A Fairy Tale Ending to 2014 Montclair Film Festival

The last day of the Festival offered a slew of tempting films and talks featuring Stephen Colbert, Kevin Smith, and the always provocative Michael Moore.

My final film was a Hungarian fairy tale, Le Grand Cahier, or The Notebook, directed by Janos Szasz. Not to be confused with the 2004 romantic comedy, there is little funny about the Hungarian film, which is set during the Nazi occupation in 1944, just as the Russians invaded Hungary and would eventually take root. 

Richly photographed and brilliantly acted with a haunting, percussive soundtrack, Le Grand Cahier is a visceral tour-de-force of filmmaking, with a memorable cast led by the enchanting and inseparable twin boys (played by Andras Gyemant and Laszlo Gyemant) who teach themselves how to survive during wartime and a harsh winter. 

They create a list of almost cruel objectives—“the first lesson is to train the body to feel pain without crying”—in which they beat each other till they bleed. Their relationship has much tenderness as well; they often hold hands when faced with the horrors of war, as in the murder of a Jewish shoemaker who was their best friend. 

The boys’ grandmother is given a powerhouse performance by Piroska Molnar—every curse, every grumble, every smack she dishes out symbolizes her gloomy, miserable, witch-like life. Having lived alone for the last twenty years, she is surprised when her daughter drops off her two sons whom the grandmother has never met. The grandmother immediately locks them out and forces them to do chores to earn their keep. This ultimately strengthens the boys; and their relationship with their grandmother takes an interesting turn when their mother later returns for them. 

Combining fairy tale elements, gritty realism, as well as a kinetic script, this allegory of survival is a welcome addition to the canon of WWII era films. Fans of Ivan’s Childhood and Pan’s Labyrinth will enjoy Le Grand Cahier, as well as anyone interested in powerful, challenging cinema.

All in all, it was an amazing festival. We’re very lucky to have such a great event in Montclair. Hopefully, you got to support it somehow. I’ll be posting a bit of bonus coverage tomorrow. Thanks for reading; I hope this blog has been helpful.