Changes made to Kornel Mundruczo's Delta

Revision 3

Created on Monday, 10th August 2009, 13:19
Change Submitted by Curtis Owen

List of Changes:

• Change #1 - [big][b]Delta (2008)[/b][/big] <newline> <newline>[url
• Change #2 - l] <newline> <newline>[b]Film[/b] **** <newline>[b]Extras[/b] * <newline> <newline>[b]Released:[/b] 24th August [b]Certificate:[/b] TBC <newline>[b]Running Time:[/b] 92min [b]Director:[/b] Kornel Mundruczo <newline>[b]Stars:[/b] Felix Lajko, Orsolya Toth <newline> <newline>Miha

Revision 2

Created on Saturday, 1st August 2009, 14:53
Change Submitted by Curtis Owen

List of Changes:

• Change #1 - ence filled with small town ignorance. <newline>

Revision 1

Created on Saturday, 1st August 2009, 14:39
Change Submitted by Curtis Owen

List of Changes:

• Change #1 - age. <newline> <newline> <newline>Mihail d
• Change #2 - hip. <newline> <newline> <newline>It’s a t
• Change #3 - <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118884"][imgmc=0000213408.jpg][/url] <newline> <newline>Delta is a 2009 film by Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo. The meditative opening sequence to Delta affirms the ponderous tone to this mysterious movie. A ship sails across the hypnotic sea towards the sunset. The sound of a horn pierces the soundtrack. The ship arrives at its port. The faceless passengers have also arrived at their destination. Mihail walks through the poverty-stricken streets of a dilapidated village with decaying bricks, ear-splitting sounds of squealing pigs and disgruntled old men that stare into the distance with blank expressions. There is no room for Mihail at the village now that his mother has found another husband. He has to sleep on a bed of straw in his father’s old hut deep inside the delta with a torch, a beaker and a jug of brandy to keep him company. As Mihail leaves the village on a small boat with his sister Fauna, he is exposed to the natural world. The landscape opens up into magnificent widescreen splendour. However, the delta is also filled with a deep sense of isolation and loneliness, even though it is picturesque, nature is a detached and cruel beast. The cinematography of the natural world is filled with dull grey pastel greens and washed out colours that are restricted to the fog induced landscape. <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118882"][imgmc=0000213406.jpg][/url] <newline> <newline>Delta develops an interesting relationship between the social norms of society and the free unburdened world of nature. There is a magnificent scene wrapped in the comfort of the environment when Mihail’s sister Fauna comes to visit him. They sit around a fire together in the openness of night while she watches her brother eat with intense curiosity. The camera zooms in on them, reinforcing their increasing intimacy. In the next scene, they both lye in separate beds, the two shots juxtaposed to give us the impression they are thinking about one other. It’s an indication that the original sin of incest is about to be broken. A taboo that challenges the social conventions of ’civilised’ culture against the inclinations of nature. The skilful scene that conveys this sexual undercurrent occurs after they have spent the day building a walkway across the river. Fauna has decided to stay overnight with her brother in the hut. In the hours of darkness, he walks into her bedroom with a torch. The yellow light focuses on her naked body. Mihail asks his sister, ‘Do you want me to make a fire?’ Staring at him with intense alluring eyes she replies, ‘No. It’s colder when it dies out.’ Mihail looks at her and says, ‘That’s not true’. They exchange a long awkward glance as the light moves towards the ground. <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118886"][imgmc=0000213410.jpg][/url] <newline> <newline>Kornel Mundruczo, the director, ponders on the lingering predicament between brother and sister and doesn’t ignore the escalating conflict it creates with the villagers. It’s always in the back of our minds as each scene unfolds. How are the villagers going to react? Mundruczo gives the audience room to roam around the landscape without resorting to fancy editing techniques. Everything is stripped down to its essentials. The slow lingering visuals and meditative mood are what makes audiences open their heart to this movie. Even if some viewers might find the meditation on nature and the subject matter of incest not to their tastes, Mundruczo respects his audience. He doesn’t mock our attention spans. When the villagers come to ‘collect’ Fauna for a funeral they move down river on boats. There is a foreboding sense of beauty, sadness and loss in this scene, evoking the mood of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo (1982). The landscape is its own lonely beast. Monks chant with a delicate mournful murmur as the slow violin music throbs like a vanishing heartbeat. The forlorn faces of the villagers look into the distance as their oars move through the muggy waters. The dogma of death dances within the frame. Like they are travelling into the intestines of the nether world. <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118883"][imgmc=0000213407.jpg][/url] <newline> <newline>If you’ve been brought up with American films, it takes some adjustment to watch a European movie. Without making a generalised