This was shown as part of a festival of films by Szabo Istvan at the National Gallery of Art Feb-March 08. nga dot gov.Suspense and tension is superbly developed. The ensemble work among actors, director, and cinematographer remind you of the best of Carroll Reed's films. Except they are all better. The male lead must have been the George Clooney of his day in Hungary. What does it mean to trust, surrender, take and give sexual intimacy, and love when you are explicitly denying your identity and suspect what even your love for your spouse? The print was excellent. The English subtitles were projected below the screen. I hope this means a transfer to DVD can be and will be released. I would rent or buy this for at least one more viewing. This is a more personal and affecting film than Szabo's "Sunshine." See it if you have a chance, even before Szabo's other, bigger films. (Colonel Redl, Mephisto, Hanussen.)

Who can you really trust? Your husband of many years, or a stranger you have only just met, but upon whom your life depends?

Janos and Kata are thrown together during the war forced to pose as husband and wife to hide from the Nazis. As they grow closer, the intensity and suffocating intimacy of their new relationship and the circumstances in which they find themselves, forces them to confront past prejudices and assumptions and challenge what they truly believe.

The nature of our trust and faith in others is delicately, yet powerfully explored in this profoundly moving film by István Szabó.

In the final days of a poll being held on the best films of 1980,I remembered having a unwatched movie from that year which I picked up years ago,in a DVD case without a sleeve. Digging into a pile of titles to pull it out,I finally got the confidence for a viewing.

View on the film:

Going down the cobbled streets to the hideouts of the Resistance fighters, co-writer/(with Erika Szanto) directing auteur Istvan Szabo reunites with his regular cinematographer Lajos Koltai and grinds washed out, naturalistic colours painting the crumbling safety Janos and Kata are surrounded by.

Following the couple walking down the war-torn streets attempting to blend in, Szabo releases long, New Wave stylised tracking shots that wonderfully capture the high anxiety of Kata and Janos, which Szabo seals with a elegant panning shot to their entwined hands.

Revealed in documents later that from 1957 to 1961 he had worked for the secret police of the Communist party in Hungary,the screenplay by the Szabo's make moral compromises be a major issue that the put together couple have to wrestle with, (moral compromise being a major theme in Istvan Szabo's works.)

The writers have the loyalty Kata and Janos hold to their partners they hope are alive, become mixed in their initial push-pull love/hate relationship getting increasingly charged by the passions running wild fear gripping them both.

Having his back up against the horrors of war, Peter Andorai gives a excellent turn as the rugged Janos,with Andorai capturing the warring emotions of mistrust and love fighting within, whilst Ildiko Bansagi gives a exquisite, subtle performance as Kata, who starts to develop a bond with Janos which brings to the surface a confidence.