Jupiter’s Moon – Jupiter holdja (2017)

Directed by: Kornel Mundruczó | 123 minutes | drama, science fiction | Actors: Merab Ninidze, Zsombor Jéger, György Cserhalmi, Mónika Balsai, Majd Asmi, Zsombor Barna, Szabolcs Bede Fazekas, Ákos Birkás, Mátyás Bodor, Soma Boronkay, András Bálint

Birds can fly. People don’t. Not something to worry too much about. Yet in the fine arts you will always find the fascination for the flying man. In literature (Márquez, Auster), painting (Breugel, Magritte) and even in pop music (Barclay James Harvest, Pearl Jam). Since the breakthrough of computer-generated imagery (CGI), we’ve seen more and more flying people in movies, from the one and only Superman to the flying baby in “Ricky.” And now also in the uncategorized Hungarian film ‘Jupiter’s Moon’.

In ‘Jupiter’s Moon’ we meet young Aryan, a Syrian refugee who is shot by a Hungarian refugee hunter near the Hungarian border. Instead of peacefully bleeding to death in the swamp where he was shot, Aryan rises and disappears into the blue sky. After crashing into a tree and admitted to a refugee hospital, Aryan is introduced to Gabor Stern. This cynical, alcohol-addicted doctor and tout immediately sees the commercial opportunities for the flying refugee. Not as a fairground attraction, but as a kind of messianic healer for the rich sick. Completely underground, so Aryan’s existence doesn’t become known. But that’s not counting the trigger-happy refugee hunter.

This strange cross between crime story and religious reverie is not lacking in originality. And not with good action. The first ten minutes, in which we experience the risky adventures of a group of refugees, do not give you heart palpitations. But also a wonderful car chase and a gloomy scene in a subway station provide excitement.

Less successful is the religious component. We see the cynic Stern slowly thawing under the influence of Aryan, but is it because Aryan is such a nice boy or because the young Syrian defies all scientific knowledge by flying? Are inexplicable events at all sufficient to fundamentally change a person or is more required? And what makes one a Messiah? These are questions that ‘Jupiter’s Moon’ doesn’t answer.

Another problem is in the story. The hunt for the refugee and its denouement are entirely by the book, but that’s just not what you expect from a film with such an unconventional premise. Not that this is a weak movie. In terms of visuals, acting, inventiveness and clever details, there is plenty to enjoy. But with a slightly better script, this would have been a masterpiece.