An interesting and intelligent film.
Just after the start of the First World War, Sandor is a journalist in Budapesth. Nominally, he is a private in an infantry regiment, but his arrangements with his major- who is a member of the same gentlemen's club as him- means he need only turn up a couple of times a week and for the rest his war effort consists of writing propaganda about the glory of war and the "boundless enthusiasm" of regiments marching to the front. He is lackadaisically wooing Piri, daughter of a successful lawyer, but is not really interested. One Sunday he has to attend a parade in uniform and afterwards meets Wilma, a young servant, who flirts with him. Sandor presents himself as coming from a village background and they eventually sleep together and an affair begins- as the Hungarian title puts it- "In Private's Uniform". However, Wilma is the maid in Piri's family flat. Cue some obvious comedy- but it's deliberately not very funny. There are farcical scenes when Sandor, as a private, is in the flat when Piri's family come home unexpectedly. Sandor's regiment is sent to the front and Wilma finds he is not going.
Sandor finding himself in a more serious matter than he intended is trapped by his own snobbery, his idleness and at the same time he is too fond of Wilma and too kind simply to disabuse and dump her. Wilma too says "I'm not suited for gentry and they're not suited for me." In the end, having tried to warn Wilma of his lies Sandor appears at the flat as a guest. Wilma simply leaves her job at once and ignores him as she walks away. One of the film's virtues is its fairness. Sandor is not simply- or not only- idle and double-dealing. Wilma is not simply a naive peasant girl. Piri's father- an almost farcical figure- suddenly and convincingly becomes dignified when he defends Wilma from his wife's taunts. At the same time we see Sandor accepting indifferently that other men will be killed and he will avoid their deaths. He leaves Wilma to spend Sunday- her only day off- waiting for him in a rainstorm while he plays billiards at his club. We meet an acquaintance of his, a self-proclaimed failed genius, who has married "beneath him" and doesn't acknowledge his wife- a possible fate for Sandor and Wilma. The camera work is efficient and competent- no virtuosity but fluid and well-planned and the actors stay on the right side of absurdity in their characterisations.
Just after the start of the First World War, Sandor is a journalist in Budapesth. Nominally, he is a private in an infantry regiment, but his arrangements with his major- who is a member of the same gentlemen's club as him- means he need only turn up a couple of times a week and for the rest his war effort consists of writing propaganda about the glory of war and the "boundless enthusiasm" of regiments marching to the front. He is lackadaisically wooing Piri, daughter of a successful lawyer, but is not really interested. One Sunday he has to attend a parade in uniform and afterwards meets Wilma, a young servant, who flirts with him. Sandor presents himself as coming from a village background and they eventually sleep together and an affair begins- as the Hungarian title puts it- "In Private's Uniform". However, Wilma is the maid in Piri's family flat. Cue some obvious comedy- but it's deliberately not very funny. There are farcical scenes when Sandor, as a private, is in the flat when Piri's family come home unexpectedly. Sandor's regiment is sent to the front and Wilma finds he is not going.
Sandor finding himself in a more serious matter than he intended is trapped by his own snobbery, his idleness and at the same time he is too fond of Wilma and too kind simply to disabuse and dump her. Wilma too says "I'm not suited for gentry and they're not suited for me." In the end, having tried to warn Wilma of his lies Sandor appears at the flat as a guest. Wilma simply leaves her job at once and ignores him as she walks away. One of the film's virtues is its fairness. Sandor is not simply- or not only- idle and double-dealing. Wilma is not simply a naive peasant girl. Piri's father- an almost farcical figure- suddenly and convincingly becomes dignified when he defends Wilma from his wife's taunts. At the same time we see Sandor accepting indifferently that other men will be killed and he will avoid their deaths. He leaves Wilma to spend Sunday- her only day off- waiting for him in a rainstorm while he plays billiards at his club. We meet an acquaintance of his, a self-proclaimed failed genius, who has married "beneath him" and doesn't acknowledge his wife- a possible fate for Sandor and Wilma. The camera work is efficient and competent- no virtuosity but fluid and well-planned and the actors stay on the right side of absurdity in their characterisations.
