Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time is certainlly a very wordy title. The film, which receives its UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival, is a tricky one to pin down. Márta (Natasa Stork) is a neurosurgeon working in America and is at the top of her field. After a chance encounter during a seminar, she moves back to her home country of Hungary to be with the newly found love of her life. The problem is, when she arrives, he has no idea who she is.
Pitched as a Hitchcokian film noir, romance drama, Preparations… never feels entirely sure of what direction it wants to go in. The story joins Márta once she is back in Hungary, skipping over the supposed initial meet between her and the object of her affection, János (Viktor Bodó). This decision aims to encourage the mystery elements to flourish, but actually leaves the viewer a bit bemused. Having not seen a meet (whether it be real or not) the initial Hungary-set encounter between the pair fails to land with the intended impact. It gets the core mystery element of the plot off on unsteady footing and makes it extremely hard to get back on track. The concluding revelation let’s things down too, with it feeling rather anticlimactic and dull.
Although listed as a romance drama on the Glasgow Film Festival bill, Preparations… has a lot to say about modern romance, but it is definitely not your expected love story. Visually it presents itself as being mean and moody. The colour palette and lighting sticks to muted browns and natural tones, washing out the picture and reinforcing the sense of the dull and mundane. Everything about the character’s interactions, and the feel of the piece, is strangely sterile and cold. This decision reflects the clinical nature of Márta, dictated by her working environment. Even the sex in the film feels perfunctory and passionless, offering yet further stark contrasts to typical relationship stories.
With little in the way to narratively or visually dazzle and entertain, the movie simpers and plods it’s way through. The cast all give commendable performances, but the clear directions for all characters to remain haughty and aloof produces a lack of chemistry between anyone. A subplot involving a young medical student who falls for Márta begs for further exploration, presenting the perfect opportunity to inject the project with some much needed life. However, it is disappointingly cast aside in favour of focusing on the idea of whether Márta is telling the truth about János, or simply losing her brilliant mind that others covet.
Preparations… was put forward as Hungary’s contender for the best International film feature film at this year’s Academy Awards; though it wasn’t put forward for the shortlist; it is, sadly, a little drab and dis-interesting, and fails to live up to the intrigue the premise offers.
Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time was reviewed at Glasgow Film Festival 2021.
Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time
Summary
A romance drama devoid of passion and emotion, as well as a mystery story devoid of genuine mystique, Preparations… ends up being a frigid and lacklustre exploration of relationships.
