Hungary,
2002, 75 min
Shown in 2003
CREDITS
- dir
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György Pálfi
- prod
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András Böhm, Csaba Bereczki
- scr
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György Pálfi
- cam
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Gergely Pohárnok
- editor
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Gábor Marinkás
- mus
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Balázs Barna, Samu Gryllus
- cast
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Ferenc Bandi, Józsefné Rácz, József Forkas, Ferenc Nagy, Jánosné Nagy
- source
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Magyar Filmúnió, Várasligeti fasor 38, Budapest 1068, Hungary. FAX: 36-1-3512-6734. EMAIL: kati.vajda@fulmunio.hu.
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COMMENTS
Skyy Prize contender. György Pálfi in person.
OTHER
At first glance, Hukkle presents the serene surface of a nature documentary: Time-lapse flowers unfurl, ants burrow and bees swarm in extreme closeup, a cat casually stretches in the sun and the residents of a small Hungarian village quietly go about their everyday business, participants in the great cycle of rural life. But this remarkable debut feature from 27-year-old György Pálfi is about what lies beneath the surface, and, as the film progresses, the plot wordlessly unfolds into a murder mystery—the flowers are cut, the cat is killed and funeral processions and police cars travel the dusty roads. In this bucolic setting, untimely death seems to be in the nature of things. The film contains no dialogue, but it’s far from silent: The soundtrack meticulously orchestrates ordinary noises into what the director calls a “conceptual soundscape,” structured around an old man’s recurrent hiccups (to which the title is an onomatopoeic reference). The wit and formal rigor of the sound design are matched by inventive images that combine lush photography with startling special effects. Enigmatic, complex and full of delight, Hukkle is an irresistible fusion of clear-eyed observation and speechless storytelling like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
—Juliet Clark
FACTOID #171
When Festival Executive Director Claude Jarman addressed journalists at the 1977 Festival press conference, he announced that the SFIFF was launching an ’important experiment’ by screening films at the Castro Theatre (at the urging of Mayor George Moscone to take the Festival to the neighborhoods) The experiment must have worked, as the Festival still has screenings at the Castro to this day, in addition to many other satellite venues.
