First of all: I'm not Hungarian and I don't understand Hungarian language at all! Still I 've bought this film in Budapest, during my vacation there, July 2005, because I found the story fascinating and the actress Katalin Karády just WONDERFUL !!! I did see this movie first at the Budapest Open Air film-festival and was lucky to find this film on DVD in a small shop there. Well, if someone who does not understand Hungarian language at all finds this film well enough to even BUY the DVD, this should be a good recommendation ,right.Since the actress Katalin Karady is very famous in Hungary ( she went to USA after world war II and died there in the 1990s)I was disappointed not to find much more by her in Budapest.I found very little on her but besides the DVD I found some CDs with Hungarian songs, featured in her films too.So, this was a recommendation for Halálos Tavasz from a Dutch admirer of Karady !
3 Reviews
Re-Edit.
morrison-dylan-fan15 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
For the ICM poll on the best movies of 1939,I decided to try and watch a movie from a country whose output I've not seen before. Whilst a fan of Czech cinema, (and the Serb Horror The She- Butterfly) I've not taken a close look at titles from other Eastern Europe countries,so I was pleased to find a Hungarian film spring out to me.
The plot- Budapest 1936:
Going back to the hotel, Dr.Egry István writers a letter to his fiancé Nagy Józsa,and then kills himself.
The past:
Catching a glimpse of her, Dr.Egry István becomes Edit Ralben. Trying to enter a romantic relationship with her, Egry soon discovers that Edit is not as invested in the relationship as he is. In the disintegration of the romance, István gets together with the loving Nagy Józsa. While aware of Nagy's romantic feelings,István is unable to re-edit his love for Edit.
View on the film:
Adapting his own soon to be banned novel, (with the film also being banned during WWII) writer/director László Kalmár & cinematographer Árpád Makay elegantly sow regal Drama with abrasive Film Noir. Entering an extended flashback, Kalmár and Makay pen István's final days with ultra-stylised dissolves that are splashed across István's broken eyes. Offering István a tempting taste of what could be, Kalmár gives Edit and Józsa's surroundings a pristine appearance,which burns at the edges from the heated Drama of István.
Opening with István's suicide,the screenplay by Kalmár gives the extended flashback an impressive unpredictability, by smoothly transforming István's playfully flirty first encounters with Edit and Józsa into consuming obsession, and heartless outbursts. Tempting István at every sighting, Katalin Karády gives an extremely alluring performance as Edit,whilst Éva Szörényi perfectly captures the care-free quality of Józsa. Unable to escape from Edit and welcome the love of Józsa, Pál Jávor gives an excellent performance as István,with Jávor pushing every deadly spring of István forward.
The plot- Budapest 1936:
Going back to the hotel, Dr.Egry István writers a letter to his fiancé Nagy Józsa,and then kills himself.
The past:
Catching a glimpse of her, Dr.Egry István becomes Edit Ralben. Trying to enter a romantic relationship with her, Egry soon discovers that Edit is not as invested in the relationship as he is. In the disintegration of the romance, István gets together with the loving Nagy Józsa. While aware of Nagy's romantic feelings,István is unable to re-edit his love for Edit.
View on the film:
Adapting his own soon to be banned novel, (with the film also being banned during WWII) writer/director László Kalmár & cinematographer Árpád Makay elegantly sow regal Drama with abrasive Film Noir. Entering an extended flashback, Kalmár and Makay pen István's final days with ultra-stylised dissolves that are splashed across István's broken eyes. Offering István a tempting taste of what could be, Kalmár gives Edit and Józsa's surroundings a pristine appearance,which burns at the edges from the heated Drama of István.
Opening with István's suicide,the screenplay by Kalmár gives the extended flashback an impressive unpredictability, by smoothly transforming István's playfully flirty first encounters with Edit and Józsa into consuming obsession, and heartless outbursts. Tempting István at every sighting, Katalin Karády gives an extremely alluring performance as Edit,whilst Éva Szörényi perfectly captures the care-free quality of Józsa. Unable to escape from Edit and welcome the love of Józsa, Pál Jávor gives an excellent performance as István,with Jávor pushing every deadly spring of István forward.
Just EXCELLENT.
Pacolito26 January 1999
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