KONTROLL

KONTROLL: Set in the grimy underworld of the Budapest mass transit system, director Nimrod Antal’s debut feature (which won several major film fest awards) is a spectacularly vivid portrait of a class of citizens who spend much of their time in the dark. Part psycho-thriller, part gonzo comedy, Kontroll feels more alive than most films made in the last 10 years. Working as part of a team of ticket inspectors, Bulcsu (Sandor Csanyi) suffers blackouts that just happen to coincide with a series of murders in the subways. And the non-stop craziness of his job compromises his own fragile sanity as the general population regularly punches, pummels or spits on anyone wearing the red “control” badge. The characters are endearingly and energetically sketched, the action scenes (particularly a suicidal game called “railing”) are dynamically photographed, and the world Antal creates is so complete – from the constant hum of the fluorescent lights to the wind of each passing train – you feel like you need a shower when the credits finally roll. The DVD distributed by ThinkFilm features a passable non-anamorphic transfer but nothing else.