Poligamy (2009) User Reviews

Not the best, but definitely intriguing and entertaining

[Playbahnosh · 7/10 · 11 June 2010]

On first sight, Poligamy looks and smells like your run of the mill romantic summer movie. But there is a huge twist, that makes it one of the most entertaining and intriguing films of the modern Hungarian movie scene.

The story kicks off as anyone would expect. András, the mildly successful screenwriter moves in with his girlfriend Lilla after a five year relationship. They seem to live a fairly normal life until one morning András wakes up beside a totally different girl...who also calls herself Lilla and acts like nothing happened. Utter confusion and occasional hilarity ensues. The story revolves around András, who tries to solve the unreal puzzle, all the while thinking that either him or the world has gone insane.

Poligamy is anything but average. The story is clever, mysterious and you'll never know what's reality and what's not. The emotions seem much more real than average American romantic movies and the actors are very talented. If you want to watch an intriguing and clever romantic movie with the occasional humor sprinkled on top, Poligamy is one move for you. It's not the best, but it's still pretty awesome!

Refreshing

[bennyhagen · 7/10 · 8 March 2011]

With barely 10 million people living in the country it is not too easy to make a Hungarian film vehicle profitable. As craving for the "masses" producers heavily focus on romantic comedies resulting that around 90% of Hungarian mainstream cinema represents a cheap copy of some already bad Jennifer Aniston movie. Seemingly this is what people agree to put some bills down for while taking out their gals. So I'm not to hot for Hungarian cinema, generally.

Now with this in mind, I need to say, that Poligamy, while managing to be watchable with your average girlfriend tries to incorporate a good deal of originality and a fine artistic quality which it does rather well. I'm not saying, that this movie will blow your mind, but as a matter of fact, Poligamy does a fairly good job getting it's message through on an emotional level, which is very refreshing as opposed to having the actors look into the camera, verbally explaining to you what every scene is about (yes, Mr. Nolan, you may now go ahead and be ashamed of yourself). This is something you barely find in mainstream cinema, neither here, nor in Hollywood.

For the bad parts, I can't restrain myself in pointing out what a limited actor lead Sándor Csányi is but to be totally fair, his basic charisma (whatever it is with him) somehow gets him trough this flick. Now generally, while looking for good acting in this movie equals a job search as a business executive in central Congo, at least it might cheer you up when some of it shows up - now and then. Regarding the humor, while you might not go lol in particular, there is constantly something to giggle about and the movie certainly has it's moments.

Now regarding the "arguable" aspects. If you can't take the "bizarreness" of the movie, if you need every bit of a story spoon fed over and over again, then it really is best if you go back to the mentioned Jennifer Aniston projects. There is nothing that can't be understood here, may it be on an emotional, or an intellectual level. It just isn't you're usual story, that's about it. And for me, this is exactly why I give the movie a 7/10 and congratulate to talented director and writer Dénes Orosz, also adding my condolences, for that seemingly just a minimal amount of abstraction already scares away audiences. This might be one of the reasons we're operating on such a low level here (and also "there").

Absurd. (Not in a good way)

[nwsts · 3/10 · 20 August 2010]

Poligamy starts out with a beautifully scripted dinner evening. Thus ends, after 10 minutes, anything interesting about this movie. Thereafter, the plot of the movie is revealed to be an endless procession of new girlfriends for the male lead, each claiming to be the original girlfriend (named Lilla). Lilla's roll in and out of the scenes so fast no one could possibly keep track, and at some point, who would even bother. Eventually you find yourself watching the minutes click by and hoping that further investments of your time will be rewarded by some dramatic revelation at the end. And the revelation is that you just wasted an hour and a half of your life. The silliness of the plot leaves the viewer scratching his head as to what drugs were used to get this movie into production. A good job by the male lead (Sandor Csanyi) and well written dialog are the only things rescuing this absurdity from a rating of 1.

I Loved this Film

[jwillsm · 10/10 · 9 March 2015]

This movie was reminiscent of Groundhog Day, one of my fave Rom/Coms. It was also totally unique and different. The plot was filled with interesting sidebars, the dialog was completely understandable and translated beautifully into English subtitles. It was also very fresh and witty.

I loved the actors, as well as the cheesy background soap opera that the protagonist was writing. I liked that all of the wives didn't look like super models. I loved that the story did not push a particular moral that was key to finding happiness, other than the universal concept that happiness is too often something that we seek elsewhere.

I am blown away that Hollywood has not already made an English language version. I guess I am also somewhat grateful for that, knowing the propensity which Tinseltown has demonstrated for finding unique new ways to demolish an awesome script idea by committee.

WATCH THIS FILM WITH A LOVED ONE !!!!!!!

Witty, Romantic - A Feel good movie

[sabari_u · 8/10 · 5 January 2017]

Everyone has unique taste for movies and this one tickled my interest immediately after reading the plot. I accidentally stumbled upon this movie in IMDb few years ago. It has romantic yet not vulgar scenes in it. Confused hero, his hot girlfriends, easily guessable scenes, melo- dramatic climax makes this movie worth a watch

No one would expect such a good movie from such small movie industry. You would be amazed at the way story was told. Screenplay is so clear and no one will find it lagging in any scene.

Verdict: Watch this film when you are in mood to watch a feel good movie. It is a subtle rom-com movie which you will enjoy on a rainy evening with your partner.

It's not your classic rom-com

[ztl-43646 · 8/10 · 8 June 2020]

This film was a very pleasant surprise for me. I almost never felt that I was watching a romcom - come to think of it I wouldn't really classify this as a romcom at all. It was an interesting thought experiment of a situation which is core in a man's mind while being in a relationship - and which is quite a taboo to this day. I recomend it to all man that give this movie a try - it may not provide much answer for relationship issues - but it really was something interesting to watch, and it really makes you think about the institute of a relationship afterwards. (btw the 3 Garnier product placements were the most ridiculous excuse for an ad I've ever seen)