Kontroll may just possibly be the only Hungarian film I’ve ever seen (there’s plenty of films that were filmed in Hungary, but usually by American productions.) Having said that, I was not quite sure what to expect from a Hungarian-made thriller filmed entirely in a subway.
Kontroll starts out with some light-hearted montages of an eclectic group of subway workers, who are punching tickets and dealing with a variety of difficult and obnoxious passengers.
The characters are a completely refreshing change of pace from the parade of flawlessly groomed and primped stars that have graced the last five films I watched prior to Kontroll. The movie focuses on one particular gang of Slavic trolls that have been shunned from the more respected Slavic trolls that monitor the dismal subterranean realm.
This rag-tag group is led by Bulcsu, a mysterious man who once lived and worked above ground, but for reasons unsaid, has receded into a life working in the dark tunnels of the metro tunnel.
Apart from the comedic struggle of ticket checking, there is also a dark side to Kontroll. An unknown serial killer is loose in the tunnels, using the speeding trains as his preferred method of murder. It doesn't take long for Bulcsu and his faithful crew to become entangled in the killer’s web, as tensions and suspicions rise.
Kontroll is noir and comedy hemmed seamlessly together to create a wonderful suspense. The characters are redeeming for Hungarians represented in cinema; the director having forgone the usual generic stereotypes for flawed and unique people worth getting to know for an hour and a half.
The suspense in Kontroll engrossing, as well as the many other sub-plots. The surreal neon lights and cold loneliness of the subway works very well to draw you into the mystique of the film. The movie is about control in the face of chaos and fear, when people who have little control of their own existence are charged to bring order to indifferent and hostile resisters.
7/10
