A társadalmi szubjektivitás magánéletfilmjei (A magyar közéleti pszichodráma dokurealista filmformája)
Private Films of Social Subjectivity (The Docu-realism of the Hungarian Public Psychodrama)

Summary/Abstract: In the millennial and contemporary “young Hungarian cinema” (as termed by Gábor Gelencsér), there are socially-focused late modernist works that continue the tradition of the Budapest School’s fictional documentary approach. These socially-conscious films, aimed at making everyday life situations palpable, focus as closely as possible on their observed subjects (hence the frequent close-ups of faces and the repeated, trivial actions). One of the earliest manifestations of this fictional-documentary direction in Hungarian film history is Béla Tarr’s Family Nest (Családi tűzfészek, 1979), a social psychodrama. The closest successor to Tarr’s film is Szabolcs Hajdu’s contemporary “apartment film,” the existential chamber drama It’s Not the Time of My Life (Ernelláék Farkaséknál, 2019). Hajdu skillfully combines the basic premise of Tarr’s film (housing shortage) with the tradition of modernist melodrama. It’s Not the Time of My Life simultaneously connects to Tarr’s work and John Cassavetes’ expressive melodramas. Its dramaturgical foundation is built on the unpredictable transformations in relationships and personalities among a small group of people. This study also identifies the fusion of these two traditions in György Pálfi’s I Am Not Your Friend (Nem vagyok a barátod, 2009), whose mosaic-like narrative structure offers alternative solutions for creatively combining these two narrative practices. Through a detailed analysis of the narrative structure, dramaturgy, and physical and affective markers of these films, the study focuses on the consequences of this fusion of traditions, exploring how these films give voice to a contemporary (psychological and social) sensitivity.

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