Hungarian cinema has announced itself as a force over the last few years, receiving international acclaim for such finely crafted Holocaust dramas as “Son of Saul” (2015) and “1945” (2017), as well as the Oscar-nominated contemporary romance, “On Body and Soul” (2017), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale last year. That film’s director, Ildikó Enyedi, is experiencing a mid-career renaissance after an 18-year gap in her filmmaking. In that time, she was teaching the next generation of Hungarian filmmakers, which includes Zsófia Szilágyi, who is set to make her Cannes Film Festival debut this year with “One Day.”
Set during a single day in the life of a mother of three, “One Day” (“Egy Nap”) takes its rhythm from the mundanity of everyday life. Per the official synopsis: “Anna (Zsófia Szamosi) is constantly running around – from work to the nursery, to school, to ballet, to fencing class. As if this wasn’t enough, she suspects that her husband is cheating on her. Her issues are hardly unique, but she has simply no time to stop and think them through. They build up relentlessly, threatening to crush her. Carrying on takes more energy than she has left. Will she be able to save what’s fragile and unique in her life?”
“Slowly and consistently, the film shows — from her viewpoint — how Anna’s day marches on,” writes Szilágyi in her director’s notes. “It is this very perspective and the handling of time that make up the film’s core. We do not elegantly pass by certain repetitive actions and we do not change our perspective either. We go through them, just like she has to. Neither she, nor we can avoid them. The film tells about everyday time and the forceful nature of routine.”
“One Day” will premiere in the Semaine de la Critique section of Cannes. Check out our exclusive trailer below.
