Every year, the mainstream cinema media seem to find one or two foreign language films that they really champion. This year's foreign cinema darling is Ryusuke Hamaguchi's “Drive My Car”, an excellent film no doubt. However with the primary focus of foreign cinema being seemingly limited to so few titles, you can imagine how many gems fall through the cracks and thus are seriously underrated and under-seen. This is definitely true of this wonderful, little Hungarian film with the ridiculously long title, “Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time”, that's been written and directed by Lili Horvat. Before watching the film, I knew nothing about it, but the unusual title intrigued me, as did the image of a woman seemingly in the fetal position, wrapped in a sheet, on a bed, which was used as the movie's poster image. I do not know how to explain it, but sometimes a single image just talks to you, and the power of that image is enough to make you want to see the film.
The film is about a successful neurosurgeon, Marta, living and working in America who, after a chance meeting at a medical conference, falls in love with another neurosurgeon, Janos, who happens to live on the other side of the world in Hungary, where Marta is initially from. Whilst at the conference, the two come up with a crazy (but romantic) plan to meet again in the future at a set time and place, the Liberty Bridge in Budapest. Feeling like she has met “the one”, and knowing that at the age of forty that she is running out of time to start a family, Marta decides to pack up her life and return to her homeland where she has not been for the past twenty years. When the romantic catch up does not happen, Marta decides to track down Janos at the hospital where he works. However when she confronts the man, he has no idea who Marta is, claiming to have never met her before. Did Marta and Janos actually meet in America, or is this some fantasy that Marta has played out in her mind?
As you can tell from the synopsis above, “Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time” is a psychological drama, filled with a whole lot of mystery. It is a small film but it has been beautifully realised by director Lili Horvat. She imbues the film with a lovely and mysterious ambience, so we question right until the end of the film if what we see and think we know is the truth or made up by a woman slowly suffering from a mental illness. The film is so quiet, and yet there is also both a sinister and romantic quality to it as well. I also loved the way the film has been shot by cinematographer Robert Maly, which has a very clean look or sheen to it, but where the colours of blue and red really pop. Both Horvat and Maly also seem particularly fond of their lead actress's face, as regular close ups of her visage are used to wonderful effect. Through these close ups we can see this poor woman questioning everything she believes is true, fearing that she is going mad, whilst also keeping the hope that she did not make up the love she feels for Janos. Another aspect of the film that left me suitably impressed were the amazing Budapest locations.
Horvat has been amply supported by Natassa Stork who gives a stunning, internalised performance as Marta. You really feel for this poor lonely woman who, from the outside looking in, appears to have everything. She is a successful doctor, respected in her profession by her peers, making the kind of money you dream of, but all this woman wants is a loving human connection. Stork is believable in her scenes as a neurosurgeon, is tragic when she starts to believe everything is a fantasy she has conceived and even gives off a creepy vibe when her persistence turns towards a kind of stalking. Stork's performance is so impressive that I was stunned that this was her first role (of any substance) in a motion picture.
Seeing as the film is a mystery, I do not want to spoil its surprises, rather I hope that by highlighting the film here that more people may take a chance at watching “Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time”. That said I do want to mention that I loved the juxtaposition of having a brain surgeon, someone who deals with the physical aspects of the brain, struggling with and coming to terms with the psychological side of her own brain. It is very interesting stuff indeed. I also need to make mention of my favourite scene in the film when both Marta and Janos are walking together, yet on different sides of the road. No words are spoken during the scene but by the end they both find themselves in unison, mimicking one another's movements perfectly, as if they were one. It is such a beautiful moment in the film.
The only negative I have of the film was that I did find the resolution a bit of a letdown, in that it had the most banal explanation possible. There is something in what David Lynch says about mystery and the fact that when you explain a mystery, it takes away what makes it beautiful. So yes, I may not have been a fan of the destination, however the journey taken to reach that point is sublime and well worth taking, and is why I think that “Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time” is the most underrated film of 2021.
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