Fireman's Street (25 ) Movie Review

Hungary's official entry in 1974's San Francisco International Film Festival was 25 Fireman's Street, a puzzling, disturbing movie directed by Istvan Szabo. This beautifully photographed movie focuses on the residents of a soon-to-be-demolished building. Their memories, dreams, and fears are shown in unsparing detail, as well as their uncertain daily lives: a young girl jumps off the building to her death, a woman swims in the air of her room, an old man chews thoughtfully on broken glass. Piles of junk, old photographs, and used furniture are regretfully abandoned in the streets. The actors are all blessed with fascinating, well-lined faces that any good cinematographer would sell his or her shirt to shoot, and every line tells a different story. Rita Bekes as the landlady and Lucyna Winnicka as a resident are especially memorable. Szabo successfully exposes the terror and vulnerability of the inhabitants of 25 Fireman's Street and both his surrealistic style and his unconventional approach italicize the brutality repeated relocations inflict on the human spirit. AKA: Almok a hazrol; Tuzolto utca 25.

1973 97m/C HU Rita Bekes, Peter Muller, Lucyna Winnicka, Andras Balint; D: Istvan Szabo; W: Istvan Szabo, Luca Karall; C: Sandor Sara. VHS