Kontroll (2003)

Director:

Nimród Antal

Writers:

Jim Adler (writer)
Nimród Antal (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 2003 (Hungary)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Murder. Mystery. Romance. Just another ride on the subway.

Plot:

A tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, his fellow inspectors, who are all without exception likeable characters, a rival ticket inspection team, and racing along the tracks... And a tale about love.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Ticket | Dare | Love | Race

Awards:

17 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Sándor Csányi	...	Bulcsú
Zoltán Mucsi	...	Professor
Csaba Pindroch	...	Muki
Sándor Badár	...	Lecsó
Zsolt Nagy	...	Tibi
Bence Mátyássy	...	Gyalogkakukk (Bootsie)
Gyözö Szabó	...	Shadow
Eszter Balla	...	Szofi
László Nádasi	...	Laci
Péter Scherer	...	Chief
Lajos Kovács	...	Béla
Károly Horváth	...	Tamás
György Cserhalmi	...	Big Boss
János Kulka	...	Feri
László Bicskei Kiss	...	Doki
Zsolt László	...	K., Kripli (Nub)
Balázs Lázár	...	Gonzo
József Tóth	...	Róbert
Enikö Eszenyi	...	Drunken Woman
Balázs Mihályfi	...	Gonzó
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Éva Bacsa
Marcell Bálint
Zsolt Bánki
Béla Barabás
Zsóka Békefy
Péter Bergendy	...	Cameo
Krisztián Berg
László Bolyki		(as Bolyki László 'Zsiráf')
Tamás Buvári	...	Cameo
Dávid Csobai
Zsolt Czakó
Gábor Czibere
Alpár Cziglényi
János Derzsi	...	Last Passenger
András Fésös	...	Cameo
Péter Galambos
Gábor Gallyas
Imola Gáspár	...	Metróellenõr
János Greifenstein	...	Stutterer
Andrew Hefler	...	Junkie (as Andrew Heffler)
Zoltán Hoffmeister
Ákos Horváth	...	Passenger
Margó Kasza
Heléna Kiss
Péter Kiss
Veronika Klement
Babett Köllõ
Ernõ Köves
Szabolcs Máté
László Mészáros
Hunor Michálik
Milan Mikulcík	...	Cameo
Tamás Molnár
Sándor Mucsi
Adrienn Nador		(as Nádor Adrienn)
Imre Nagy
Szilvia Nemesdédi
Árpád Nick	...	Cameo
Márton Nyitrai	...	Cameo
Edit Orbán
Béla Paczolay	...	Cameo
Tamás Pintér	...	Cameo
Imréné Pocz Nagy
Ilona Psota	...	Old Lady (Witch)
Gábor Rohonyi	...	Cameo
Róbert Sarkady
Csaba Sárvári
Zoltán Sárvári
Géza Schramek
Zsolt Szentiványi
Andrea Takáts
Gergely Tapolczai
Levente Törköly	...	Gay Man
Veronika Varjasi
Zsolt Venczel
Miklós Viola
Zoltán Viola
Tibor Viszkó
Melinda Völgyi	...	Woman with Big Breasts
Gábor Herendi	...	Paramedic (uncredited)
Livius Varga	...	Passenger (uncredited)

Directed by
Nimród Antal

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jim Adler		writer
Nimród Antal		writer

Produced by
Tamás Hutlassa	....	producer

Original Music by
Neo

Cinematography by
Gyula Pados

Film Editing by
István Király

Casting by
Szilvia Nemesdédi
Veronika Varjasi

Production Design by
Balázs Hujber

Costume Design by
János Breckl

Makeup Department
Ernella Hortobágyi	....	makeup artist
Brigitta Szabó	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Károly Fehér	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
László Janicsek	....	assistant director

Art Department
Victor Barabás	....	construction crew
Attila Budavári	....	construction manager
Antal Lakatos	....	construction crew
Tamás Tamási	....	props
Péter Újvári	....	props

Sound Department
Csaba Erös	....	boom operator
Gábor ifj. Erdélyi	....	sound editor
Gábor ifj. Erdélyi	....	sound effects editor
Micki Joanni	....	synchron editor
Róbert Juhász	....	sound
Attila Madaras	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Ferenc Deák	....	special effects supervisor
Attila Török	....	pyrotechnician
Ferenc Török	....	pyrotechnics supervisor

