Control

Weird, whacky, amusing, unsettling with a thumpingly good soundtrack, Kontroll is a funky cult-style adventure in the Budapest subway system, the scarily unbalanced but mostly good-hearted (and fictitious) ticket inspectors, their adversaries, games of dare, the weirdos that play games of evasion, a gorgeous woman dressed in a teddy bear suit and so many other out-there and unpredictable aspects that you never know whether a seen will make you laugh or jump. Not for the very squeamish. The movie is perhaps slightly longer than it needs to be, but the aesthetic ending more than makes up for the sometimes dissipated storyline. The ingenious lighting and costumes, and the sheer audacity of the script and execution shriek of great things to come from this director.

"Kontroll" gives me new hope that Hungarian filmmakers are finally capable to make pictures that appeal to audiences at home, movie critics (and probably also foreign audiences) alike. An excellent, though a bit weird mixture of satirical comedy, mystical drama and thriller. The metro stations become a world of their own, the neon lights create a new reality.

While in the beginning the film focuses on a whole group of ticket controllers and we expect a satirical comedy about their lives, in the second half the storyline concentrates on the terrifying experiences of Bulcsú, a man with a mysterious past. He used to be an artist or in some other kind of creative business not specified further, but left this life for unknown reasons and started to live in the metro. It also becomes clear that for some reason he is not able to leave the metro system until the end - when he overcomes the dark forces (that probably have also been lurking inside him). Everything about this story is deeply irrational (except for the satirical elements that are in some ways very close to reality :-)), this is just a terrible world, where love means the only hope (I was a bit reminded of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil").

An excellent movie that I would also strongly recommend to foreign viewers. I don't know if this will ever come to other countries, but I would very much like it to be so. So that Hungary could be put back on the landscape of international moviemaking.

P.s.: The Budapest multiplex I saw this in was absolutely packed with people. I was astonished what a great success "Kontroll" has become in Hungary, because I think that most people in the audience there have probably never seen anything that could only remotely be called arthouse - and "Kontroll" wasn't exactly an easy popcorn movie....

The movie is a cinematic triumph! Don't need to say much, very good acting with amazing and very rare atmosphere. Solid story and amazing soundtrack! The perfect example that you don't need a big budget or the fancy actors to make a very good movie! A absolutely must see! Kontroll!

Please make more movies like this !

This is just an amazing and wonderful film. It's funny, romantic, creepy, exciting and thought provoking. Too bad this weekend people are lining up to see A Lot Like Love.

The photography is dazzling, the music heart pounding, the acting is masterful... It's been a while since i enjoyed a movie this much. Hope you get a chance to see this, you won't regret it.

The movie is a very strange and quirky dark tale of a bunch of outcasts that spend their time working as ticket inspectors in the subway, but their leader is a haunting and charming guy that is obviously dealing with his demons and has exiled himself to the subway. In his quest for finding life again, so much stuff happens. The story is beautiful, but pretty dark and creepy at times, and the romantic plot between him and the gorgeous teddy bear girl in which both share their "outcastness" is perfect.

Please go see this, you deserve it.

for the first time again since Avalon I felt completely lifted to another world... I didn't know what to expect when I decided to watch this one tonight as opener for the Fantasy Film Fest in Hamburg... I was skeptical since the last openers were highly promoted but quite dull... This one is different... A team of very different persons work together as ticket inspectors... each of them is differently weird but fun to watch... The whole movie happens in the subway and stations... no daylight... The images are great and the music fits perfectly to this extraordinary composition. Just don't ask what this movie is about... or if there is a story being told... I don't know... I don't care... I loved to watch and I hope to join this ride soon again...