Semmelweis

The unbreakable element makes a person great, a touching true story based on reality, the image and reality are fascinating. In Hungary today, Semmelweis is a real historical person, I think he portrayed a big problem of the time very well. Check out! In this story, the person is very sympathetic, because if he has a family, he thinks about the big problems and questions of the past, which he could have fixed in a short time with today's knowledge. Great knowledge and thinking can fix these problems, and fortunately it was once again a Hungarian person who was able to fix this, despite the many enemies and skepticism, things were fixed even at that time!

This film tells a beautiful story with using a few clichés that make this movie only good. It's the kind of film you have probably watched several times, but I think it's worth watching, because few movies give you the joy this one has. The acting performances are great except for the little daughter. I could not understand half of what she said. It's well-shot, well-edited, the production and costume design is amazing. Lajos Koltai proves that he is a good director, but this film is kind of monotonous, slow. It can be boring ometimes and it's very predictable. Overall the film is good, but it could've been a lot better.

It's not the first time that more money is poured into a film, whose end result is far from good.

I recognized actors in it who generally perform very well, but here it somehow didn't come across. Summing up the acting, I'd give it a 10/2. They couldn't make me feel their situation; at times, the monologues seemed as if they were pondering what their next line should be.

I find the two-hour runtime of this film unnecessary. Often, less is more; here, many parts of the film became boring, lacking sufficient plot.

The costumes, backgrounds, and the overall visual appearance were fine; it's a shame that they adapted this outstanding story so poorly.

I've got to admit, overall, there were parts of the movie that really worked for me. The cinematography, the original score, visual effects, costume design, locations, set planning, even the furniture-all of it was seriously well done. The color palette and scene composition were beautiful, and the settings felt authentic and thoughtfully put together. It really gave off a strong, believable vibe of the era.

As for the acting... aside from a few seasoned standouts like László Gálffi, Lajos Kovács, Anna György, and maybe Ferenc Elek, it felt a bit shaky. Semmelweis himself came across as overacted and a bit immature. The younger cast members either overdid it or lacked presence. Makes you wonder if that's on the director or maybe the casting choices?

Costume design deserves another shout-out-it was excellent. The cinematography really helped highlight the period details in the sets and wardrobe.

That said, it's kind of a shame that the film is overwhelmed by melodramatic characters and lines. The key scenes are sometimes way too basic, or they hinge on overly dramatic "quotes" that just don't land.

Also, Semmelweis is constantly sweating-like, drenched. I'm not quite sure why that choice was made. Maybe there's a deeper meaning behind it, but if there is, it went over my head.

The only reason I give 3 stars is the cinematography. Which is itself completely all right. But other than that, I would be in real trouble if I had to point out some notable/positive features of the movie. As someone mentioned before, the real downside is the storyline itself. It could have been improved, once they decided to go with fiction instead of sticking with the actual history. I would prefer a more realistic approach any day but this kind of thing can still be legitimate for some people.

The characters were mediocre, it is hard to say anything beyond that. The sophisticated presentation of the characters would have required thoughtful acting, but this was lacking here. There was much more to be made of this topic. This is a one-time watch movie, but only if you really don't have anything better to do.