Air is getting old…
I can’t breathe.
Keep it in control...”
These are the opening lyrics to the film Kontroll. (For those of you who know me, I’m sure you will find this strangely apropos!) A killer soundrack by NEO – btw if you can find any recordings by NEO let us know, we tried and can’t.
This is the first feature film written and directed by Nimrod Antal. Antal grew up in LA but his family is from Hungary. During a trip he took to Budapest he was fascinated by two particular professions that he had not come across in the U.S. One was that of ‘The Toilet Lady’, the other was the ‘Ticket Controllers’ on the metro. He chose the latter as the subject for this film. Kontroll was shot entirely on location in the Budapest underground metro system. They were allowed to film only during the four and a half hours per night when the subway system closed down. Shooting for 35 days under this tight and restrictive schedule ultimately rendered a total of 25 hours of film footage by cinematographer Gyula Pados. The photography in every scene is impeccable and the editing by Istvan Kiraly sets the pace.
Upon first viewing I felt that Kontroll was mainly an atmospheric piece with strong, deliberate and insightful character development.
On second view however, I found the plot itself to be important, centering mainly on the mystery of “who in fact is the killer?”
The main character of course is Bulcsu. He is the leader of a team of Ticket Controllers and his crew consists of The Professor, who has thirty years on the job, Muki the narcoleptic, Lesco the unkempt fellow, and the new guy Tibi. Bulcsu has chosen to live entirely in the underground world of the metro and has severed all contact with life on the ‘surface’.
The varied personalities of the characters in the film are revealed as they are shown contending with the demands of their job and hanging out with each other. Through the beautifully orchestrated and meticulously chosen details a vivid tapestry of this underground world is developed.
I could go on for pages about all the things in this film that caught my attention but I’ll try to edit myself by choosing two favorite scenes:
#1. The long and hysterical chase scene that ensues after ‘Bootsie’ (later referred to as ‘The Runner’) sprays Tibi in the face with shaving cream. Here Bulcsu and his team of merry men are filmed weaving in and out of the platform poles and other obstacles. How the hell did they photograph this so smoothly? The shot where Bootsie does a side slide under a descending grate is perfection. This is followed by another great motion sequence of Bootsie “Butt Surfing” down the mid-rail between the escalators. Too frigging funny! The scene ends with the beaten up crew sitting on the platform, seemingly invigorated and nursing their wounds by chomping on pistachios and spitting the shells all over the place.
Factoid: Bootsie is the founder of “The Passenger Liberation Society.”
#2. The long, quiet and serene after-hours sequence in which Bulcsu appears to be on a quest. He searches methodically throughout the bowels of the subway system. Some striking photos here such as the hauntingly lit huge dual vent fans which sit at the end of a track filled tunnel. Blew me away. I noticed that throughout the scene there were many of these symmetrically composed shots.
And I can’t resist mentioning:
1. Check out Muki’s dance propelled by great music and inter-cut with close-ups of each character’s face.
2. Japanese group of tourists playing on Muki! In fact that whole interplay between the crew and passengers before Tibi gets sprayed is great, especially the tight, zany yet somehow believable dialogue.
3. The whole thing with the shrink. What can I say? To quote the Professor’s response to Tibi (who is concerned about having his “‘mind probed”). ”Don’t worry; you can’t make waves if there’s no water.”
Now as to the mystery itself. To me, Bulcsu is unquestionably the killer. Ain’t no “Jumpers” in this here Metro. Why do I think this? In the words of Sofia (the Bear) “Follow me…”
Clues
-In Bulcsu's first scene, he looks up at the moving surveillance camera and says "What are you staring at?"
- Note the grey liver spot on the hand of the “Grim Reaper’ (or whatever you wish to call the black hooded man) while it is tapping on the escalator railing.
- In two scenes we see Bulcsu sleeping in the fetal position on the platform. Later, in his dream, he finds the Reaper sleeping in the same fetal position at the end of the tunnel.
- Later, when Bulcsu sees the Reaper and chases him, the Reaper gets away. But why doesn’t Bulcsu tell anyone about this? He knows everyone is looking for the killer.
