MS University Faculty of Fine Arts Film Festival: Zoltán Fábri’s Two Half Times in Hell

This film was screened as part of ‘Twenty First’, an ongoing film festival at Faculty of Fine Arts at MS University.

Date of Screening: 10th December, 2013

Director: Zoltán Fábri

Country: Hungary

A sports film set in the stark backdrop of WW2, Zoltán Fábri’s Two Half Times in Hell comes closest to resembling a classical Hollywood film, in terms of both structure and characterization of the four films I’ve managed to watch at the Fest Twenty First film festival held at Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University ( I missed Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, screened on 9th. Had to assist a friend all day in making a short film).

However, unlike old Hollywood’s preference for happy endings, the film favors a tragic (although anticipated) resolution for the heroes. Unsurprisingly, when Hollywood remade the film as ‘Victory’ in 1981, starring biggies like Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine,

Mac Von Sydow and footballers including Pele and Bobby Moore, it opted a safer route and let everybody survive, and escape. Since my dad didn’t realize then that movies could be streamed online, he ordered a copy of the DVD from USA for nearly four times the market price here. I don’t remember much of that film, but I can say I found it pleasantly enjoyable then due to the presence of its lead stars.

The 1962 version dishes out an ending its heroes don’t really deserve. The problem with Two Half Times in Hell is its absence of a distinctive visual style required to drive its message home. Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin was also about rebellion, although without sports; what made its message so resoundingly felt were the powerful images. I think any director should realize that any element he introduces in his film makes an accommodation in the minds of its audiences. For example, if a character x is introduced and given a situation, we as the audiences follow up until a sustaining and satisfying conclusion, whether happy or grim, is developed.

When Marlon Brando took on his union bosses in On the Waterfront, we got enough development in terms of character and story to root for him in his efforts. In case the film lacks a plot and focuses instead on interplay between light and color, the audiences will still be happy so long as the director does justice to his work.

This film remains undernourished both in creating powerful images as well as developing its story-line. Other directors would’ve hunted for opportunities to include a money shot or two during the climatic football match. Fábri keeps the sequence fairly entertaining but simply does nothing in terms of camerawork or direction that simply stuns us. His editing is fairly conventional; he uses wide angle shots during which its usually the actors moving towards and away from the camera. During the match, he quickly zooms into the important characters alternatively to add to some tension but that’s just about the only thing he does differently. A film could easily do without any experimental editing, but it then has to rely on other aspects like excellent characterization or narrative development to succeed. Here too the results remain patchy and disappointing.

The film starts off with an announcement of a football match between the Nazi Germans and Hungarian servicemen of war for Hitler’s birthday. A team is formed among the Hungarians, led by famous footballer Onodi II, a short-tempered, violent yet dedicated and compassionate fellow who constantly deals with flak from his own men for his hard exterior; when the servicemen gather to watch the match, one remarks he ‘hates Onodi so much he wishes to spit twenty times a day on his face’. Others include Steiner, a timid, obsequious man eager to please his superiors; we soon learn he knows little about football and only agrees to play so he may be able to get back sooner to his two children. There is another well-known sportsperson who insists he was wrongly sent to the camp; I think this character could’ve been developed further by giving him more screen-time.

Had the movie left out the needless escape plan, which ends before it begins, it could’ve worked out simply as a film about the oppressive Nazi forces’ fear of rebellion, as the unfortunate event at the end is triggered exactly when the Hungarians score more goals than the Germans and the fellow servicemen overstep the barricades to celebrate.

A little more American spirit or Indian sentimentality could’ve done wonders. Although I did like the solidarity shown for Steiner by the team when Odoni tries to send the man away for lying, I still yearned to cheer more during the match but I hadn’t seen enough practice before to really root for the team. The story also touches on poignant letters sent by servicemen’s wives and mothers, and I thought this element could’ve been used later in the film, for example, a scene in which the protagonist or somebody from the team reads a letter just before heading for the match.

Imre Sinkovits plays Odoni really well (one of the fine arts students observed he looked like a young Sanjay Dutt, a Bollywood actor btw) and his character was perhaps the only one I genuinely felt sad for at the end. His portrayal is both measured and sincere, and I wish his character got more focus towards the end. The film instead commits another mistake by diverting the focus to a comic relief with an upset stomach: what bloody purpose does that serve in a film with such a grim closure?