Gloomy Sunday

With the Hungarian song "Gloomy Sunday" as its thematic centerpiece, this personalized story of Budapest during World War II becomes a satisfying romantic drama about four divergently different people. The action centers around a lively restaurant called "Szabo" where the owner Joachim Krol shares a love affair with his beautiful hostess Erika Marozsan that soon becomes a menage a trois when the couple hires pianist Stefano Dionisi to entertain their dining patrons. The Nazi invasion of Hungary turns German restaurant regular Ben Becker into a SS colonel who makes himself rich by bartering the freedom of local Jews and threatening the future of the lovers.

No Rating. 114 mins. (B) (Three Stars)