Sinopsis(1)
Heroes of the half-way documentary, wife and husband have been married for nine years, they have two children and they live their lives full of conflicts in a prefabricated concrete flat in a housing block. The woman is frustrated by confinement, the husband is by the depression of the wife which he regards as hysteria. Commonplace attempts to normalise family life (excursion, beach, ball, job abroad for the husband) fail. The husband finally moves out, but he returns soon: he can live neither with, nor without. Reconciliation and the beginning of a new stage in their life is emphasised by the purchase of a new washing machine. (texto oficial de la distribuidora)
(más)Reseñas (1)
As an artistic portrayal of marital problems, the film works perfectly; however, as a documentary and sociological statement with broader implications, the film works less so. The objectifying tendencies are evident in the camera-delivered monologues, which do not harm the overall formal aspect of the film, but they also do not reveal anything generally meaningful about the life of society at that time. There is almost no issue introduced here that any couple experiencing similar social levels anywhere else in the world wouldn't have. Therefore, the references to socialism are hasty and likely stem from the fact that the combination of panel housing reality with a Hungarian director (Hungarians, as well as Poles, were not particularly fond of socialism...) automatically evokes misleading expectations. Nevertheless, the story is thus logically more universal, and the ability of the authors to capture the crushing hopelessness of a claustrophobic marriage in fluid camera shots is chilling.
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