Adrienne Pal

Its not merriment, dance and celebrations life is always about. Inside the dingy, white, and dull, walls of hospital where pain, blood, illness, and ultimately death play the games in its own ways. No wonder those who work in hospitals are emotionless and unmoved.

The film “Adrienne Pal” directed by Agne Kocsis travels through this world where, the painful event in average man’s life creates no feelings. The movie starts with the frigid face of a lift operator in front of a dead body, with a radio playing songs without any breaks. But when we go into the film the heroin Piroska herself is the embodiment of indifference and she is always unemotional through out the film. Eva Gabor who portrayed the extremely obese Piroska needs great appreciation in conveying the emotionless, monotonous life of a nurse in a terminal ward. She has very well succeeded in imparting the cold impassive life she has in hospital and in her private life. Its heart touching to see her, often watching the nursing room with full of ECG monitors, surrounded by the beeping sound as if in a Dolby theatre. Always she has a cream pastry in her hand and we can see her eating. What else she could do? When she is tensed, she wants to have sex, there’s nothing else other than eating makes her relieved. The monotonous co habitation with her boyfriend also failed to bring colours in her life. It is torturing to see the alienated Piroska in the movie. The movie somehow reminded the poem “Tulips” written by Sylvia Plath.

In between, a Patient named “Adrienne Pal” brought back the memories about an old school time friend with the same name, which in fact topples her day to day life. She sets off to find her long lost friend. While tracing her, she searches her own memories, and she reaches into an embarrassment when others recollect their memories. She becomes confused who is correct? She or the others? The journey created havocs in her life. Her boyfriend left her suspecting she is in search of another boyfriend. No one can forget the scene of heavyhearted Piroska, when she listens to the phone message left by her boyfriend saying he is leaving her. Cold and indifferent she lays down the sofa to live her life alone. Finally when she confirms that Adrianne Pal is alive and your eyes will be filled wit tears when Piroska is shown gazing in dilemma as if she should call or not. She drops the contact no into the box of memories without making a call and in the hospital she sinks down into the voice of her own heart’s ECG sound, and monitor. A journey back into her routine life.

The nursing care scenes are absolutely true to the core. No one can be blamed if someone believes Eva Gabor is a nurse, because the way Piroska doing it is thoroughly professional. You can “smell” the hospital if you watch the movie. I bet. And there is no background score in the movie (Hats off to the sensible director). The “thadar” sound of Piroska’s sandals and the ECG monitor replace the background score.

There is a stunning scene showing a miniature town, where working models of train and buses hover. The camera simulates a bird’s eye vision, or a sky shot taken in helicopter, where the camera goes above the town as a whole. The camera shows the train running through the city, bus speeding up through the road, crossing tennis ground, hills, sky high flats and apartments lit up beautifully, and hills and valleys, which finally ends up in a railway station, when two trains stop in the station and we will be just mesmerized to see at the end when camera shows Piroska casually watching the trains running through the town with unimaginable tranquillity.

Piroska, you brought a new meaning to the indifferent emotionless life. To the journeys through memories. You taught life is not always colourful and full of joy.
Kudoos to Eva Gabor as well.