08/03/2007

Released on February 15 by Best Hollywood, Tamás Sas’ romantic comedy S.O.S. Love! [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is riding high at the top of the Hungarian box office, taking advantage of the rising popularity of actors Sándor Csányi and Iván Fenyö.

Thirty-one year old Csányi – who first came to acclaim with Nimrod Antal’s Kontroll – has starred in a number of Hungarian hits in the past two years, including Krisztina Goda’s Just Sex and Nothing Else [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Children of Glory [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and István Szabó’s Relatives.

Meanhwile, Fenyö’s role in US production Jarhead opened the door to immediate fame for the actor in Hungary and led to a lead role in 2006 Hungarian blockbuster Children of Glory (see news).

Co-starring Mónika Ullman, S.O.S. Love! is about a marriage agency of the same name run by Péter (Csányi), an outfit currently booming in an exceptional growth market.

Rich new arrival Tomi (Fenyö) falls hopelessly in love with pretty childcare worker Veronika (Ullman). However, despite the agency’s best efforts, the match fails. In an attempt to make it work, Péter decides to rent a castle and create a make-believe family for Tomi and invites Veronika to spend a weekend there. This is when things get complicated.

Produced by World Film Entertainment and Next Station Production, the film had a 147m forint gross (€583,000) on March 4.

Distributor Best Hollywood is also in the headlines with the release of Guillermo del Toro’s three-time Oscar-winning and Cannes-selected Spanish majority production Pan’s Labyrinth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile] by German helmer Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck (see Focus), which has been doing good business since its release on February 22.

Opening today through Budapest Film is domestic title Péter Mészáros’ Kythéra (Golden Palm for Best Short at Cannes 2002), from the slate of Mediawave 2000, sold internationally by Profil-M 94 and screened last summer at Locarno (see article).

Released last week by Hungarotop is Noah’s Ark by veteran director Pál Sándor (Silver Bear at Berlin 1976 for A Strange Role). The feature is Sándor’s first in 10 years, after he chose to concentrate on production with Hunnia Filmstúdió.

SPI is releasing Peter Webber’s UK/Italian/French/Czech co-production Hannibal Rising [+see also:
trailer
film profile] this Thursday.

(Translated from French)