- While chasing Bootsie down an empty platform Bulcsu sees The Reaper step out of nowhere and push Bootsie onto the tracks and under the train. Bulcsu then stands frozen in a fugue type state, eyes closed, as The Reaper walks slowly and deliberately back towards him, literally brushing against his arm as he passes. After his awakening from this shocked state we see Bulcsu in the bathroom where he spits at and then smashes his own image in the mirror. Later when The Boss confronts Bulscu about this latest death, Bulcsu seems to truly have no knowledge of who the killer is. He never mentions having seen the Reaper. As far as we can tell no one else in the film has seen or mentioned him either. It was at this point that I became sure that the Reaper is a part of Bulcsu, unknown to himself. Note that the surveillance cameras do not show the Reaper as he walks back towards Bulcsu and brushes against him.
- When Bulcsu’s crew confronts him, once again he does not offer up the Reaper. As he walks away from his friends with his back towards us we see clearly, for the first time, the black hood hanging out of the back collar of Bulcsu’s black leather jacket, the same hood we see covering the Reaper’s head at all times.
- After having been beaten up by Gonzo and passing out on the platform there is a quick close-up of Bulcsu staring at his bloody hand in which I could clearly see the same dark liver spot that was on the Reaper’s hand earlier in the movie. Now walking through what has become a wild underground party, he catches another glimpse of the Reaper making his way through the crowd. As before, even when Bulcsu has the perfect opportunity to look at the Reaper’s face he chooses not to do so. However he does now seem determined to follow the Reaper to the end. He finds him in a closet, a fight ensues, the two of them go down amidst a pile of clutter but I only see one figure in the pile as Bulcsu rises and leaves the closet. (Compare this to a similar scene in the movie ‘Fight Club.’) Moments later the Reaper appears again and a deadly game of “Railing’ begins between the two of them. Bulcsu wins, jumping safely onto the platform just as the train arrives. We can only assume the Reaper has been killed on the track.
- Bulcsu then comes across Sofie kneeling down dressed in an angel costume.. Unfazed by her friend's bloody, beat up appearance she points serenely to the Owl who is sitting at the bottom of the escalator. The Owl’s bright eyes turn and focus upward towards the surface. Hand in hand Sofie and Bulcsu walk onto the escalator, a beatific look upon their faces as they rise to…
I ask you all, is Bulcsu now dead, having actually killed himself when he killed the Reaper? Is this symbolic of him now rising to heaven? (Or perhaps to hell as this case might call for..) Or has he killed off only the damaged side of his inner self? Having left his demon's behind is he now ready to live a ‘normal’ life on the surface (albeit having committed quite a handful of murders)?
Or do you believe I’ve gotten this all wrong? If so what do you think happened?
My ratings of Kontroll: LLI (long lasting impression) and a definite FAH (fun as hell!) TTTI (time till total immersion) was under 2 seconds. (see KEY written in blue on the right side of page for more abreviations!)
PS – I have added 2 new features to this blog: a small selection of my own photographs (a new set to be added on the day of each new movie posting) and a short cellphone camera clip of my fine fish friends.. Both are on the right side of the page, immediately after the ' I just watched' section.
34 comments:
I like your analysis. I enjoyed the chase and thought the doctor scene was well done. (Did anyone notice that it was Gonzo who admitted he was scared?). Hers another take on the whole "who's the killer" thing. I see the film as an anology of heaven and hell. The Metro is purgatory, midway between the two. In the beginning Bulscu is content to spend eternity here. The only characters with a known connection to the upper world are Sophi and Bela, who are also the only characters who have or create a space of peace and calm. Bela is locked into a tiny cab while he drives the train, where he comforts himself with religious images. Sofi dresses as an adorable teddy bear or an angel. It's only when Bulscu's friend reminds him there is another world that he is discontented. That's when he begins his walkabout. When he meets Bela he asks him "how do I get out of here?" (not an exact quote). Bela replies that there are many ways. Bulscu knows he wants to leave but does not know how. Then a method is shown to him: kill evil, in the form of the pusher. At first he is scared, confused. But once he finds his strength the devil has no chance. Bulscu is rewarded in the end by a vision of angles and heaven.
Thanks this one is going on my netflix list!
