Kontroll

Amazon.com

The setting of Kontroll is the Budapest subway system, one of the largest and oldest in the world, and a place that becomes an omniscient character in an ambitious film that jumbles dark comedy, slick action, and horror-movie conventions. The other main character is Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), part of a team of disheveled ticket inspectors--controllers--who roam the grimy, fluorescent-lit city-under-the-city in a soul-destroying ritual. The job has become such a part of Bulcsú that he never leaves the underground. He has taken to sleeping on empty platforms and getting progressively more unkempt as he accumulates more bruises, bloody noses, and bitterness from his scraps with a variety of unseemly creatures of the night (and day). Among the post-punk, post-communist habitués of this subterranean metropolis are a cute girl in a teddy-bear suit, a rival gang of ticket inspectors who like to play a deadly game of chicken with express trains, and a hooded specter who may or may not be pushing people under subway wheels at crowded stops. First-time director Nimród Antal keenly juggles black comedy, character types, and genre styles, making the most of the weird angles and inherent dark creepiness of his chosen backdrop. Kontroll keeps pace as a hip, flashy, fast-moving set piece by any international measure. --Ted Fry

Description

The Budapest subway system, the world's oldest, is a dark labyrinthine netherworld as vast and various as the city above. Hordes of people pass through on their way to better, brighter places. There are some who spend most of their lives underground- the ticket inspectors or "Controllers" who are assigned in teams to sections of the system and whose thankless job is to ensure that no passengers ride without paying… Deployed by those in control- they are a much-despised lot…who on his way wants to be stopped and asked for a receipt by petty officers that represent power at its most powerless.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing Film, Subpar DVD (a better DVD release would have rated 5 stars, absolutely).......2007-08-04

Many people have already written about what this film is about so I will not say any more on that. I will state simply that this is a wonderful film, one of my favorites from 2005 (the year it played in my local theater), and it is exciting, thought provoking, and often very funny. I went into it originally knowing almost nothing about it and was delighted at what I saw. So much so that I went to see it a second time later in the week before it was gone.

All of that said I was thrilled to get it on DVD. But my thrill turned to slight disappointment when I realized that not only was it a barebones DVD as far as extras go (there are absolutely no extras at all), and not only were the subtitles burned into the image (i.e. non-removable), but it was also a non-anamorphic transfer. In fact the only saving grace for this disc (besides the exceptional film) is that the burned in subtitles are over the film image rather than the black letterboxing. This means that when played on a widescreen TV, and zoomed in to fill the entire screen (to compensate for it not being anamorphic) the subtitles are clearly readable and do not get cut off. But it is completely unforgivable for ANY DVD to be released in the year 2005 with a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, and burned in subtitles. Unforgivable. And on top of that the film is not inexpensive by any means. Amazon sells it for $24.99 (at the time of this writing), and I purchased it in store for about $28. If it was any other film I would have returned it if at all possible, and been a lot more scathing in my review. But since I absolutely love this film I can only be disappointed that it received about the worst possible DVD release it could get. The only thing that could have made it worse would be if it was only available in a so called "fullscreen" version and not widescreen at all. But having averted that absolute catastrophe scenario they settled on the next worst DVD release they could manage. I'm considering tracking down a much better foreign version I've heard about.

Kontroll.......2007-07-20

Highly original release has the nihilist feel of futuristic sci-fi, as the Budapest subway system gives off a decaying, lifeless aura. Yet unexpectedly, the odd-ball fraternity of ticket-checkers manage to inject their bleak surroundings with a therapeutic dose of humanity and humor. Though suspenseful and atmospheric, the film's black comedy is its most successful, intriguing asset, with Bulscu's hilarious co-workers Muki (Csabu Pindroch) and the Professor (Zoltan Musci) worth the price of admission all on their own. Definitely a movie-and a director-worth watching. (Don't miss opening scene on escalator.)

Fun, Frenetic, and Frightening.......2007-05-25

In the Prologue, the narrator relates that his friend director, Nimrod Antal, has made a film about the struggle between good and evil. Using the Hungarian subway system as symbol, they jump start `Kontroll,' (Control), an innovative movie almost exclusively taking place on or near train platforms. In which case, the underground system is hell on earth with its Satan being a black hooded hoodlum morbidly seeking victims to push onto the tracks to collide with oncoming trains. Surveillance cameras abound all over, yet the subway executives (or "suits" as they call them) can't seem to put their finger on the epidemic of alleged suicides they are unable to avert. In between some confrontational scenes, there is plenty going on to keep our attention. Besides being unique, 'Kontroll' has that rare ability to mix laughs, tenderness, and brutality with jarring shifts in a way that actually works. (No wonder Hungary's box office made this movie their homegrown 'Star Wars'.)

