I thought "Gloomy Sunday" was an exquisite little movie from start to finish. It takes place in Budapest just before and during Hitler's rise to power, but that's only a side plot (as weird as that may seem). The main story is a (mostly happy) love triangle involving restaurant owner Laszlo, his piano player András, and the lovely waitress Ilona. All three performances were excellent, but I was particularly taken with Erika Marozsan as Ilona—wow! The other main character is Hans, a Nazi officer who also falls for Ilona (who wouldn't?). It does turn very sad, but it's so beautiful that it's most definitely worth watching.
Years ago, Andy read and loved a book called Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. It was about Bob Lee Swagger, a former army sniper who is called in for an assignment but soon finds himself being set up by the FBI. "Shooter" is the film adaptation, and Andy knew before he even put the disc in that it would never live up to the book. Mark Wahlberg is good, but he never achieved the depth of character in the book. (Ain't that always the case?) As for me, I get so nervous and oogy whenever someone's being framed that I can barely stand it. Even as a child, I hated watching TV shows that centered around a "mixup"—and isn't that pretty much the basis for every sitcom plot from the '70s on? I just get too anxious waiting for the truth to come out and the wrongs to be righted. If you like fiery action scenes and cool guns, you might as well rent it, but all in all it was a disappointment.
I will have to check out Gloomy Sunday since my husband's family is Hungarian. As a matter of fact, my in-laws were still in Hungary at that time, so I'm sure they'd be interested in this. Come to think of it, the title sounds like some of my visits with the in-laws (ha, ha, ha!).
Posted by: Elena | August 25, 2007 at 11:14 AM