same restaurant where the opening death occurred. In the '30s, the restaurant is a booming success, and one of its loyal customers is the shy, lonely young German man, Hans Wieck (Ben Becker), who keeps returning to the restaurant for its beef rolls and to be in the presence of Ilona with whom he is smitten. Ilona, while being extremely cordial to Hans, has no romantic feelings for the man, which may partially stem from the fact that the woman is juggling her relationship with Laszlo with another one that involves the restaurant's pianist, Andras (Stefano Dionisi).

After some initial turmoil, Laszlo and Andras, quite diplomatically, agree to share Ilona. (And somehow in this film, the love triangle comes across completely innocent.) When Ilona ultimately rejects Hans, the distraught man jumps off a bridge but is saved by Laszlo. When Laszlo later sees the German off, as he boards a train for his homeland, Hans vows that he will someday return the favor.

But when Hans and Laszlo next meet, the circumstances are much different. Hans returns to Budapest as a Nazi officer, and being Jewish, Laszlo is a potential target of the Nazis' "final solution." But underneath the uniform, Hans appears to be the same person -- still in love with Ilona, still addicted to the beef rolls, and still grateful to Laszlo -- he promises that nothing will happen to his old friend. Meanwhile, Andras, while continuing to play at the restaurant, has become a successful recording artist, thanks to his song "Gloomy Sunday," which has become an international hit. Unfortunately, it's also become an infamous soundtrack for suicide, as hordes of people across Europe and the U.S. have taken their lives while listening to the song. As Germany's grip on Hungary becomes ever so tighter, Hans, Laszlo, Andras and Ilona's lives entangle in devastating ways.

Apparently, the song "Gloomy Sunday," written in 1935 and subsequently recorded by dozens of artists, really did play in the background while several suicides were committed shortly after it was first released to the public -- an odd bit of history that I had no prior knowledge of. The increasing chaos and despair that surrounds the song serves as an appropriate parallel to the mounting madness in Hungary, as Jews are rounded up and sent away to concentration camps.

But Gloomy Sunday is not a Holocaust film (and it's free of the baggage attached to the label). It's a relationship drama set during that period of time, but the film isn't meant to be a sweeping history lesson. In fact, there is something refreshingly unassuming about this movie -- no vanity, no flamboyance, no hammering messages. It's just a well-textured, surprisingly absorbing movie featuring nicely developed characters that you can invest in. Joachim Krol's Laszlo makes for a terrific center to the film -- he's earnest and extremely likeable, but drawn in realistic strokes. All of his decisions, no matter how far fetched a few may appear on paper, play out as totally plausible. Erika Marozsan's Ilona is a warm, charming beauty; when Laszlo declares that he'd rather only have some of her than none of her, it's not difficult to understand where he is coming from.

Gloomy Sunday is the sort of solidly crafted, intelligent, emotionally engaging, and inoffensive (only Puritans might be bothered by the relationship triangle) work that's easy to recommend to a wide cross-section of moviegoers. Despite an unnecessary plot twist (which may even be winking at itself), the film deftly hits its mark, quietly building in intensity and reaching a dramatic peak that only very good movies ever attain.

(A Menemsha Films release. Opens in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington D.C. on November 7, 2003. Previously opened in Chicago. Expands to more cities at later dates.)

Comment on the message boards.