Hey, where's my comment I left at around 5:30pm this evening? Is it working...Please let me know by posting a blog comment, and/or posting my original comment at 5:30...Thanks!! Marc
Wow, it appears that I may have not "published" my rather lengthy initial comments earlier - bummer...I wrote a lot actually, and now I believe I may not have published it correctly...Which maybe a LOT of people are doing today!?? Considering this is the first ever try at getting "us" film people all together, I assume that we are still working out the kinks as they say...You may want to extend the discussion to a "weekend", and not just one day, especially a work day...Just a suggestion...To post an "EXTENSION" for everyone, with a big mass email as well to all connected, to make sure they have remembered to log on and "how" to log on...It's not completely intuitive...In the meantime, I will try and recreate my original comment I left earlier and then publish it correctly!!!! Marc
I really loved this film. Thank so much, Lee!
So my boyfriend was trying to suss the movie out after it ended. He said Bulcsu was the pusher, and I was like "What. No way." I thought he was off his rocker. Totally never entered into my head. But then I watched the movie again, and both my jaw and my heart sank to see that the pusher was wearing the same knee-length black leather jacket as Bulcsu, and as you said, the same hooded sweatshirts underneath. Then I read your post, and aw man. Guess that nails it. Nuts.
Um. I liked the movie from before it started. Where the head of the Budapest subway system is standing there reading from his notes, saying some not unsubtle things about distinguishing fiction from reality. I was trying to imagine the head of the MBTA/the subway system in Boston standing there, reading the same stuff, and I just couldn't.
I think my favorite scene in the movie was the first scene where we get to see Muki, Tibi, and The Professor before the bufe. The Professor talking about French fries clogging the arteries, Muki getting more and more agitated, until he does the fry face plant. I thought the neighbors were going to bang on the wall because I was screaming so loud. I couldn't stop laughing.
And I really liked Lesco, the guy you described as "the unkempt fellow." Maybe because he looks like a character straight out of Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman. Really liked his clothes. Everything just fit.
I also wondered about Bootsie and his sliding under the closing gate, and his butt-surfing as you so aptly put it down the escalator. Where did they find that kid? He was majorly skilled just for that alone.
I think the other scene I really loved a lot was Bulcsu sharing the Bela Plate with Bela in the train car. It was a truly nice portrait of friendship and mutual regard between two people. (Guess that's also the first time I've ever seen anyone eat an onion like that.) Also the scene between Bela and Sofie where we learn he's her dad. Okay, all the scenes with Bela in them. He was great.
Other favorite scenes:
* The slow-motion shots of the five men in Bulcsu's crew walking together.
* The spitting. There was some amount of spitting throughout the movie, and it always made me laugh. Not as much as watching Terry Francona, but almost. I think it's because I'm Japanese.
I really liked your and breather's takes on the killing of one's demons and whether Bulcsu is alive or dead at the end and the heaven/purgatory/hell interpretations of the movie. Perhaps all the more so because I couldn't begin to tell you one way or the other how I feel about settling on an interpretation. Am liable to be a fence-sitter and take things at face value and let them live in some twilight of all interpretations are probably the right ones.
> EOS - Edge of Seat
Yes, during the chase scenes. Those guys could run.
> SOD- Suspension of Disbelief
Totally.
> GMAB- Give Me a Break Factor
Never.
> NWIE - Not What I Expected Factor
Totally. Or maybe, didn't know what I was expecting. (Or maybe that's can't make waves if there’s no water.)(?)
> FAH! -Fun as Hell!
Hell yes.
> TTTI - Time to Total Immersion:
Probably also under two seconds. That woman shaking the champagne bottle on the escalator, she rocked.
> Did the film teach me anything?
Taught me you can get the crap beaten out of you and still eat pistachios afterward.
> Did the film change my perception of anything?
Oh yeah. Lots. I've been walking around the past couple days pretending I'm a nihilistic Hungarian.
> What was my mood during the opening credits.?
Great, because of that director of the Budapest subway.
> What was my mood as the closing credits rolled?
Somewhere between a dazed wowww... and totally elated because it was so great and so beautiful.
> Do I consider the film to be:
> Mainstream,
> Off the Beaten Path, or
> Much Further Out There.....:
I guess I'd say Off the Beaten Path.
> .....and of course the bottom line: DID I LIKE IT???????
Heavens, yes! Thanks so much again, Lee!!!
Marc follow up comment...I liked the film a lot, especially the music - which truly set the mood in this frenetic and crazy underground world. Still, I thought the music did not work in all scenes, and wish the director had sometimes used different, more "toned down" music in some scenes to make them more subtle...