statement, they have a different sensibility towards visuals and character psychology. At most, there are probably only a few pages of dialogue throughout the entire film. Delta is a deliberation on the dynamic between social norms and nature. Falling in love in a world of small town ignorance. In the final scene, the villagers are reactionary animals, forcing Fauna to drink vodka out of a watermelon. It’s a harrowing sequence. <newline> <newline> <newline>imgmc=0000213408.jpg] <newline>The meditative opening sequence to [i]Delta[/i] affirms the ponderous tone to this mysterious movie. A ship sails across the hypnotic sea towards the sunset. The sound of a horn pierces the soundtrack. The ship arrives at its port. The faceless passengers have also arrived at their destination. Mihail walks through the poverty-stricken streets of a dilapidated village with decaying bricks, ear-splitting sounds of squealing pigs and disgruntled old men that stare into the distance with blank expressions. There is no room for Mihail at the village now that his mother has found another husband. He has to sleep on a bed of straw in his father’s old hut deep inside the delta with a torch, a beaker and a jug of brandy to keep him company. As Mihail leaves the village on a small boat with his sister Fauna, he is exposed to the natural world. The landscape opens up into magnificent widescreen splendour. However, the delta is also filled with a deep sense of isolation and loneliness, even though it is picturesque, nature is a detached and cruel beast. The cinematography of the natural world is filled with dull grey pastel greens and washed out colours that are restricted to the fog induced landscape. <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118882"][imgmc=0000213406.jpg][/url] <newline>[i]Delta[/i] develops an interesting relationship between the social norms of society and the free unburdened world of nature. There is a magnificent scene wrapped in the comfort of the environment when Mihail’s sister Fauna comes to visit him. They sit around a fire together in the openness of night while she watches her brother eat with intense curiosity. The camera zooms in on them, reinforcing their increasing intimacy. In the next scene, they both lye in separate beds, the two shots juxtaposed to give us the impression they are thinking about one other. It’s an indication that the original sin of incest is about to be broken. A taboo that challenges the social conventions of ’civilised’ culture against the inclinations of nature. The skilful scene that conveys this sexual undercurrent occurs after they have spent the day building a walkway across the river. Fauna has decided to stay overnight with her brother in the hut. In the hours of darkness, he walks into her bedroom with a torch. The yellow light focuses on her naked body. Mihail asks his sister, ‘Do you want me to make a fire?’ Staring at him with intense alluring eyes she replies, ‘No. It’s colder when it dies out.’ Mihail looks at her and says, ‘That’s not true’. They exchange a long awkward glance as the light moves towards the ground. <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118886"][imgmc=0000213410.jpg][/url] <newline>Kornel Mundruczo, the director, ponders on the lingering predicament between brother and sister and doesn’t ignore the escalating conflict it creates with the villagers. It’s always in the back of our minds as each scene unfolds.  Mundruczo gives the audience room to roam around the landscape without resorting to fancy editing techniques. Everything is stripped down to its essentials. The slow lingering visuals and meditative mood are what makes audiences open their heart to this movie. Even if some viewers might find the meditation on nature and the subject matter of incest not to their tastes, Mundruczo respects his audience. He doesn’t mock our attention spans. When the villagers come to ‘collect’ Fauna for a funeral they move down river on boats. There is a foreboding sense of beauty, sadness and loss in this scene, evoking the mood of Werner Herzog’s [i]Fitzcarraldo[/i] (1982). The landscape is its own lonely beast. Monks chant with a delicate mournful murmur as the slow violin music throbs like a vanishing heartbeat. The forlorn faces of the villagers look into the distance as their oars move through the muggy waters. The dogma of death dances within the frame like they are travelling into the intestines of the nether world. <newline> <newline>[url="http://www.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=0000118883"][imgmc=0000213407.jpg][/url] <newline>If you’ve been brought up with American films, it takes some adjustment to watch a European movie. Without making a generalised statement, they have a different sensibility towards visuals and character psychology. At most, there are probably only a few pages of dialogue throughout the entire film. [i]Delta[/i] is a deliberation on the dynamic between social norms and nature. Falling in love in a world of small town ignorance. In the final scene, the villagers are reactionary animals, forcing Fauna to drink vodka out of a watermelon. It’s a harrowing sequence filled with small town ignorance. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000213409.jpg] <newline>[b

Initial Version

Created on Saturday, 1st August 2009, 14:29
First Submitted by Curtis Owen