Hukkle

2002 [HUNGARIAN]

Crime / Drama / Mystery

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 100% · 32 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 83% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 4069 4.1K

criminal

Director

György Pálfi Photo
György Pálfi

Top cast

János F. Kovács Photo
János F. Kovács as Vízhordó fiú
István Baráth Photo
István Baráth as Disznótulajdonos
Mihályné F. Kovács Photo
Mihályné F. Kovács as A vízhordó fiú anyja
István Kovács Photo
István Kovács as Rapsic
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
726.38 MB
1280*666
Hungarian 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  nl  hu  ro  
24 fps
1 hr 19 min
Seeds 3
1.46 GB
1920*998
Hungarian 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  nl  hu  ro  
24 fps
1 hr 19 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ThurstonHunger 7 / 10

It's Not Over Till the Hungarian Lady Sings...

...and even then the Hukkle keeps its own regular rhythm at the very end.As a kid, I remember there used to be a visual game in magazines where a photograph zoomed in extremely tight or shot from an odd angle was presented, and you had to guess what the object was. This film features many such shots...and in its speechless stroke of genius, the story itself is presented that way as well.Let me state that this movie is clearly not for everyone, at first it reminded me of the beloved Ann Arbor Film Festival, which hosts many fine but often fiercely independent short films. But "Hukkle", while succeeding in its artful attack, moves beyond that.But it does so slowly...The film moves almost at the pace of the tiny Hungarian village where it was mostly shot. Indeed from the DVD extras, I get the sense that Gyorgy Palfi wanted to have the film linger even longer in spots. The (human) actors are all non-professional; while I believe the pig, cat, snake, mole and frog were all professional. The frog also was apparently delicious, at least according to the famished catfish.I really want to resist saying more, I'm just trying to figure out a way to direct the people who would enjoy this film toward it. I suspect that if you ever entertained notions of attending film school, you would enjoy this. Rambunctious creativity is on display, as it was in "Daisies" which I recently watched and reviewed. Similarly, just seeing a village might appeal to some folks like myself living in the United *Sprawl* of America.In that village, we see some folks living with plastic sheets as part of their homes. I don't think this could have been made anywhere ...nor by anyone else. Palfi's approach on screen is gentle but, I don't know, proudly peculiar?? Or maybe peculiarly proud? He likely was a city mouse out in the country, but he was welcomed in to their wine caves, their apiaries and those plastic thatched houses, but more importantly the lives of the sturdier folks occupying them.With the DVD you get a couple of bonus tracks, the subtitled commentary by Palfi and his cinematographer was very insightful on several levels. It almost seemed at times like the film was not only a riddle from Palfi to us the audience, but a puzzling challenge to Gergely Poharnok and the rest of the crew!Additionally Palfi's voice, it's genuinely genial tone but never mawkishly so, while I don't speak Hungarian, I was curious to see him interact with the villages...and that is also in the Extras!I eagerly look forward to more of his work, the Taxidermist is not readily available yet...but hopefully soon. Oh, and here is a plug for having Palfi film an adaptation of "The Thought Gang" - a fine book by Tibor Fischer!This film has grown from a 6 to a 7.5/10 for me...still rising!!Thurston HungerTwo more comments...1) Would love to track down the music (and field recordings) to this.2) Funniest scene in the film...the very un-Hollywood police chase!!
Reviewed by koomy 8 / 10

odd but good

Strange film focusing on the human, plant and animal life of a small Hungarian village. At first i thought there was no real story or plot and it reminded me a bit of films like Bodysong or Naqoyqatsi. However, whereas those films put their images to music this one had no music or dialogue but instead focused on the sounds of life - such as animals, machines etc. You can certainly view this film in that stlye - and enjoy it because although those sort of films can lose your interest after a while Hukkle has great camera angles, close ups and superb editing which means it doesn't outstay its 75 minute running time.But if you look deeper into the film there is a very subtle plot - as we see a body in a lake at one point and a policemen investigates it. However nothing is resolved and its almost as an aside but once i started thinking about it (or in my case reading about it) the more i want to watch it again!A unique film.
Reviewed by izeta 8 / 10

original and innovative

I just saw the film in 43th Thessaloniki Film Festival and I was amazed. This film is truly innovative and original, both technically(photography, editing, direction)and also as far as its story is concerned. A must-see for everyone. Beware, it's not just a country-life documentary...
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