Love

Károly Makk's 1971 Hungarian film, adapted from two stories by Tibor Déry, is set in Hungary in the fifties. Luca, whose husband has been jailed on a fabricated political charge, hides this from his bedridden mother and writes false letters saying he is directing a film in New York. The film's force lies in the lie gradually becoming the old woman's reality, and in the silent agreement the two women keep in order to protect each other. The old woman's memory is built through images cut in as brief flashes, an advanced formal solution for Hungarian cinema of the period. The encounters between Lili Darvas and Mari Törőcsik are its centre. It won the jury prize at Cannes. Who it's for: viewers who like Eastern European cinema and performance-centred drama. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a fast narrative, or not reckoning that some passages stay closed without knowledge of the political context.