Stunts
Balázs Farkas	....	stunts
Zoltán Gulyás Kiss	....	stunt coordinator
László Kósa	....	stunts
Gábor Pesta	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Károly Brauner	....	key grip
Zsolt Éliás	....	video technician
István Faragó	....	electrician
Tibor Fazekas	....	electrician
Elek Hornyák	....	electrician
Tamás Jánossa	....	assistant camera
Zoltán Jánossa	....	assistant camera
András Khin	....	Steadicam operator
Ádám Kliegl	....	camera operator
József Marton	....	gaffer
István Õsz	....	electrician
József Simon	....	electrician
Adrienn Szabó	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Éva Csele	....	wardrobe assistant
Mari Havasi	....	wardrobe assistant (as Havasi Mária)

Editorial Department
Baba Deimanik	....	color timer (as Tamásné Deimanik)
Gyöngyi Féjja	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Balázs Ari	....	associate
Tamás Guba	....	location manager
Krisztina Kelemen	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Café Film
• Bonfire

Distributors

• Budapest Film (2003) (Hungary) (theatrical)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• CTV International (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• ICA Projects (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Kino Swiat (2005) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Lady Film (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• THINKFilm (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Tiberius Film (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2007) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Open Casting  casting
• Open Casting  extras casting

Also Known As:

Control (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

Hungary:105 min | Germany:111 min | Argentina:107 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Hungary

Language:

Hungarian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Hungary:16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Café Film

Trivia:

On two occasions there is a robotic voice in the background saying (in English), "The next stop is: Concourse A... the color coded maps and signs in this vehicle match the station colors... please move to the center of the vehicle and away from the doors." The voice is that which was use until 1994 in the "people mover" underground trains at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie, when Bulcsú runs away from the man into the tunnel the train comes from left, but minutes later the a train comes from the right.

Quotes:

Szofi: [at subway vending machines] Nice place. Come here often?
Bulcsú: Only when I really want to impress a girl.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Csak szex és más semmi (2005)

Bulcsú's past

CONTROL (Nimród Antal - Hungary 2003).

The film opens with a prologue featuring a real-life Budapest metro official declaring this film is in no way representative of Budapest's underground system, but nevertheless he's in full support (!) of this feature. Probably enscenated by the director, or he must be one hell of a charming fellow to convince the underground authorities in Budapest to allow this kind of endorsement.

This is a smart film. A cynical blender of genres and styles, completely in tune with the 21th century world of chaos, anarchy, despair and poverty we live in. It's a modern language. If this was American, it would define a generation. I'm positive it had this effect on many young Hungarians.

We have a closely confined space here: The Budapest underground rail system. Bulcsú, our main protagonist, is a controller in the Budapest metro. That's his job, leading a motley bunch of rival ticket inspectors. The film never comes above ground. Bulcsú never even leaves the system. He sleeps on the platforms, all he seems to eat or drink is coffee from the machines on the platforms. God knows what he lives on.

The crucial part is in the second half when Bulcsú meets an acquaintance of him on the platform, an middle-aged man who seems like a former professor of him or some kind of mentor. He is clearly embarrassed to run into him in the state he's in. What is it he's hiding from? He seems a well-educated young man. His acquaintance speaks of the promising young Bulcsú. Was he a promising scientist? What was his life like prior to the hellish job he does now? The rest, the extremely aggressive and unwilling passengers, rivalry among colleague ticket inspectors, even a shadowy serial killer who pushes unsuspecting travelers before trains, it's all a sideshow, but a brilliant one. The perfect backdrop for his troubled existence.

Sándor Csányi gives a brilliantly understated performance, perfectly in tune with the daylight-ridden world he lives in.

The silent scene where Bulcsú sits on a large ventilator shaft, echos Ridley Scott, a kind of existential ALIEN-film. Long tracking shots, a neon-lit world, an energetic techno-driven soundtrack. One can argue about the choice of music, the moral stance of the incredibly aggressive passengers but all is perfectly on par with the director's visual ideas. This director is in total control and knows how to express his ideas on film.

Very impressive, make sure you see this.

A small side-note: Nimród Antal, who grew up in LA, is currently finishing his latest film VACANCY, starring Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, scheduled for US release on 20 April 2007 and, I can hardly believe it, a cinematic release in the Netherlands as well, scheduled for 19 July 2007). I expect the worst and hope for the best.

Camera Obscura --- 10/10