Behind Every Great War Is a Great Story: Szasz’s Captivating, Grotesque Portrait of Life During Wartime
World War II takes on the ambience of an exquisitely grim fairy tale in Hungarian filmmaker Janos Szasz’s The Notebook, based on the famed novel by Agota Kristof. Reuniting the director with Danish star Ulrich Thomsen, who starred in Szasz’s last film, Opium: Diary of a Madwoman (2007), it’s a strikingly photographed, pervasively bewitching account of adolescent twin boys and their development into (mostly) apathetic killing machines due to the inhumane conditions of wartime. Winning the top prize at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2013, the infrequently working Szasz (also a veteran stage director) is a name ripe for rediscovery, heretofore best known for his 1994 film, Woyzeck (the stage play that would also provide the basis for Herzog’s 1979 version).
Nearing the end of WWII, a privileged father (Ulrich Matthes) decides...
World War II takes on the ambience of an exquisitely grim fairy tale in Hungarian filmmaker Janos Szasz’s The Notebook, based on the famed novel by Agota Kristof. Reuniting the director with Danish star Ulrich Thomsen, who starred in Szasz’s last film, Opium: Diary of a Madwoman (2007), it’s a strikingly photographed, pervasively bewitching account of adolescent twin boys and their development into (mostly) apathetic killing machines due to the inhumane conditions of wartime. Winning the top prize at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2013, the infrequently working Szasz (also a veteran stage director) is a name ripe for rediscovery, heretofore best known for his 1994 film, Woyzeck (the stage play that would also provide the basis for Herzog’s 1979 version).
Nearing the end of WWII, a privileged father (Ulrich Matthes) decides...
- 8/28/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Hungarian director Janos Szasz, who won the top prize at Karlovy Vary with The Notebook, is back working on another Holocaust novel.
And the Rat Laughed , by Israeli novelist and playwright Nava Semel, is the story of a five-year-old girl whose only companion during the long months of hiding underground from the Nazis, was a rat.
Semel’s novel, which has already been adapted into a chamber opera, will be produced by Miki Zachar through her Cinema Soleil France company, as well as production companies in Germany and Poland.
Highly regarded by critics, the novel has been described an unconventional and unique Holocaust story that takes place in the past, present and future, about brave human beings and the power of love and fantasy as means of survival.
Szasz enjoyed success last year with The Notebook (Le Grand Cahier), about twin siblings enduring the harshness of the Second World War in a village on the Hungarian border...
And the Rat Laughed , by Israeli novelist and playwright Nava Semel, is the story of a five-year-old girl whose only companion during the long months of hiding underground from the Nazis, was a rat.
Semel’s novel, which has already been adapted into a chamber opera, will be produced by Miki Zachar through her Cinema Soleil France company, as well as production companies in Germany and Poland.
Highly regarded by critics, the novel has been described an unconventional and unique Holocaust story that takes place in the past, present and future, about brave human beings and the power of love and fantasy as means of survival.
Szasz enjoyed success last year with The Notebook (Le Grand Cahier), about twin siblings enduring the harshness of the Second World War in a village on the Hungarian border...
- 4/2/2014
- by dfainaru@netvision.net.il (Edna Fainaru)
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.