Going Underground has never been as vivid and intriguing as it is in Kontroll, a Hungarian black comedy cum killer thriller set in the Budapest subway system. Its anti-hero is Bulscú (Sándor Csányi), one of a group of oddball ticket inspectors who've got more than fare dodgers to worry about: there's a hooded nutter in their midst shoving passengers onto the tracks. Smoothly switching gears between the surreal and the everyday, this is as unpredictable as the Northern Line but offers a much more memorable ride.
The film's dark, dank setting may be claustrophobic - like the brooding Bulscu, we never leave the subway - but there's plenty of room for first-time writer-director Nimród Antal to flex his varied talents. He's got a nose for off-the-wall comedy, milking laughs from the embattled inspectors' endless petty tussles with customers ranging from pimps to Japanese tourists. (There's a chucklesome visit to the psychiatrist's office as well.) But he also does excitement: one of the stand-out scenes, worthy of a topline Hollywood actioner, features the extreme sport of 'railing', where combatants attempt to outrun the hurtling Midnight Express.
"AN ASSURANCE YOU DON'T OFTEN GET IN A DEBUT"
What Antal does best of all, though, is atmosphere, creating a self-contained universe that's simultaneously recognisable and otherworldly. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ to both devils and angels - such as bear-costumed train driver's daughter Szofi (Eszter Balla) - this subterranean realm is strikingly shot in cold but arresting hues.
Equally attention-grabbing is the pounding techno-rock score by music outfit Neo, which typically amplifies but occasionally intrudes on the action. Such mis-steps are rare, though, in a movie made with the kind of vision and assurance you don't often get in a debut. In an unexpected touch, the picture opens with a representative of the Budapest Public Transport Company heaping praise on Antal. A hundred or so minutes later, you will be too.
In Hungarian with English subtitles.
Kontroll (2004)
