Today the movie that got screened was The Last Blues (Az utolsó blues) directed by Péter Gárdos. It is about what happens over a 24-hour period in Andris’s life, while he is driving from Budapest (Hungary) to Cracow (Poland). He is a successful businessman in Budapest, married and has a smart son. Unknown to others, he is leading another life, a life as an artist (painter) in Cracow, where he is in love with a young woman and going to get married to her today.
The movie starts off interesting but somewhere loses its way and becomes a bit boring. It could be because the director hasn’t spent time introducing the lead character Andris to the viewers, who is he & what are his motivations are unexplained. Without that, we are not able to relate to that main character. The movie has good scenes and nice dialogues, but the overall plot could have been pictured as much more compelling. Background music adds a bit of thrill & ghostly feeling.
[spoiler alert]
During the drive, his car refuses to stop, and his attempts to stop by banging into a tree/tire pile all fail, even when the fuel runs out the car keeps running. During the drive, his life unravels around him, his past actions & people around him. His wife is unhappy with their marriage, secretly longing for her boss in the school. His mother loved his father’s brother who is now living in the USA. His love, the woman in Cracow expecting a grand wedding with him. While Andris is circling around Budapest, people around him are getting connected and Andris’s secrets are being exposed. In the end, we are shown his wife in a black dress leaving us to infer he is dead in the car crash.
The Last Blues (Az utolsó blues)