Having said that, I loved Lee's initial comments and insights, as well as Lee's theory that Bulcsu, (spelling) was actually the killer! Very interesting!! I originally thought that Bulcsu did in fact kill a real killer, and that Bulcsu was an ex-cop/detective that went underground - literally - to catch this guy, and then when he finally killed him, he "allowed" himself to go back up to the real world, and "redeemed" himself to go back up to "heaven" with the woman dressed as an angel...
More comments later...Marc
NO disrespect Shiva, but I'm going to do you one better...Im going to rent ALL the movies here!
Hi everyone!, Thanks for writing such great comments and for all your supportive emails! Just to let you know, yesterday, 'opening day' of the discussion, the 'comments' and the 'slideshow' sections were not working, so unfortunately many of your posts did not make it to the page. We contacted google and found that they were indeed having trouble with some of their blogosphere and were fixing it. Luckily some of you realized the posts weren't getting through & tried again multiple times and thank goodness some of the comments did finally make their way through to the site this am!! Marc, appreciate your feedback regarding the timing of the discussion. I guess the title on the posting wasn't clear so I changed it. My idea is to have a discussion BEGIN on the stated day and continue right through to the next movie posting; giving us all about two weeks to dialogue back and forth about each film. I believe comments can go on forever, even after the posting is archived but i'll check into that. Catch u later! l.l.
ill be back soon
Wow! A friend forwarded your link to me and i just opened it.The discussion that is happening has me wanting to hit the video store tonite!! Pics// by l.l.paris are unuzual, more to come i hope? I'm passing the word, this seems like it will be a lot of fun,specially for peoples like moi looking to find stuff 'off the beaten path'.
Finally had a chance to watch Kontroll today and loved it. Not sure about the Bulscu as "pusher" notion though. In the scene in which the pusher walks past Bulscu you do actually see a portion of his face, enough at any rate to see that it is not Bulscu, enough also I believe to recognize it as the face of the mechanic as he looks back over his shoulder at Bulscu while engaged in grinding track in another scene. Either way a wonderful atmospheric movie.
Holy Toledo Bruce! You just TOTALLY knocked me & David off our tracks with your interpretation! The mechanic! We do remember him in that scene as he looks back over his shoulder (somewhat menacingly now that i think of it)..As to our glimpse of the killer's face, i agree it did look different than Bulscu. He had a thick stubble growth . We also thought the shoulders from the back seemed broader than Bulscu's but dismissed that as Bulscus' own vision of the killer, which we figured was the way Bulscu managed to keep a hold onto the separation between his two inner states. But reading your comment about the mechanic has definitely caused us to rethink this and as soon as we can we are going to rerun those two specific shots and see what we get out of it! Anyone else have an opinion about Bruce's theory?
l.l.
Hey to 'marc' , 'cherry' berry and 'breather'!
Thanks for all of your cool insights. Check out Bruce's theory and see what you remember about those shots.??..And Marc's concept of Bulsco being an undercover cop!,It's wild to see how many different ways we all have interpereted this. Cherry, i totally agree with SO many of your reactions to the particulars such as the slo-mo shot of the crew walking.....And i really appreciate how you went right with the flow of the shorthand abbreviations that i listed in the KEY section.( if anyone missed this ,scroll down to bottom left side of page).
As to the first comment from 'breather', man, you sound like you could create quite a powerful script yourself! Are you a writer?'
p.s Go for it 'buffer nutter', welcome 'shiva', and glad to have you on board 'filmluver'!
l.l.
L.L.
A quick note-- Bulscu wsa claearly an architect in his former life -- I don't have a lot of the language but enought to understad that at leasrt. And of course, the contast in building structures reaching to a sky he will never see is importntant. Just a thought.
Marc again...I am "very" convinced that Bulcsu was an ex-cop/detective...He even says in the scene near the end with that rather menacing detective that shows him the video footage, sans the actual killer in the frame - - Bulscu says that he "doesn't work for them..." anymore...Implying that he was a cop before, as well as when he meets that other guy on the train and has a converstion with him, and the guy says he took Bulscu's old job, and then says he wishes he finished before he left, etc., etc....I believe that Bulscu was chasing a serial killer on the "surface", (the real world above the subway system), before he "gave-up", and/or went undercover/underground-literally, and began to look for the subway pusher/killer...
QUESTION FOR ALL: does anyone not think that Bulscu was a cop/detective before he went underground?! I believe someone recently commented that they thought he was an architect?
