In 1943, a unit of Hungarian soldiers are on a mission in the Soviet Union, looking for partisans; when the commander is killed, corporal Semetka (Ferenc Szabó) has to step up. The director’s first feature was a hit among some critics and it is indeed a realistically crafted war movie, bathed in an eternal dusk light. Still, for much of the time it’s as if the drama gets stuck in the mud, not helped by the relentless focus on Szabó’s lead character, a stone-faced man who rarely says or does anything.
2021-Hungary-Latvia-France-Germany. 103 min. Color. Written and directed by Dénes Nagy. Novel: Pál Závada. Production Design: Márton Ágh. Cast: Ferenc Szabó (Semetka), Tamás Garbacz (Szrnka), László Bajkó (Koleszár), Gyula Franczia, Stuhl Erno, Szilágyi Gyula.
Trivia: Original title: Természetes fény.
Berlin: Best Director. European Film Awards: Best Production Design.
