Film Archive

It's Not the Time of My Life

Official Selection - Competition 2016 / Ernelláék Farkaséknál / Hungary 2016

The renowned Hungarian filmmaker (White Palms, Bibliothèque Pascal) has come out with an intimate study of two families thrown together by circumstance to temporarily share an unusual apartment. This independent movie – outstanding for its inventive production, precisely limned characters, and performances that get under the skin – draws faithfully on the work of Cassavetes and Bergman.

Synopsis

Eszter, her husband Farkas, and their five-year-old son Bruno are paid an unexpected visit in the middle of the night. Eszter’s sister Ernella, her husband Albert and daughter Laura have returned from a year spent in Scotland where, contrary to expectations, they weren’t able to settle down. It soon becomes clear that the two families had never really been in tune with one another. The renowned Hungarian director hails from an impressive generation of filmmaking heavyweights (Mundruczó, Pálfi, Fliegauf) and is probably the least predictable in terms of his formal approach to the given subject matter. Here Hajdu presents an uncompromising, intimate study of two families thrown together by circumstance to temporarily share an unusual apartment; his picture also demonstrates a resolve unencumbered by scruples to get at what are often painful, naked truths about human relationships. This independent movie, outstanding for its inventive production, precisely delineated characters, and performances that get under the skin, draws faithfully on the work of Cassavetes and Bergman.

Karel Och

About the film

81 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Szabolcs Hajdu / Screenplay Szabolcs Hajdu / Dir. of Photography Csaba Bántó, Flóra Chilton, Dávid Gajdics, Betti Hejüsz, Márton Kisteleki, Ákos K. Kovács, Péter Miskolczi, Péter Pásztor, Tamás Simon, Márk Szalai, Gábor Szilágyi, Gergely Tímár, Levente Tóth / Editor Szilvia Papp / Producer Dániel Herner, András Muhi, Ferenczy Gábor, Zsófia Muhi / Production Filmworks Ltd., FoxusFox Studio, Látókép Ensemble / Cast Erika Tankó, Orsolya Török-Illyés, Szabolcs Hajdu, Domokos Szabó, Lujza Hajdu, Zsigmond Hajdu, Imre Gelányi, Ágota Szilágyi / Contact Filmworks Ltd.

About the director

Szabolcs Hajdu (b. 1972, Debrecen, Hungary), Hungarian film and stage director, screenwriter and actor, graduated from the University of Drama and Film in Budapest in 2000. That same year he made his debut with the film Sticky Matters (Macerás ügyek), which was followed by Tamara (2004) and, notably, White Palms (Fehér tenyér, 2007), screened in the Cannes section Directors’ Fortnight and subsequently at the 41st KVIFF (Special Mention from the East of the West jury). His next film Bibliothèque Pascal received its premiere at the Berlinale in 2010 and went on to win numerous awards. Mirage (Délibáb, 2014) was first viewed by audiences at the Toronto IFF. Szabolcs Hajdu has been teaching acting and film direction at university workshops in a number of countries since 2003.