Cinema
A Priceless Day
Ajándék ez a nap
Péter Gothár · 1979
Synopsis
Irén Zéman, in her thirties, thinks only of getting a flat of her own, where she hopes to live with her lover, Attila, a married man who hesitates to leave his wife. To obtain the flat and the loan that goes with it, she agrees to a marriage of convenience with a dubious individual. The camera stays very close to the faces, and at times the characters turn toward the lens and look the viewer in the eye.
Context
It is Gothár's first feature film. Released in Budapest on 6 December 1979, it received the Golden Lion for a first work at the Venice festival in 1980. Lajos Koltai is credited with the cinematography, handheld, with abrupt pans and very close to the faces, which he sometimes distorts to the point of the grotesque. The most banal everyday life turns into black farce there, and the looks directed at the viewer break the illusion of the narrative without warning.
Who it is for
A caustic comedy of a little under an hour and a half, carried by Judit Pogány; no French release has been located.
Prizes and reception
Awarded at Venice in 1980 as best first work, it was also honoured by Hungarian critics.