Fresh Air

Running time: 109 mins

From its wry opening in a Hungarian Lonely Hearts ballroom dance to its daring ending, Agnes Kocsis?s marvelously deadpan debut Fresh Air hooks you with its stark, humorous rhythms and provocative inquiry: Can love lighten up dreary lives, or can dreariness itself become its own form of love?

Glum Viola (Julia Nyako) and her equally depressed teenage daughter Angela (Izabella Hegyi) share a cheerless existence consisting mainly of commuting from their jobs to the couch in front of their TV. Viola is a bathroom attendant while Angela muddles through her studies in hopes of becoming a fashion designer. Both women are so caught in rigid domestic rituals that communication between them has withered.

The surprise and delight of the picture lies in how Kocsis breaks through poker-faced dourness to unearth sensitivity and unexpected humor, always superbly handled by the two actresses. A work of observational richness and subdued intensity, Kocsis?s understated gem invites and deserves comparison to the best of Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismaki?Fresh Air is a breath of just that.


Fernando F. Croce

GLOBAL LANDSCAPES