A comic love story about two abattoir employees by Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi.
Modest abattoir financial director Endre meets Maria, a new quality control specialist who has a developmental disability. Soon after she joins the factory there is an incident in which a powerful mating powder for bulls is stolen. Each employee has to undergo psychological testing and this process reveals a mysterious coincidence—Endre and Maria have identical dreams.
On Body and Soul presents the contradictory parameters of the story of the abattoir employees’ relationship. The light and tidy spaces and smart and good-natured employees of this company and Endre and Maria, who are clumsy and tender, are contrasted with the daily killing of dozens of animals. The fatal proximity of life and death, cruelty and kindness, is the starting point for a consideration of the nature of humans, who can combine brutality and the most subtle and pure movements of the soul. When taking on a new employee, a cocky young man, Endre tells him that it is impossible to work in this place without empathy for the dying animals. This paradoxical thought is reflected in the dreams that the lovers share. They appear to each other in the bodies of deer who live freely in nature, far from the dangers of the human world.
Maria, as played by Alexandra Borbély, is an example of subtle and respectful work on the image of a character with developmental disabilities. They do not become her defining feature. Enyedi, who wrote the script for On Body and Soul, carefully describes the special aspects of the young woman’s behavior, relationships, and bodily identity, while placing her desires and dreams at the forefront.
Ildikó Enyedi is an important figure in Hungarian cinema. She was originally a conceptual artist and made experimental shorts. Her second feature, My 20th Century, in which Oleg Yankovsky played one of the main roles, won the Caméra d’Or at the 42nd Cannes Film Festival. After making Simon, the Magician (1999), Enyedi took an 18-year break from directing before making a triumphant return with On Body and Soul. This intricate story about feelings won the Golden Bear at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.
The film will be shown in Hungarian with Russian subtitles.
After the screening there will be a discussion of the film with a Garage mediator during which viewers can exchange opinions and ideas about what they have seen. The discussion will be constructed as a dialogue of equals in which the impressions and thoughts of every participant are important. The mediator will gently direct and moderate the conversation. The meeting will last one hour. Participation is free.
On Body and Soul
Director Ildikó Enyedi
Hungary, 2017. 116 min.
18+