A Hungarian submission to the 2008 Syracuse International Film and Video Festival, Iszka's Journey (the sz is pronounced like the s in Sam) takes place in Romania. The title character and her family appear to be part of the significant Hungarian minority living amid poverty and prejudice in Romania. Under Ceausescu's rule, the plight of this group was such that many sought refuge across the border in Hungary, a rare instance of people escaping to a Communist country! Iszka's family members speak Hungarian with each other, and the personnel at the orphanage where Iszka finds temporary haven also manage to communicate in that language, but everyone else speaks Romanian or is bilingual.
This gritty, naturalistic film offers brief moments of calm amidst seas of cold, suffering and exploitation. Fourteen-year old Iszka, bundled in odds and ends, scavenges for scrap metal, but is cheated by the buyer and robbed of the earnings by drunken parents. Accompanied by an ill younger sister, the teen runs away to an orphanage where we first realize that the urchin is actually a female. Our sympathies are all with her as she tries to get well and form friendships at the institute, prepared to accept a day of food and warmth as small triumphs. She returns when her mother comes to claim her, but having formed a friendship with a boy, she leaves again, saying goodbye to her ill sister. It appears that her journey with the boy into the green countryside and springtime is about to begin, but the story takes an abrupt turn when she hitches a ride with two men to the train station to join her travel partner. Though they treat her gently, they bundle her aboard a derelict looking ship.
This sudden change in the story suggests that the plot is driven by the underlying "real" events that is the basis for the film rather than by fiction. In fact, the film has a documentary feel, with its minimal dialogue, extreme close-ups, and episodic movement. Iszka, somehow still naïve and cheerful, finds herself aboard ship, in the company of other young women clearly marked for prostitution in foreign lands. On this ship of fools, the young women are jammed uncomfortably in the hold, smoking and telling each other their fantasies of finding work in other lands. But their knowing looks and sexual jokes suggest they are clearly aware of their upcoming roles. Iszka wanders about the ship and sees enough to open her eyes wide to her situation. The ship sails on, but Iszka's freckled, nosy face and jutting little chin reveal enough about her character and determination to make us believe that if anyone can return from this journey, she can.
This gritty, naturalistic film offers brief moments of calm amidst seas of cold, suffering and exploitation. Fourteen-year old Iszka, bundled in odds and ends, scavenges for scrap metal, but is cheated by the buyer and robbed of the earnings by drunken parents. Accompanied by an ill younger sister, the teen runs away to an orphanage where we first realize that the urchin is actually a female. Our sympathies are all with her as she tries to get well and form friendships at the institute, prepared to accept a day of food and warmth as small triumphs. She returns when her mother comes to claim her, but having formed a friendship with a boy, she leaves again, saying goodbye to her ill sister. It appears that her journey with the boy into the green countryside and springtime is about to begin, but the story takes an abrupt turn when she hitches a ride with two men to the train station to join her travel partner. Though they treat her gently, they bundle her aboard a derelict looking ship.
This sudden change in the story suggests that the plot is driven by the underlying "real" events that is the basis for the film rather than by fiction. In fact, the film has a documentary feel, with its minimal dialogue, extreme close-ups, and episodic movement. Iszka, somehow still naïve and cheerful, finds herself aboard ship, in the company of other young women clearly marked for prostitution in foreign lands. On this ship of fools, the young women are jammed uncomfortably in the hold, smoking and telling each other their fantasies of finding work in other lands. But their knowing looks and sexual jokes suggest they are clearly aware of their upcoming roles. Iszka wanders about the ship and sees enough to open her eyes wide to her situation. The ship sails on, but Iszka's freckled, nosy face and jutting little chin reveal enough about her character and determination to make us believe that if anyone can return from this journey, she can.