Sunset

The Leiter millinery store is not only known for its extraordinary creations, but is also a place of great dreams. At least for young Iris Leiter, who comes to Budapest in 1913 to start working as a milliner in the store that once belonged to her parents and where they lost their lives. However, the current owner Oskar Brill rejects the young woman. But Iris has no intention of leaving Budapest. She perseveres in her search for her past. In the process, she uncovers a secret that not only leads her to a certain Kalman Leiter, but also into the highest circles of Austro-Hungarian society. Following his SON OF SAUL, which won the Oscar® for “Best Foreign Language Film”, director László Nemes once again succeeds in creating a precise portrayal of a civilization on the brink of collapse. In finely composed images and with a virtuoso feel for the shimmering, decadent atmosphere before the First World War, Nemes tells the story of his young heroine. As Hungary's Oscar® entry, SUNSET followed in the footsteps of Nemes' feature film debut SON OF SAUL. At its premiere in competition at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, SUNSET was awarded the prestigious FIPRESCI prize. Nemes' second feature film was also shown as a “Special Presentation” at the Toronto International Film Festival. Nemes gives Budapest in particular an uncannily fascinating touch - magnificent, politically significant and yet in the process of decline. ``Írisz's explorations on her own behalf lead her to repeatedly encounter violence and brutalization, especially against women in a patriarchy that extends to the court in Vienna. “At such moments, ”Sunset" gains ominous force, the enigmatic becomes oracular and the film title becomes a prophecy: Austria-Hungary will not only perish, it must perish, because its depravity is absolute. The First World War thus appears as a promise and Írisz as its haunting harbinger. Her eyes take in what the war will later destroy. Perhaps everything she sees is doomed to die. Understood as an allegory, Írisz's presence in the picture functions completely differently. She does not displace anything from the center, but is the abyss in which everything will disappear." (Hannah Pilarczyk, on: spiegel.de)