Also, Lee's theory is still a strong possibility that Bulscu was the actual killer, but the newer "Mechanic" Theory is quite compelling!!
Later, Marc
One of the things I liked about Kontroll is that it allows for any number of interpretations, rasies more questions than it answers. Nonetheless, I am forced to point out that to see Bulscu as a policeman or former policeman searching for a serial killer is to miss the entire point of the film. The exact nature of his once promising above ground professional career really is not important. It is important, however, to realize that whatever it is he is searching for is decidedly not something tangible like a serial killer, but something inside himself. That said, there are all kinds of ways to look at this movie. For iinstance, one interpretation I don't recall anyone mentioning so far would be the "Christ" story. Consider the way Bulcsu is beaten and left tied up, arms spread (crucified?), and then turned on and denounced (or "denied") by his own team (disciples?) --who were so recently acclaiming him as "King" after his race on the tracks -- after being accused by the "suits" (or Pharisees?), the only one remaining by his side the bear/angel (Mary Magdalene?), as he ascends to the upper world (is resurrected?) Actually, if I wanted to spend a few minutes thinking about it I have a feeling many other parallels might be found: his time underground as his forty days in the wilderness, the pusher not as a part of himself but the devil "tempting" him during sojourn there, and so on. Anyway, I really enjoyed the film and in the end that's why I will certainly watch it again. I've already recommended it to several friends. Thanks so much for turning me onto it. I will also look forward to the next film by this turning me onto it. I will also look forward to the next film by this seriously talented first-time director.
hello to all, after checking 3 different local rental spots, finally found copy of Kontrol last night and yeah, wow. Don't think i could possibly match up to the detail and level of writing from most of you! but read all your comments and find merit in all ideas as to who is the killer. If i had to go with 1 now i think i'd join cherry's quote, i "live in some twilight of all those interpretations"......
To breather: I hadn't noticed that Gonzo mentioned he was scared during
the psychiatrist scene. That makes total sense, thanks for pointing
it out. What you said about heaven/hell/purgatory made me pay more attention to the use of escalators in the movie. Like in the beginning, we see a woman descending the escalator, and I guess the pusher must be lurking somewhere unseen. And in the end, it's Bulcsu & Sofie on the escalator and they're ascending. There was also the scene when Sofie and Bulcsu are talking at the base of the escalator, and Sofie wants to go out for coffee. While Bulcsu is hesitating and remaining on the platform, Sofie is on the ascending escalator walking downstairs in place toward Bulcsu.... Also re: purgatory, my boyfriend made a connection between Sofie and Beatrice in Dante's Inferno.
To bruce: I was also wondering why the welding mechanic wasn't anyone
recognizable and that that was the only scene we apparently saw that
person in. Went through the movie again to freeze frame the mechanic
and the parts where the pusher's face was visible. Was really hard to
say who it was, or if the director just used another actor entirely.
My boyfriend kept saying it was sort of irrelevant because the pusher
is most likely a projection of Bulcsu's psyche, in which case the pusher could
look like anything. He also made the comment that in the dream
sequence where Bulcsu is squeezing through a narrow tunnel, that that
represented sex. Which I guess makes sense, like how he found the pusher in a fetal position at the end of the tunnel. As for Bulcsu actually being the pusher, I was going for the fact that they were both wearing the
same jacket, but I think enough freeze frames convinced us that, uh,
the detailing on Bulcsu's sleeves (they had buttons) was different from the
pusher's sleeves (no buttons, a seam on the cuff about four inches up
from the wrist). But again, if the pusher is just a projection, guess
anything would go for clothing, sleeve details included.... Was also
interesting in that we started eyeing everyone as possibly fitting the
lower facial features of the pusher. I even thought it might be the
suit with the port wine stain for a little bit (made me start to understand
the recreational side of paranoia). It sounds like you speak a little
Hungarian. Thank you for the architect explanation! My boyfriend and
I were wondering what the nature of the project was that Bulcsu's
former colleague kept every scrap of paper of. Also really enjoyed
your list of Christ story parallels. When I was thinking about Lee's
question as to whether this is a mainstream or off the beaten path
film, I was thinking, well, it's definitely not one of those Hollywood
hero's journey Messianic plots. And then I read your comments and
learned otherwise. :)
To marc: I really liked thinking about the undercover cop theory. I
listened again to the line where he threw down his Kontroll badge at
the suits in the interrogation scene about how he didn't work for them
anymore, and I definitely didn't catch the undercover copy possibility
there. I also thought it was neat because a guy could be an architect
and still be an undercover cop, too. Which kinda also goes along with
well, if the pusher and maybe other folks in the movie are projections
of Bulcsu's unconscious, what is certain and what's not.... Like you,
I thought the music was kickass, too, my goodness!
