Men in the Nude [Férfiakt] *** (2006, László Gálffi, Dávid Szabó, Éva Kerekes) – Classic Movie Review 12,716

The 2006 Hungarian romantic drama film Men in the Nude [Férfiakt] follows a troublesome gay affair between a married middle-aged writer and a streetwise teenage hustler. They are chalk and cheese. It isn’t going to end well.

Writer/ director Károly Esztergályos’s 2006 Hungarian romantic drama film Men in the Nude [Férfiakt] follows a troublesome gay affair between an aging, married middle-aged writer and a young streetwise teenage boy hustler. They are chalk and cheese.

The writer tells the boy he has only ever had one gay experience before in his whole life, when he was the age of the boy and the man, an unnamed famous actor, was much older, though not even as old as he is now. The writer’s actress wife isn’t all that pleased by developments. She finds her own, momentarily satisfying, way to proceed. We don’t need to believe anything anyone says here as they are almost certainly lying or inventing. It is the creative process.

The writer is 49 and the boy is 19, though they look fine together. That, though, quite obviously, is not going to be the case. How could this story have a happy ending? Indeed, how could this story have an actual satisfying ending? The film doesn’t quite manage it, but it stays fascinating, if elusive at the end. Ideas are splashed liberally around, with posh references, all quite provocative and amusing.

Much of what we see isn’t as we see it, maybe all of it. After all the main character is a writer. Probably it’s all the ramblings of a struggling writer, apparently influenced by Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. A lot happens in a relatively short runtime, so that keeps the interest level high. It’s kind of a bit morose and depressing, as well as pessimistic and disturbing, but that’s expected and is okay here, actually required here. The film revels in the idea of the impossibility of love. Is Death in Venice morose and depressing? Of course it is.

The cast is very good, most credible and hard working. László Gálffi stars as the husband Zeyk, Dávid Szabó co-stars as the gay lover Zsolt, and Éva Kerekes plays the wife Edit. All three are ideally cast in their very different ways, and give compelling performances.

The title is a bit of a teasing come-on, though its meaning is as elusive as the film. Like his hero, Károly Esztergályos was also inspired by Thomas Mann and his diaries.

As it was shot in only 19 days, Esztergályos must have been very well prepared and meticulous in his shooting. The film has a smart, creative look about it, photography by veteran cinematographer Miklós Bíró in his last film.

Men in the Nude [Férfiakt] was released on 1 January 2006.

Hungary

Runtime: 94 minutes.

Cinematographer Miklós Bíró (1933-2015).

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,716

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