Kontroll (2003)

Kontroll is an interesting little film that I found when looking for Bela Tarr's work on Netflix. It sounded pretty good, so I went ahead and took the plunge. I wasn't disappointed at all, as it's a very fun, fast-paced, exhuberant gem of a film. Even more surprising, it's a debut, this one from Nimrod Antal. Certainly one Hungarian filmmaker to keep an eye on! But I digress...

The film is somewhat like a day-in-the-life, the subjects being a group of young adults working as ticket checkers in a train station inm Hungary. Because of the language barrier, the one word that applies most that is never used, would have to be "slacker". In fact, some of their exploits reminded me a bit of Clerks, but in a very different, far less raunchy way. Like Clerks, it also seems to relish the hell they have to put up with in order to make a living. And as Sarte said, Hell is other people. They're confronted with the most incompetant mix of customers you could ever hope for, from a pimp who offers one of his hos as payment, to a gaggle of Japanese tourists, from insane junkies, to more insane witches. Focusing on the universal truth; when you're working, customers suck.

It's an extremely stylish film, in terms of lighting, editing and plot development. Although there is quite a bit of substance to back it up, it's nothing compared to the juggernauts of cinema history. Then again, nobody asks Kontroll to do that. It's a very entertaining, very energetic film, and it stands on its own legs.