Speaking of which, Lee wrote:
> btw if you can find any
> recordings by NEO let us
> know, we tried and can’t.
http://neo.disp.hu/en/download.html
http://neo.disp.hu/en/albums.html
http://www.amazon.de/Control-Ost-Neo/dp/B0007GJ02G
Looks like amazon.de is a good bet. Could also try searching YouTube with this list of videos.
Also thought this movie poster was great.
To filmluver: Another fence-sitter! I'm glad I'm in good company!
To Carmine: Where the hell are you, Carmine? Come on in! The water's fine. :-D
OK OK OK. After reading the comments over the last few days I re-watched the film (actually I fast-forwaded through it 'till I got to the good parts) and I see lots of evidence bulidng up for Bulscu to be the pusher.
1. When Muki gets in Bulscu's face about whether he is the killer of not, Bulscu pushes Muki away from him. Muki almost falls onto the tracks.
2.In that same argument we find that Bulscu has changed over the last few weeks. He doesn't meet the crew for breakfast any more, a sure sign of bad changes in his mind. (BTW - thanks for pointing out the denial of Jesus parallels, oldman)
3.When a normal person (Bootsie or the business man)is hit by a train it screeches to a halt. When the hooded figure is struck it keeps going as if nothing happened.
4.The camera shots of Bulscu and the Hooded Figure are similar, especially when the focus is on the hand on the escalator or shoes.
5.Though the film maker keeps our glimpses of hands and face "vague" I see similarities between Bulscu's and the killer's face, hands and shoes.
A new thing that hit me was what Bulscu does after leaving his crew - he stands at the very edge of the tracks and looks like he's getting ready to jump. Then he goes into that trance state and misses his chance. Too bad the next person he sees is Gonzo and his crew.
I don't buy the idea that the mechanic is the killer - the mechanic is fat, the killer is thin. I also dont buy that Bulscu is a cop - no evidence. When he says "I quit" it is to the head of the Metro. I expect a cop would jump (pun) at the chance to catch a killer, but he "trances out" instead
OK - time to get back to work. Looking fwd to the next movie.
PS - I never thought I'd have so much fun writing the word "Bulscu"
It's hard to keep up with you guys and all your great observations! I agree with Cherry that the leather jacket is slightly different, however the black shoes with laces and distinctive thick rubber soles seem an exact match. And i agree with Cherry's guy that the hooded man is "a projection of Bulscu's psyche' so there would be no way he would see 'himself' exactly. . He needs to believe it is an 'other'. i agree with breather that the mechanic is a very heavy set man, the killer is trim. And his idea that the train does not come screeching to a halt after running over the 'reaper' (as i fondly refer to him.) Marc, sorry the police theory is a no go in my mind. The guy with the stained eye who interogates him is not an investigator, he is the head of the subway management. I still stick with my perception that there is a definitive dark liver spot on both the reaper's and Bulscu's hand in the closupshots. I just LOVE the whole Christ Story analogy oldman. LOVE LOVE LOVE it, even though i don't think the director purposely did it. Amazing how perfectly it does fit! I think we should write to Nimrod Antal and let him know about this, in fact I think i will send him all of our writings from this week! Well, thanks to everyone for joining in, I had a lot of fun and hope you did too. I look forward to meeting all who choose to who join us next week for a whole different kind of movie, 'After The Wedding'. Not as far out there for sure but pretty intense and gripping. In the meantime I'd like to join filmluver in quoting Cherry , best to "...let them live in some twilight of all interpretations."
