Arpad Sopsits directs a monumental movie in Torzok. Not the Hollywood honey- smeared teddy-bear story. Here, with a masterful skill, he tells a story that, sadly, was and is frequent everywhere in the world.
Abandoned by his hating father, Aron is thrown into a world of despair and violence. Endured stoically by the children in a communist-era orphanage, their plight is fundamentally surviving.
The way the director-writer casts special spells on some of his characters, makes this film incredibly unnerving, disturbing. The ominous dread of injustice just around the corner, behind every door, at the lips of the traitors, is enough to keep the children in a tense and maddening situation.
What makes this film so special is that Sopsits deals with the forbidden in a way that transcends beauty. The beauty of childhood. The beauty of innocence. Against the hatred and folly of the torturers. Religion and religious spirit play a central part in this play. The story unfolds with lots of different wings. Every one of them of different colours and hues. But all of them masterfully intertwined to let the story flow.
This film can leave you shattered and shivering. Maybe sobbing in frustration and anger. But the nuances of love, moral spirit and unbreakable will in the children, are more than enough to praise this work as a very deep reflection on good and evil. As a key to try solving the innermost doubts we all have some time in our lives. And to centre our motivations in thoughts of hope, that are always the flames that kindle the human spirit, no matter the age.
Since my view of most films is, first, as a cinematographer, I'd like to comment on it, too.
The approach to this film is minimalist. Lighting is kept to its bare minimum, pushing film to all what it can give in available light situations. The scenes are lit and photographed in such a way, that effectively conveys the mood of the story.
Almost complete darkness is used in some very disturbing scenes. There's no place for joyful moods, except in some of Aron's dreams, that are ethereal and surreal, but extremely powerful. The operation of the steadicam in some scenes is perfect. Everything fits in place to tell the story. And never wanders into worlds of glamour, flashiness, silky and smooth images. The director and his DoP did a job that is almost never seen in big productions. And, from my point of view, this kind of approach leads to realistic images and straightforward story telling.
The transfer on DVD is pristine. The sound is absolutely amazing, with a score that may be one of the most naturally haunting I've ever heard, relying mostly on cellos and upright bass. I think there should be a special prize for After Crying... the music is perfect.
Winner of so many awards, this film has not been released in Britain and was not shown except in festivals.
