Bad Poems

Tamás is thirty three and lives in Budapest. His girlfriend Anna went to Paris on a scholarship and ended the relationship there. On the flight back he tries to take in the separation and begins to think: where did it go wrong, when did it start, when did he first become this person. From there the narrative goes backwards; childhood, primary school, adolescence, first love and first defeats open in turn. Each section explains a piece of the man he is now. Gábor Reisz writes and directs, and plays the lead himself. It is Reisz's second feature and continues the manner of his first: small scale, a narrative that laughs at itself, and speaking directly to the audience. The structure is not straight; the form changes between sections and some are shot in an entirely different register. The real subject underneath is not being able to leave the country; the present state of Hungary is described indirectly, through the character's private life. Self pity is both the subject and the problem of the film; the narrative knows it and keeps mocking its character. It drew more interest in Hungary than expected and found an answer among younger viewers. Who it is for: viewers who like personal European comedy and loosely structured narratives. Who it is not for: the character can be tiring, the structure is irregular, and the humour is local.