Lee,
Nice summing up, and I look forward to the discussion of "After the Wedding." In the meantime just a couple quick observations. First, I really don't think the idea that the "mechanic" is too heavy-set to be the "pusher" holds up. Between the seated position and heavily padded clothing worn by the mechanic and the long coat of the pusher you can't honestly say what either one really looked like. Also, you probably noted that when the mechanic looks back over his shoulder the director is very very careful to show only and exactly that part of the face which was not seen in the glimpse we had of the pusher's visage. Coincidence? Still, this doesn't mean the mechanic is the pusher, or even that I think he is. Of course we'd all love the suit with the claret stain to be the bad guy, and his lower face and physique do appear similar to what we see of the pusher. But of course there is no evidence genuinely linking him to the crimes. No one, I think, actually wants Bulscu to be the pusher as by movie's end we have come to care about him and would rather see his eventual ascent into the upper world as something more positive than a skulking ruthless cold blooded serial killer getting away scot-free -- and getting the girl to boot. The truth is the identity of the killer, as the meaning of much of the allegorical detail in this film is never resolved. Nimrod Antal, in fact, acknowledged in an interview that he did this on purpose, left things ambiguous, to allow for multiple interpretations. After all, this isn't real life, isn't the Holy Bible, isn't even a real murder mystery in which we'd have a right to feel cheated if the crime wasn't solved satisfactorily. The truth is we don't know who the pusher was because the director didn't tell us -- and didn't want to. Instead of clues he left a trail of red herrings to provoke just this sort of discussion. We never really learn enough about any of the characters, even Bulscu, the "bear" and her father, to know what they may be capable of. The only truly realized character in the movie is the location, the subway itself. Otherwise, I am not saying Antal had any very specific "Christ" story in mind here, but I think it's very clear he definitely was aware of, and intended the analogies and symbolism. There's just way too much there to be accidental, right down to the "Marian" shade of blue in Sofi's final angel outfit. In the end I can live with the ambiguity. In many ways that may be more "true to life" than if we'd had a careful delineation of good and evil, the killer wrapped up in a neat little package etc. Anyway, very enjoyable film with wonderful atmosphere and a fantastic score. Too bad, as you report, NEO seems to be no more.
I teach film classes and Kontroll is one of my favorite movies to both watch and teach.
I began some fun analyses of the movie a few months ago and my husband sent me a link to your blog and suggested I take a look.
I waited until I had my own thoughts about it and wrote them down... then checked out your post. Fun stuff - it's about the same as yours.
Another thought (and this may have come up in some of the replies which I haven't read all of) is that he is dead from the beginning, that the underground is some version of hell, and that at the end, the angel saves his soul. Owls are often precursors to a death.
Anyhow, I enjoyed reading your post - and this has got to be one of my all time favorite movies.
Hi Teresa!
I was with most of the ideas that Bulscu was the killer. Another visual "hint" is at exactly 1:40 into the movie, you see Bulscu's shadow is that of of the hooded pusher (also note the audio cue).
cool. thanks CLiC81 for adding another piece to the puzzle! Great movie , wasn't it?
Hey guys just saying that did you notice that a lot of the films are set in the colors of red, green and blue these incidentally are the colors of the Hungarian flag also i liked the theory that there is no set theory and that there are a million possibilities but i just dont think the detective one is believable but great film 10/10.
p.s. If you watch the film 2 times it makes a lot more sense.
You are incredible! Thank you!
I loved reading all the comments. The movie was mindblowing and the music was awesome. Though I am unable to find the song being played at the costume party. Would love to have it!
As for the discussion, I disregard that Bulscu was a cop previously. And I am pretty much sure that he was an architect. In some scenes he was focusing on constructions. Also, you can notice that his friend from the world 'above' has some rolled charts under his arms when he meets him initially and when he was about to leave. What do you usually find on charts such as these? Drawings, no?
Someone (sorry I couldn't find it again who said it) mentioned here that Bulscu ends up killing himself as the train never stops like it had for earlier 'pushings'. Sadly, I also believe in this interpretation. One can notice that in the whole film, 2 escalators are ascending while 2 are descending. In the last scene all escalators are ascending giving rise to the opinion that this scene is a dream or unreal sequence. May be Bulscu is going to the heaven.
I also noticed the strange white light appearing over Bela's head and then his daughter tells him that he looks like an angel. Any thoughts about that folk?
p.s. Bulscu and Reaper both wear Dr. Martens boots which have distinctive yellow colored stitching at the sole joint. Chances are high that Bulscu is the killer.
Hey there Saad!
We really enjoyed your thought provoking commentary re the film 'Kontroll' that you posted today.
