other title:
你在哪里，我的儿子？
/
Where Were You, My Son?
If Tennessee Williams had written "Where's Poppa?" sans laughs, the resulting meller would resemble the fearlessly turgid, ironically titled "Tranquility," a risible variant on "Mommie Dearest." To his credit, opera director Robert Alfoldi gives the material his straight-faced all, and his thesps respond. Pic will actually play gangbusters to auds prepped for over-the-top mother-son shenanigans, with bold fest and cablers leading the charge.
Leading Magyar stage thesp Dorottya Udvaros stars as leading Magyar stage thesp Rebeka Weer, whose high-strung possessiveness comes from not having left the large apartment she shares with her obedient writer offspring Andor (Zalan Makranczi) for a decade. When Andor, who may or may not have been intimate with mom as a child, starts having athletic sex with sultry lover Eszter (Dorka Gryllus), he begins to dream of a life beyond the walls. Udvaros summons Shirley MacLaine, Makranczi is the soul of repression and Gryllus is good at being naked. Memorable moment: newly pregnant Eszter attempts to abort using a Christmas tree ornament. Tech standout is Gabor Valcz's lived-in flat; thunderous Paganini score redefines concept of sex and violins.
