MWFF 2018: Curtis

CURTIZ

WORLD COMPETITION

Montreal World Film Festival / FFM

Hungary / 2018 / black & white  / 93 min.

This film won the Grand Prize of the Americas (Best Film) at the Montreal World Film festival 2018 Closing Ceremony. See all the winners here.

Those interested in the history of cinema, and especially in the production of the iconic American classic CASABLANCA, will especially appreciate this Hungarian production about the famous director MIchael Curtiz, an eccentric and talented director and a winner of an Oscar. The film is largely inspired by his life. It details all the intriguing twists and turns in the creation of CASABLANCA, all political, Warld War II implications and intrigues that affect the production of the film, as well as his personal life and his relationship with his daughter Kitty.

When he leaves Europe for America, Michael Curtiz leaves his family behind in Budapest. He worries about his sister and tries to get her to the USA by all means, but there are many obstacles. In Hollywood, Curtiz is powerful, arrogant and preparing to shoot CASABLANCA with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. But it is 1942, and the United States is getting ready for World War II. While the director is struggling with production problems, his abandoned daughter Kitty appears on the set and confronts him. The meeting with his daughter and the conflicts that arise directly influence Curtiz's creative resolution of CASABLANCA's ending, thus gelling together his great iconic masterpiece.

In CURTIZ, Rick's famous cafe and the piano featured in CASABLANCA film were faithfully reproduced for the filming purposes.

SYNOPSES

1942. America is on the edge of war. Hungarian-born film director Michael Curtiz, under government pressure, gets a chance to influence public opinion about war, thus gaining international recognition by directing a new propaganda film: Casablanca. It does not comeat the best time though. Curtiz is working on helping his Jewish sister emigrate from Hungary before the Nazis get to her also, his daughter appears on set with the purpose of getting answers why Curtiz had abandoned her as a child. Can Curtiz overcome his famously arrogant and cynical personality? What sacrifices make a man a patriot in a foreign country, a good brother and an honest father at the same time? What should his main character, Rick, choose in the end of Casablanca?

Left to right: actress Evelin Dobos (Kitty), screenwriter Zsuzanna Bak,
producers Judit Romwalter and Claudia Sumeghuy, and actress Lili Bordan

PRODUCTION TEAM

Director: Tamas Yvan Topolánszky.

Script: Zsuzsanna Bak, Tamás Yvan Topolánszky.

Photography: Zoltán Dévényu.

Editor: Eszter Bodoky.

Music: Gábor Subicz.

Cast: Ferenc Lengyel, Evelin Dobos, Declan Hannigan, Yan Feldman, Rafael Feldman, Lili Bordan, Caroline Boulton, Scott Alexander Young.

Producers: Claudia Süneghy, Halluci-Nation Ltd., Budapest (Hongrie), cell.: +36 302 488 239, sumeghy.claudiabernadett@gmail.com / SPARK, Camera and Lighting Ltd., Budapest (Hongrie), judit@sparks.hu.

For more information on the festival visit the Montreal World Film Festival's website.