Lost in the Hungarian "Delta"

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Parent Category: Blogs

Category: James Van Maanen

Published on Saturday, 13 March 2010 00:58

Written by James Van Maanen

Delta
director Kornél Mundruczó
screenplay by Yvette Biro
starring Felix Lajko, Orsolya Toth

When Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó was nearly finished filming Delta, his lead actor suddenly died. The filmmaker had to begin again and -- given the chemistry that exists between actors -- had to was recruit an almost entirely new cast. The whole film was shot a second time. Changes occurred in this second filming that rendered the finished movie heavy-handed -- at least according to the screenwriter Yvette Biro. The story's ending is where the moviemakers started, working backwards and piecing together a plot that would ensure their planned finale.

A young man returns "home" to a Hungarian town located along the Danube. His father has died, his mother has taken up with a new man, while his sister, with whom he has had little previous acquaintance, works in the family's bar. The young man is clearly not welcomed, except by the sister, but he sets up living quarters in an old family shack by the river. As sis and bro grow closer, they are warned repeatedly yet pay no mind. Everyone we meet in this movie -- except brother, sister and an uncle -- is downright unpleasant, and when complications ensue (don't they always?), there is little question what will happen.

The views of the Danube are lovely indeed, but the humanity that wallows within quickly grow tiresome. All of its activities are joyless and bleak. Not one speaks much -- there is little dialog here -- and this is probably just as well. The film's slow pace allows us to consider the society of eastern Europe, under the thumbs of feudal lords, the aristocracy, Communist dictatorships and finally -- oh god, no -- some bastardized form of capitalism, reducing the populace to a bunch of petty, nasty, small-minded hypocrites.

Delta is full of interesting shots: silhouettes and bodily extremities; only after some time has passed does the director allow us many close-ups of his characters. The "hero" in particular (played by Lajko) remains a mystery. Laconic in the extreme, he finally turns from low-key passive into someone hot and fraught. The sister, too (Toth), is a girl of few words, yet both performers are attractive and interesting enough to hold our attention. You could call the movie "primal," though in modern times, backward seems more appropriate. 

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