Love - Szerelem

Károly Makk, HU, 1971, Lili Darvas, Mari Töröcsik, Iván Darvas
88' ⁄ Ov St: FR - NL

One of the most beautiful works of Hungarian cinema, Love is a synthesis of historical-social interest and subjective point of view. The intimate world of the characters defies the storms of history. ‘Love’ won three prizes, including the Jury Prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. Derek Malcolm ranked it one of The Guardian’s 100 best films of the 20th century.

A young wife (Mari Törőcsik) is waiting for her husband (Iván Darvas) to come home. He is a political prisoner, and her life is getting harder because of it. She conscientiously cares for her mother-in-law (Lili Darvas) and tries to maintain a semblance of normality. She makes the bedridden old woman believe that her son is filming in America and will be back soon. The two women form a special bond, nurturing hope in each other. The man is unexpectedly granted amnesty and leaves for home...

Love is one of the most beautiful works in Hungarian film history. The linear narrative is constantly interrupted by the inner thoughts and memories of the characters. The film takes place largely in a single space, the old woman's room, filled with old objects and photographs. The bourgeois aesthetic of the turn of the century clashes with the harsh reality of the 1950s.

The bridge between two very different women is the absence of a man they love. The poetic associations of images, the quick cuts follow the logic of memory and dream. Present and past, reality and fantasy are mixed, perfectly nuancing the underlying drama of the political situation. Lyrical imagery, flashes and sound effects reflecting the workings of the mind, and meticulous environmental imagery bring the characters close together. It's as if we are transported to a strange place beyond time and space, where we have to piece together the whole story from the information dripped in the episodes. The director Károly Makk, with the help of the cinematographer János Tóth, creates a very intimate world that defies the cruel outside world. The close triangle between the two women and the man cannot be broken by dictatorship. The film is a story of great human emotion and passing, without any kitsch or pathos.

Love is a celebration of the power of human endurance and loyalty, of the individual in the face of oppression.