MIRAGE (Délibáb) (2014) - ♦♦♦

Directed by - Szabolcs Hajdu

Written by - Szabolcs Hajdu, Nandor Lovas, Jim Stark

Starring - Isaach de Bankolé, Razvan Vasilescu, Orsolya Torok-Illyés, Dragos Bukur, Tamas Polgar

"A modern western set in the Hungarian plains. MIRAGE seems to echo the ambition of SERGIO LEONE's Spaghetti Westerns, with a meditative rhythm and its quiet tension - also shown by an almost complete lack of rhetoric. 

The story follows a lone African footballer, who mysteriously wonders into a Hungarian towna nd ends up trapped withing a well guarded farm, run by modern slaveholders. As the title suggests, surrealism is a very important element that allows MIRAGE to exist on a parallel outrageousness. This is further reflected by the colourful characters themselves, who are almost two dimensionally clownish. 

There are moments that feel flat and dull. Despite this and the film's predictability, the final resolution is remains quite impressive. And ISAACH DE BANKOLE, in the role of the pivotal stranger, often feels every bit as silently charismatic as CLINT EASTWOOD did in the Dollars' trilogy. Here, it is the lack of a credible antagonist that lessens the impact of his performance."

Western, Hungary/Slovakia