Lots of delicious food for thought...David and I have not seen the film for some time. We bought both the DVD and soundtrack back in 2007 but have misplaced them. We will rent the movie again from Netflix soon so that we can refresh our memories in order to respond in detail.. Even though I have unfortunately been very ill for some years now and unable to give the blog any new postings, we do know from checking Google Analytics every few months that many (in the thousands) people are continuing to come to our blog to read this discussion from pretty much every country you can think of.
Rarely do they leave a comment with a name and we must sadly automatically edit out anonymous postings as the majority are spam and it's just too time consuming to try and sort out the real ones.
So thanks for writing with your name! and please do check in now and again over the next few months and you will recieve a full response from us, promise!!
Hopefully some others will be inspired by your commentary to write themselves , (please everyone, use a name!)
Bye Saad, Hello everyone and Happy Film Viewing to all..
Hey Lee!
Really good to see your reply. I wish you the best of health and thanks for assuring me about the response.
I do hope that other people join in as well.
Cheers
Saad
Hi Saad!
Looks like your blogger email has been hacked. Tons of spam coming thru under your name. Not sure what you can do about it but thought you would want to know.
Tough week here in Boston as I'm sure you've heard.
Sad sad time for so many.
On the positive side-Kontroll is back in our Netflix Queue and we look forward to having some free time to watch it and respond to your great comments. Be well -Lee Paris
Hey Lee!
I'm really really sorry about that. I don't have any idea why would that be happening as the blogger is a part of google account and my google has not been hacked I believe. But really I'm very embarrassed to cause you such a problem. I tried deactivating my blogger account completely but can't, as google doesn't allow to remove your blogger account once created. How rude! Meanwhile if you know about anything to stop that then feel free to share.
Yea of course I heard about the Boston bomb and killings. Really sad to hear all that. Hope life will be normal now for you people there.
Oh that's great! I wish you have a happy watching and please feel free to share any information you have about the song being played in the costume party scene. Me and my friend who recommended me the movie have tried everything possible to find that song. Reports are that it is the hidden track of "Come Down" (9th track) from Neo's album "Lo-Tech Man, Hi-Tech World". We have got the album but the ripper never ripped the hidden track. Let's see what have you got there for us.
Stay safe!
Saad
Hi again Saad-do not worry about the spam-it never gets on to the blog anyway -
Yea, as to the bombings-it must seem strange to people in other countries that have continuous violent episodes , earthquakes, war, floods etc. with way more loss of life and long term disruption to society that we Americans make such a big deal when it hits our own country.
I'm not sure where you are located now but your profile says Pakistan-if so-you guys have so much more to deal with than we do. But It is still terrible, no matter where, yes?
Hard to believe-but the younger brother of the two bombers who escaped after the shootout with police= he hid and was found in a boat in someone's back yard that next night. Guess where that boat was-ONE mile from our apartment. In fact, the night it happened (thursday) i answered a phone call early morning while sleeping. It was from the police telling me "stay in your house and lock your doors! Don't open your door for anyone!" and then they hung up- Being asleep we had no idea why they said this. We don't have cable tv or even a smart phone or a laptop-just an old computer with no sound-so we only could listen to the radio to find out what was happening.
It was an unusual day with the police looking around every few hours-but no one else out in the street-no cars, no people- but many many birds. We live on a main road which is usually very crowded with people walking and fast traffic going by. Because there were no cars or any people for many many hours, (for probably the first time EVER!) animals began to come out as I had never seen before. In fact , one poor creature , a beaver, was wandering around the street and into our yard , I swear he looked right up into the window looking so lost and very confused. He (she?)came right up to the stairs. We wanted to help it but could not go out! He must have walked a long long way. A very strange day for the beaver too..
Yes, may we all stay safe Saad, may we all stay safe,
even the little beaver.....
That is good to know then. I really hopes it stops though.
Yes my profile shows it right. And though I have the view that Americans make such a big deal out of it, I condemn it nonetheless. A life lost is a life lost. Whether it is an innocent guy in Boston or hundreds of innocent civilians killed monthly by a US drone plane or a terrorist bomb.. in Pakistan. We are so much used to it for better or for worse, that it just seems a game of numbers or severity of the incident now.
My o my! that was close indeed!
Gladly we never had a curfew or anything like that in our city but your description do makes it a wondering and curious thing to experience. The beaver must be confused in wonder as well! May be he/she was missing all the people he used to watch from his hole while lying comfortably in it.
aye! even the little beaver..
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