Kontroll

Bulcsú works as a ticket inspector on the metro and never goes up; he spends his days and nights in the tunnels. Nobody takes his crew seriously, passengers abuse them, and they race a rival crew along the tracks. At the same time somebody is pushing people in front of trains. The subject is not the killings but why a man who has chosen to live underground will not come up. The film does not explain Bulcsú's past; it implies he once had another life and leaves it there. The form is built entirely on the space. Yellow light, concrete, tunnel depth and the noise of trains. The palette is narrowed and the world above is barely seen. The story of the production is inseparable from the film. Nimród Antal spent nine months persuading the transport authority to let him shoot at night. Once permission came, the crew could only work while the line was closed, between half past eleven and half past four. One condition of that permission was the notice placed at the start: the head of the transport authority appears on camera to say this is fiction and that real inspectors are not like this. The opening of the film is the censorship itself. Sándor Csányi plays Bulcsú. Who it is for: viewers who like enclosed thrillers and Eastern European cinema. Who it is not for: anyone expecting explanation; the film answers no questions.