For his feature debut, L.A.-born Hungary resident Nimród Antal made Kontroll, a farcical look at the Budapest subway system, about the crazy ticket agents who earn their living there and the hostile citizens they deal with on a daily basis. At the center of it all is Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), a quiet fellow who leads his ragtag crew that includes the Professor (Zoltán Mucsi), the nagging, burned-out elder of the group; Muki (Csaba Pindroch), the goofy narcoleptic; the disheveled Lecsó (Sándor Badár); and the naïvely gung-ho new guy, Tibi (Zsolt Nagy). Bulcsú and his guys can't compete with the likes of Gonzó's (Balázs Mihályfi) top-notch crew, who gets all the perks and the best assignments. They're more concerned with just getting through each day in one piece, and it isn't always easy. In addition to the annoyed riders who bicker over having to show their tickets and passes, there's Bootsie (Bence Mátyássy), an energetic young man who plays pranks on the agents and runs very fast, and Sofie (Eszter Balla), the odd young woman who shows up on the train in a bear costume everyday and never pays her fare. Worst of all, there's a dark and mysterious figure who's been pushing unsuspecting riders in front of oncoming trains with predictably grisly results. His superiors begin to suspect Bulcsú when they realize he's been living in the system, spending his nights sleeping on the platforms, and never venturing above ground. Kontroll won Le Prix de la Jeunesse at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It was also selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
is neutral about it.
Nimród Antal's Kontroll is set in the subterranean nightmare world of Budapest's subway system, where hapless petty bureaucrats (Kontroll's "heroes") harass the public to earn their meager, thankless living. Aside from its unique underworld milieu (the film was shot on location, as a deadpan intro disclaims), there's nothing especially original about Antal's film, but the filmmaker's surfeited movie love shines through in its playful allusions to other films, and in its skillful mix of grunge and slickness. Beyond that, the film offers a potently downbeat metaphor for a decent, honorable man's struggles against the essentially soulless nature of bureaucracy. Sándor Csányi, as Bulcsú, makes an agreeable antihero. Csányi is darkly handsome, but his performance captures an underlying edge of feckless hostility (visually abetted by the physical wounds he incurs over the course of the film) that makes him simultaneously sympathetic and untrustworthy. Gleefully, guiltlessly borrowing a good deal of its sardonic wit and its propulsive visual style, Kontroll is the type of movie that film geeks love to "discover." The Los Angeles-born Antal shows promise with this dexterous debut. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide