Cycle index

I am Not Your Friend + I Will Not Be Your Friend

Nem leszek a barátod + Nem vagyok a barátod

dir. György Pálfi / Hungary 2009 / 100’

subtitles: Polish and English

Panorama $9.99, 12 Lotus, Beeswax, Blue Beard, Breathless, Collectress, Ecce Momo!, Hooked, I am Not Your Friend + I Will Not Be Your Friend, Katalin Varga, Machan, My Only Sunshine, My Sweet Shirin, North, Nymph, Ordinary People, Palermo Shooting, Parque vía, Rachel Getting Married, Ricky, Schottentor, Seraphine, Stella, The Northern Land, The Other One, The Rat Herb, The Visitor, The White Ribbon, Two Lines, Under the Tree, Winter Silence Section index

Cast

Istvan Szüle, Gyöngyvér Országh, Corbisier Kim, Kamilla Fátyol, Zsolt Páll, Csaba Gosztonyi, Csaba Czene, Kati Farkas, Eszter Tóth

Film description

Two images, one screening. At first - a short film presenting a world of children, and then - a full-length film showing a world of adults. Why such comparison and what for? What is the relation between the two worlds? Is there any? Or is it just a coincidence, a sort of improvisation? Certainly, these two films directed by György Pálfi may be astonishing for those who loved his Hukkle. Their form is much looser, although they are still strictly and extraordinarily focused on characters. The filmmaker observes their behaviour, listens to their wishes and whims. Both films revolve around people's spontaneous, floating caprices. The characters juggle with emotions, create relationships and then back off, search for new ones only to miss their previous partners just a moment later.

The little characters of the short film play in a kindergarten, repeating all the time: I will be your friend. Everybody is my friend except for Marcel. I will become your friend instead of Niki. What will the adults in the second film say? How will they express such attitudes that children pronounce so straightforwardly? What consequences will their words and actions have?

Magdalena Sztorc