In the aftermath of Budapest's anti-Soviet uprising, a young boy discovers the upsetting truth of his father's identity.
Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: László Nemes
Starring: Bojtorján Barabas, Grégory Gadebois, Andrea Waskovics, Hermina Fátyol, Elíz Szabó, Soma Sándor
With his previous films, Son of Saul and Sunset, Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes marked himself as one of Europe's most talented working auteurs when it comes to immersing us in a 20th century period setting. For his third offering, Orphan, Nemes returns once again to 20th century Hungary to tell a story inspired by his own father's boyhood experiences.
It's 1957, a year after the nation's anti-Soviet uprising has been brutally crushed. There is an air of paranoia and mistrust in the air that echoes that felt during World War II, along with rising anti-semitism (in WWII Hungary's Jews were labelled communists; here they are accused of supporting fascism). The city of Budapest is a tapestry of bombed out squares, and it's amid the rubble that we meet our protagonist, 13-year-old Andor (Bojtorján Barabas). As far as Andor is concerned, his father was sent to a concentration camp during the war, never to return. Andor still holds out hope that his father may return some day, despite his mother Klara's (Andrea Waskovics) best attempts to dissuade him of such notions for his own sake.
Andor is shocked and repulsed when a great big ogre of a man, Mihaly (Grégory Gadebois), arrives and announces himself as his father. Gentile Mihaly sheltered the Jewish Klara during the war, and he claims that he fathered Andor during this time. Klara goes along with the story, despite what she had previously led Andor to believe. Andor rebels, refusing to accept this man as his father.
Andor's relationship with Mihaly echoes that of Hungary and the Soviet Union. Like many Hungarians have been by Moscow at this point, Klara has been ground down by Mihaly and is willing to accept him into her life as he seems the best option. While it is never made explicit, it is heavily implied that Mihaly abused his role as protector of Klara when he took her in, just as the Soviets have abused their status as Hungary's defenders. Andor's rebellion mirrors that of the rebels who rose against the Soviets, but who now live in hiding like Tamás (Soma Sándor), a young freedom fighter who ironically finds his safety jeopardised by Andor's rebellion against the man claiming to be his father.
As we've come to expect from Nemes, the period recreation is striking (if Hollywood made Orphan it would likely cost 10 times its budget). But Nemes never quite immerses us in this setting in the way he did with the death camp of Son of Saul or the elegant pre-war Budapest of Sunset. His staging is more traditional here, with none of the extended oners or intense close-ups he has come to be known for. With the story never quite gripping us in the way Nemes would like, it all feels a little flat. At over two hours Orphan never quite sags, but the running time removes some much needed immediacy.
Save for Waskovics, who powerfully conveys a woman who has been broken so many times she is willing to be put back together by the hands of a brute, the broad performances jar with Nemes' laid back direction. As Mihaly, the French actor Gadebois might as well be playing a villain from a Roald Dahl adaptation, while young Barabas' performance is always pitched at the same note of indignation. Nemes never quite finds the right balance of melodrama and subtlety, but the film's highlighting of cultural erasure and its ruggedly rendered setting are enough to hold our attention.
Orphan is in UK/ROI cinemas from May 15th.
