Synopsis:
A small village in the Hungarian countryside appears to have a
dubious past: in 1929, a series of arsenic murders was exposed
here, and 51 women were arrested on suspicion of poisoning their
husbands and relatives. The arsenic they used had apparently been
taken from flypaper. In total, there were 140 cases of murder, for
which many women went to prison.
Using reconstruction to tell the stories of the killings, this film
is also a portrait of the present inhabitants of Nagyrev, who all
remember something different about the murders. They also muse
about the current exodus from the village, are worried about a
melon theft and complain about the fact that life in the village is
boring: there is no cinema or aerobics club. The desolation and
isolation of the village is captured quietly and carefully: a
stooped man shuffles past, a house stands empty on the edge of the
village. The director filmed at the kitchen table, on the ferry and
on a bench in front of a house, where an elderly couple recalls how
they got married within two months of meeting one another: "He
needed someone to mend the fishing nets."
Awards
First Appearance Award, IDFA 2005
Little Stamp Award, Zagreb, Croatia 2006
Synopsis:
A small village in the Hungarian countryside appears to have a
dubious past: in 1929, a series of arsenic murders was exposed
here, and 51 women were arrested on suspicion of poisoning their
husbands and relatives. The arsenic they used had apparently been
taken from flypaper. In total, there were 140 cases of murder, for
which many women went to prison.
Using reconstruction to tell the stories of the killings, this film
is also a portrait of the present inhabitants of Nagyrev, who all
remember something different about the murders. They also muse
about the current exodus from the village, are worried about a
melon theft and complain about the fact that life in the village is
boring: there is no cinema or aerobics club. The desolation and
isolation of the village is captured quietly and carefully: a
stooped man shuffles past, a house stands empty on the edge of the
village. The director filmed at the kitchen table, on the ferry and
on a bench in front of a house, where an elderly couple recalls how
they got married within two months of meeting one another: "He
needed someone to mend the fishing nets."