Cinema
Szindbád
Zoltán Huszárik · 1971
Synopsis
On the threshold of old age, Szindbád, a weary seducer, remembers: the flavours of the past, the small towns where time seems to have stopped, and the women he loved and left, from Majmunka, the former mistress who became almost a mother, to Lenke, the doctor's wife, who waited for him for years. The memories return in no particular order, and in an inn he questions a waiter about a vanished wife, between two carefully chosen dishes.
Context
The film is based on the stories that Gyula Krúdy devoted, throughout his life, to his character Szindbád. The title role was to go to Vittorio De Sica, whose engagement fell through; Zoltán Latinovits took it over. Sándor Sára is credited with the colour cinematography, which gives the film its sensuality. The construction abandons chronology and proceeds by fragments of memory, opened by a series of enigmatic close-ups. The film was released in Budapest on 25 November 1971.
Who it is for
A colour film with no sustained plot, in which you let yourself be carried by the images and flavours; AlloCiné lists it under the title Sindbad.
Prizes and reception
Named in 2000 by Hungarian critics among the twelve best films in the country, it remains its director's most celebrated work.