EIFF Review: Kontroll

Posted by: Scott Hayes  •  October 19, 2004 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

The subways of Budapest harbor an elaborate network of tunnels and trains... and people. There is a ticket agent named Bulcsú who is so devoted to his job that he never goes to the surface of the real world. Or maybe, it's that he's avoiding his responsibilities up top. Whatever the reason is, he stays below in an underworld that he can control.

It's a dreary existence that gets worse as subway riders start falling in front of trains. A mysterious grim reaper is pushing unsuspecting people to their deaths. I felt confined by the world of this film. I was desperate to get out of the theatre, not because the film was so bad, but because the mood it created was so intense.

Bulcsú takes it upon himself to solve the mystery. Mostly this is after he is accused of the murders himself. Along the way he must contend with the strange and exotic characters he meets â€" a woman who rides the subway dressed like a white fluffy bear and a man named Bootsie who sprays shaving cream in the face of any agent who tries to check his ticket.

I think that this movie, which has a tremendous amount of energy in some parts and a complete lack of it in others, should be considered a kind of companion to Trainspotting. The message is pretty consistent â€" "piss or get off the pot" â€" but just from a different point of view.