The focus starts with a drunken women who stumbles alone on the underground platform, comically fumbling with opening a bottle of champagne. Abruptly, we soon see nothing left of her but half a high-heeled shoe remaining after a high speed train passes. Next, we come to an apparent homeless man, leaning against a post. A man gently tells him that he has a bloody nose. To which he has seemingly stirred belligerence, only we find he is a ticket inspector, Bulscu' (Csany Sa'ndor), who makes the station his home. At first hard to like, his toughness fades later to a good-natured presence, especially given the nature of his position facing rough colleagues and customers. No wonder. For the gruffness, many vignettes show the thankless job of getting customers to pay. Given the prologue's disclaimer of "fiction over fact" [to paraphrase], we certainly are given a vision of purgatory to boot. The morning meeting finds Bulscu' has overslept, but he doesn't miss much with a surly supervisor assigning tasks and urgently lecturing them to save suicidal people jumping onto the tracks. Then, the dreary atmosphere turns to color with myriads of passengers who evade and harass the ticket inspectors. Just a partial cross-section, we get gays and women who flirt with the inspectors to pass on payment with dialogue that is always witty and "fresh". One decent passenger is a beautiful woman patron who wears a bear costume. (One well-edited scene has the employees going to mandatory psychologist sessions. Besides making us laugh, they inadvertently provide a better reason than Michael Moore to have a universal health care system--no matter which side you take on the issue.)

`Kontrol' is a unique movie ride. It could easily have been too bleak, but the variety of development is well constructed. Besides balancing the atmosphere, the transition from surreal to stark realism is nearly ingenious without derailing the plot. `Kontroll' is a quirky film that delivers colorful laughs as well as a menacingly dark atmosphere that is sure to give one gooseflesh. Besides that, I am partial to the way they draw from American chase scenes, like French movie, L'Enfant, yet managing to provide their own playful twists. 'Kontroll' is a movie that matters.

(Special thanks to fellow reviewer, Michael Acuna, who--besides being a tireless resource--recommended this hidden gem and put it on the map.)

Excellent and Unique.......2007-04-26

This film has hillarious characters but I would not classify it as a comedy. This piece kind of exists on its own plane. It has an "in your face" feel of the characters (reminicent of "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels") but they are in some fantasy underground subway world.

Kontroll follows a group of ticket collectors who seems to spend no time above ground. Especially the main character, who sleeps in the terminal and doesn't look to have seen sunlight in too long a time. The whole theme of being underground is very metaphorical. Many characters are symbolic in ways too.

It is quite a dreampiece, but not too fantastic. We go odd places and meet the denizens of the underground. Some people are kind, others you wouldn't want to be alone with. Especially one mysterious character who stalks the underground and shoves people down to the tracks and to their deaths.

Kontroll has an interesting pace to it. It's fast, but not too fast. It moves like a subway would. Quickly, then a short stop, then moving on again.

I really felt a warmth towards this film. It is oddly touching at times, hillarious at others. All the characters are well thought out and well acted. It is well balanced, complete and left me feeling positive.

Great Hungarian movie!.......2007-03-06

I bought this DVD on a "blind buy" and wasn't disappointed. I will dispense with the story and just give u my opinion on the movie and the overall disc. I have the Hungarian edition which is the version u really need to go for. It has an anomorphic transfer unlike the US verion,it has Hungarian DTS,Dolby 5.1 and stereo sound unlike the US version and,most important of all,it is English friend with OPTIONAL English subs unlike the "burnt in" English subs to be found on the US disc! The movie has a very European feel about it which is just great. Give this DVD a whirl and import it from Hungary!

Average customer rating:

Amazing Film, Subpar DVD (a better DVD release would have rated 5 stars, absolutely)
Kontroll
Fun, Frenetic, and Frightening
Excellent and Unique
Great Hungarian movie!

Kontroll
Starring: Sándor Csányi , Zoltán Mucsi , Csaba Pindroch , Sándor Badár , and Zsolt Nagy (II)
Director: Nimród Antal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005JO84