Gloomy Sunday

A love triangle forms between restaurant owner László (Joachim Król), his waitress and his pianist. András (Ben Becker), the pianist composes a piece called Gloomy Sunday for Ilona (Erika Marozsán) which forms a loose bond between the three. While creating harmony between the lovers, the song invites suicide in others. Set in Budapest during the late 1930s, the gloom only deepens with the onset of World War II.

The fabric of this melodramatic film is held together by some fine acting by the three leads. One is easily mesmerized by the easy grace of Marozsan and the brooding melancholy in Becker whose acting reminded me of Tony Leung. So in spite of the gloomy theme, the film is very riveting and will entrap you. To cap it off there is a Schindler's List angle to the film too. The flick also leaves you with a question if such a triangle is viable if the two men involved are genuinely fond of each other.

Rating: * * *
PS: There is a scene in the movie showing László and András getting drunk on Unicum. So people do drink it in Hungary :-)