Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #101. Final Report (Zárójelentés) – István Szabó

Final Report (Zárójelentés)

A titan of Hungarian cinema, the 80-year-old Istvan Szabo reunites with Austria’s Klaus Maria Brandauer for Final Report (Zárójelentés). The director and star worked together on a lauded trilogy of films in the 1980s, notably 1981’s Mephisto, which took home the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 1985’s Colonel Redl and 1988’s Hanussen (both also nominated for Oscars in the same category). The film is produced by Pál Sándor and Attila Tozsér of Film Street and also stars Karoly Eperjes, Eva Kerekes, András Stohl, Dorottya Udvaros, Mari Csomós, Ági Szirtes, Enikő Börcsök, Eszter Csákányi and József Szarvas. Making films since the mid-1960s, Szabo scored early success in Locarno, winning Best First Film for 1965’s Age of Illusions, the Special Jury Prize for Father (1966) and then the Golden Leopard for 25 Firemans Street (1973). Cannes came calling in 1977, where Szabo first competed with Budapest Tales, returning with Mephisto in 1981 (winning the Best Screenplay and FIPRESCI Prizes), with Colonel Redl in 1985 (winning the Jury Prize), and again with Hanussen in 1988. In Berlin, Szabo competed in 1980 with Bizalom (winning Best Director) and in 1992 with Dear Emma, Sweet Bobe, winning the Special Jury Prize. Szabo competed once in Venice with 1991’s Meeting Venus, which starred Glenn Close. Notably, his 2004 title Being Julia nabbed Annette Bening an Oscar nod, afterwards returning to Hungary to make Rokonok (2006) and The Door in 2012 with Helen Mirren and Martina Gedeck.

Gist: When a respected cardiologist is forced into retirement, he uses the opportunity to visit his birthplace, where his 90-year-old mother still resides. The town she lives in hasn’t had a doctor in over a year, and he finds himself swayed into working as the local GP, only to find himself in experiencing all sorts of situations he was sheltered from working as a doctor in an urban center.

Release Date/Prediction: Szabo shot the film in Hungary from September to November. Szabo could potentially return to Locarno for the first time in over forty years, while Karlovy Vary or Venice could also be possibilities.