Gabor Reisz Explores Bipolar Hungarian Politics in Venice Selection ‘Explanation for Everything’
01.09.2023 - 06:55
/ variety.com
Naman Ramachandran The bipolar nature of Hungary’s politics and the country’s education system are the targets of Gábor Reisz’s “Explanation for Everything,” which world premieres in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons strand. The film is Reisz’s third feature after the acclaimed “Some Inexplicable Reason” (2014) and “Bad Poems” (2018). Set in summer in Budapest, “Explanation for Everything” follows high school student Abel, who is struggling to focus on his final exams while coming to the realization that he is hopelessly in love with his best friend Janka.
The studious Janka has her own unrequited love with married history teacher Jakab — who had a previous confrontation with Abel’s conservative father. The tensions of a polarized society come unexpectedly to the surface when Abel’s history graduation exam turns into a national scandal. Hungary has been ruled by a right-wing government since 2010.
“I never wanted to make a political movie — just tell a story that that in every level, there are political topics, because what I felt was that the in last few years you could not talk about anything in Hungary that is not connected to politics,” Reisz told Variety. “Every question is — are you right or left? And for example, about me, I don’t know which side I’m on. I know I’m not a right-wing person, but I’m not a left-wing person [either], I can find a lot of positive stuff in every side.
And so it wasn’t a decision, the main thing was to talk about these kinds of people.” The filmmaker also takes exception to some of the practices in the educational system. “I have a lot of problem with the education system,” Reisz said. “I think the graduation exam in Hungary it’s absurd.
The website popstar.one is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can
send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.