Films in Brief

Kontroll

The ticket inspectors that work the subway systems of Eastern Europe are among the most hated people in their part of the globe. Yet it is precisely these unfriendly, power-abusing, and unruly fellows who are the unwitting heroes of the new Hungarian film Kontroll. It’s hard to determine the intended audience for this woefully pointless and tedious film that combines MTV-like slickness with wry Eastern European humor.

Traditional art-house crowds, the only conceivable market for Kontroll, will avoid a film that offers the same migraine-inducing loudness as their own mass-produced techno thrillers. My only thought is that the distributor is hoping that Kontroll—which inexplicably won the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes—will be a cult hit. Indeed, it has all but the most basic criteria to attain such an exalted position; it fails miserably to be even mildly entertaining.

The plot, as far as there can be said to be one, concerns Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), a ticket inspector who spends his every moment, waking and sleeping, inside the Budapest subway system—the setting for the entire film.

Along with his fellow controllers, a mildly likable ragtag of social undesirables, he goes about his unpleasant job but spends the bulk of his time racing another controller through the tunnels in a lethal activity called “railing.”

He also chases the rowdy Boostie, whose only purpose in life seems to be spraying controllers with mace. In between, Bulcsú tries to negotiate with a passenger brandishing a knife, and his maleficent superiors falsely accuse him of pushing people in front of oncoming trains. He falls for the daughter of the sage Béla (Lajos Kovács), an aged conductor who never leaves his car, and through love, he musters the courage to confront the real world.

The final shot shows the two lovers holding hands as they symbolically ascend to the real world. First-time director Nimród Antal’s background in music videos and commercials is felt in every frame. Loud, over-the-top and pointless, Kontroll is one ride better left untaken.

Mondovino

Mondovino takes its viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the wine world. The documentary shows both the beauty and the deep divisions, as those who produce wine in the traditional manner are being challenged by those who use modern technology to give themselves the upper hand.

The film travels to several wine regions around the world and asks the people who work in the industry to tell their side of the wine story. Among these is Michel Rolland, a pro-technology wine consultant. He runs a laboratory dedicated to the pursuit of the perfection of wine. He reeks of self-importance as he is chauffeured around from one client to the next.

In contrast, Hubert De Montille is a winemaker from Burgundy who is rooted in tradition, fond of comments like “where there is wine, there is civilization” and the “place of origin beats out any brand.” De Montille has plenty to say about modern wines and is not shy about expressing his opinion.

Although the film presents both factions, director Jonathan Nossiter seems to take a side with his rugged cinematography, which acts like a silent voice of the film, and has a great respect for tradition. It evokes a purity that is disappearing as the wine industry becomes more corporate.

Mondovino captures the current state of the wine world to show that the journey from vine to bottle is far from simple. But beneath the movie’s objective surface, it seems to speak with a voice firmly on the side of fast-fading tradition.