Hukkle

2002 Director György Pálfi

This film defies classification. It is an exquisite example of perfect cinematography. With no dialogue of any kind the viewer is taken on a tour of life in a rural Hungarian village where all is not as it at first appears. A cart driver spies on a young shepherdess. An old woman picks dainty white flowers. A couple excitedly watch their pigs mate. The men folk play skittles. An idyll of tranquil life. The central character is a young policeman who gradually becomes aware of a sinister conspiracy within the village. He contemplates taking action, though he knows it will rock the town to its foundations.

The real skill in this film is that you reach the same conclusions as him at exactly the same time, which is no mean feat on the part of the director considering the complete lack of dialogue.

Punctuating these vignettes is the recurring hiccuping of an old man, who you realise by the end of the film is as aware of the goings on as you have just become.

This is a film I never tire of seeing. There has been a great deal of effort made to make each shot perfect. From the opening snake sequence to the slow motion shot of the jet flying under the bridge, this is a film that should be studied by all those aspiring to good camera work. I am unable to flaw any of it.