Johanna

A remarkable visual feast. A fabulous greenish/yellow color tinting shades the contours of the cast throughout the film, compounded by severe contrasts of moving bright flashlight pools in pitch darkness. A very strange "out-of-body sensation" grabs hold of you until suddenly the talking voices change into operatic ones. The effect was mesmerizing to say the least. After Italian, Hungarian is phonetically the most effective language for opera. Not as harsh as German, but more robust than Italian. A very different sensation. Why aren't there more operas in Hungarian? (Shades of Bartok's "BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE"). The setting of the old asylum in Budapest keeps reminding one of the somber feel of the Danish hospital in Lars von Trier's "THE KINGDOM", with a dash of the picturesqueness of Lubyanka Prison. A modern operetta for the soul... Let your mind run free during this one. And simply ignore all other advice to the contrary. This wonderful gem is a unique and liberating experience...