Review of Fateless

I left the theater hearing complaints like 'nothing happens' and 'it falls apart'. But this is not a gigantic, epic, sweeping war story, or even groundbreaking, despite its cost and considerable run time, it's a small story with intimate themes, some surreal imagery and very subtle details, and techniques that will unfortunately go unnoticed by most. Yes, it was meandering and slow but something carries you all the way through that wasn't the script, but it was something visceral and at points lulled me into a sort of hypnosis. This combined with the detached sound of the young actors voice, and sound of time, in machinery, in clocks, in breathing, there are amazing sounds behind the images. Yes, scenes end with no purpose, and the center of the film (if you could call it that) fades in and out and in and out, but this only further complimented the disturbing feeling I was left with that this could all happen in a second, in a minute, or a year, it was all the same. Spending a month at one of those camps, going about this hellish routine, could only lead someone to perceive all the days melting into one long dark endless and pointless summary... Those who know the directors work as a cinematographer will know how beautiful this film is, visually. It might be advantage that I can't speak Hungarian so I can't really tell how the acting works or not, but paid close attention to the facial expressions, which were very careful. one thing I found a little frustrating it was the score. Some of it is just painfully romantic and belongs elsewhere. Only certain people are conducive to this type of material, and you probably know who you are. ALSO - try and detach yourself from the book. Just see this for what it is instead as an extension of the novel. They're both perfect in their own right.