Tamas and Juli

We expected better than this.. My wife and I were fairly impressed with Enyedi's My 20th Century, so we had high expectations for this. Unfortunately the outcome was telegraphed from the outset and the nice cinematography was offset by the dog-humping scene (was she just trying to set the stage for the requisite sex scene at the dingy bus stop that followed). yecch. We found the overall exercise simply pretentious.

This is a relatively short film of 70 minutes but it's top quality. Set in a mining town, it records the development of two shy people falling in love but finding it difficult to express their true feelings. Tamas a young coal miner has an eye for the girls but is too bashful to ask for a date. Juli is a teacher in charge of a kindergarten. She too has yearnings for love but fears showing the feelings bubbling within her. The quiet and tender moments the lovers spend together are contrasted with the overpowering gigantic and noisy coal mine with its dirty metal trucks and endless rubber conveyor belts. There is an atmosphere of impending danger within the mine. An interesting aspect of the film is that it moves forward in time to New Year's Eve of the new millennium. Unfortunately for Tamas he is on the midnight shift and so misses out on enjoying the celebrations with Juli. However Juli seeks him out in the mine. One very exciting moment is when she takes a ride on one of the fast moving conveyor belts. The photography throughout is excellent especially the play of light on the rippled surface of a river and the snowbound winter scenes that chill to the bone. The music throughout complements the mood. While Tamas might not be a dashing Romeo, we are attracted by his gentle nature and his brave attempts to win over the girl of his dreams. But it is the mine itself which dominates their lives and has the final say in a most dramatic conclusion.