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Bodom
Hungary 2014
produced by Gergö Elekes, József Gallai, Viola Major for Elekes Pictures
directed by József Gallai, Gergö Elekes
starring Vivien Turzó, Bence Kovács, Kata Tábori, Dániel Szabó, Sándor Czeglédi, Gergely Garamszegi, Kriszta Vörösházi, Zsuzsanna Rednik, Katalin Cseh, Gergö Elekes, József Németh, Péter Krenács, József Gallai
idea by Gergö Elekes, Ákos Varga, screenplay by József Gallai, music by Gergö Elekes, Ákos Tomena
review by Mike Haberfelner
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For a university project, Annikki (Vivien Turzó) has decided to
investigate the murders at Bodom Lake, a triple (almost quadruple) murder
that happened 50 years ago but has gone unsolved ever since. To do the
camerawork for her, she has brought Pietari (Bence Kovács), who's been
her best friend for ages ... but he's also madly in love with her, a love
that is unrequited, not only but also for something that happened in their
past together. The whole enterprise gets off to a less than promising
start, with their rental car being a scrapheap, the hut they've rented
being an unheated shithole (and it's winter), and the scenery - basically
a frozen over lake and white-in-white surroundings - doing little to lift
their spirits. Furthermore, the definite clue Annikki was hoping for just
doesn't materialize itself, and when they hear spooky sounds, they can
alwaysw be tracked back to tourists visiting the area. Well, at least they
meet Inkeri (Kata Tábori) and Jussi (Dániel Szabó), who are visiting
the area as well, know a little about its history - and invite themselves
to a party at Annikki and Pietari's place ... but as soon as they're gone
again, Annikki and Pietari's rental car is gone, and when they try to make
it to Inkeri and Jussi's place on foot, they find their corpses on the way
... and eventually they have to learn they are not in this neck of the
woods alone, and whoever it is who's there with them - well, to put a
positive spin to it, he might help them find out what happened 50 years
ago ... just a bit too actively ... Bodom is (at least
presumably) Hungary's first found footage movie - and it's a pretty good
one, too, as it doesn't just follow the stereotype of coupling
"things that go bump at night" with shaky handheld camerawork
but actually tells a well thought-through story with surprises up until
the end, many of which also shinbe a different light on earlier scenes and
thus are proof of clever storytelling. Now add to that a scenery that in
all its white-on-white flatness is all that creepier, camerawork that
relies rather little on just shaking the thing around really fast to
suggest excitement, and a likeable couple of leads, and you've got
yourself a nice little film.
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