Lily Lane – Liliom Osvény (2016)

Directed by: Benedek Fliegauf | 91 minutes | drama | Actors: Angéla Stefanovics, Bálint Sótonyi, Miklós B. Székely, Mária Gindert, Maja Balogh, Bence Somkúti

Intangible and unique. In this way we can label the average Hungarian film that reaches the Dutch arthouse. Sometimes mega-long (‘Sátántangó’), sometimes mega-weird (‘Hukkle’), sometimes mega-horrific (‘Son of Saul’). Sometimes an undivided pleasure, often captivating.

That list also included ‘Just the Wind’ by Benedek Fliegauf, a gloomy 2012 film about the murder of Hungarian Roma. In 2016, director Fliegauf’s next film sees the light, a film that at first glance deals with a more peaceful subject. In ‘Lily Lane’ we meet Rebeka and Danni, a divorced mother and seven-year-old son. On the days that Dani lives with Rebeka, she reads him a gruesome, self-made fairy tale. A fairy tale that at first glance seems to be about Rebeka’s failed marriage, but at second glance…

‘Lily Lane’ focuses entirely on the almost symbiotic relationship between mother and son. That relationship is very similar to the one between Jack and his mother in the intense ‘Room’ (2015). The difference with that film is that Jack and his mother are held by a criminal type while Rebeka herself chooses isolation. Where you regularly wonder whether Rebeka is completely fresh from above.

This simple story comes to us in a lavish style. We see home made movies from the time when things still went well between Rebeka and her ex and we see horror-like ghost images, where it is always guessing whose head we ended up (Rebeka? Dani? Fliegauf?). Opposite are the calm and beautiful images of the daily life of Rebeka and Dani. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is unusual, often bordering on horror. While the film is more like a fairytale than real horror.

After 90 minutes of ‘Lily Lane’ you are left wondering what exactly you were watching. The story itself eventually becomes clear, but less clear are the choices Fliegauf makes here. Why exactly that strange mixture of drama, fairy tale and horror? Why isolation as a binding agent, when it is clear that Dani also has a life next to that with his mother? It makes ‘Lily Lane’ a film that intrigues and entertains, but never completely draws you in. In this case, a missed opportunity.