There is the movie i watch the other day, and i liked it so much I read the book. And thats basically it. But no, thats never it, i have got like ten thousand things to comment on the movie. lets start.
A Lesbian movie
yes I would call it Lesbian, wait i would google it, maybe there is some sort of test.
The term “lesbian movies” is the "search term" for people looking for films about women who like other women, but these movies usually feature women of all sexual orientations besides “straight.” So i did find what a lesbian film is not:
- when the films relies solely on lesbian subtext or eliminated or side lined a lesbian story line that was present in the book it was based on.
- when it promotes the dangerous idea that a lesbian is just a woman who hasn’t met the right man yet
- when the lesbian character was so small or her sexuality was so subtle that you could watch the film and not even remember that there was a queer involved
100 best lesbian queer bisexual movies- autostraddle-
Bechdel Test
Not to mix with the test that asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.
Egymásra nézve
is the original name in Hungarian, in English is "ANOTHER WAY" and in german "DER ANDERE BLICK" which for some reason is not the same name they used for the book, even
though the book used fotos from the movie in the cover, so the book i read in german is called "EINE ANDERE LIEBE" or another love somehow.
The movie as i mentioned is hungarian as well as the author of the book, the directors of the movie seem to be two males from Hungary Károly Makk and János Xantus in 1982. The two main females characters are Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak and Grażyna Szapołowska who are from Poland and presumably polish speaking, thats why in the IMDB of the film one can see that besides her names they included a "voice" actress. even though Jadwiga did more movies with the director it seems that the inclusion of the polish actresses had to do with the TV strike in Poland at that time (more on this to come).
Comparisson
The movie in youtube
The author of the book Erzsébet Galgóczi (1930-89) co-wrote the scrip with one of the directors. The book was first published in 1980 ( original name Törvényen belül) It will be optimal to to know what happened in the political context as well as in miss Galgoczi's personal life between 1980 and 1982. The movie is Lesbian, the book? well...not so much.
The narration in the book is through a man's eyes (boring!). Marosi is the commander (lose translation, boss of other military people of lesser rank, couldn't care less of having this wrong) of the border patrol that kills Eva, She was trying to escape in a dark foggy night. the border patrol couldn't see if she was escaping or what, so once they told her to stop, they rather shoot her. Later they bring the body to Marosi, he identifies her as her old school sweetheart. She was the only woman never to give away to his charm (hä?), he decides to go to Budapest to find out why was Eva trying to escape the country. He will talk to every person that knew or was close to Eva. By talking to Eva's landlord he gets her address book, letters and some unfinished notes.
In the film this character doesnt exist.
The first encounter between Eva and Livia happens when Eva comes to work to the magazine where Livia also works. They start sharing an office. In the book Livia starts annoying Eva to the point Eva falls in love with her (? kindergarten-style)
Ich kann mich nicht mehr ändern, sagte sie mutlos.Vieleicht will ich es auch gar nicht . Die Krankheit ist zeitgleich mit der Menschheit. Die Sünde ist viel jünger. Die krankheit aber, die ein großer Teil der Gesellschaft für Sünde hält - ich weiß das sehr wohl- gibt mir die Möglichkeit, mich als tragische Heldin zu fühlen und nicht als willenlose, unfähige, bemitleidenswer Pestbeule. Sag Zoltan, warum bin ich nicht vollkommen, weder in der Normalität noch in de Anormalität?
This is from the book a conversation that Eva has with her other co-worker Filan Zoltan, here she explains him why she can not change and be with him. In the book Filan Zoltan goes out with Eva and also with Livia. Livia in the book is also the lover of the chief redactor of the magazine. None of the parallel stories with men happens in the movie.
In both the movie and the film there is the park scene under heavy snow, Eva and Livia are kissing in a park bench and the police comes to ask for their IDs. They sent Livia home cause she is married, instead they take Eva to the police station because she is single.
In the film there is a bar where the workers of the magazine go frequently, it is shown that one female waitress is sort of paying attention to Livia and Eva's love exchange, later on the waitress tries to pass her phone number to Eva. not in the book.
in the film, after Livia's husband killings attempt, Eva is called to declare on the case. an the police office (probably, not sure) the detective gets into a weird conversation with Eva, he wants to know "how do you do the thing to each other?" (!?) Eva screams: "with our fingers! we stick them up there - yes? - yes! one finger, two fingers, three fingers! you mother fucker! . This is a very good line which does not come in the book. Eva goes to declare, and she outs her fear of being detained or being keept in prison -my guess- homosexual paragraph, she asks
Stehe ich unter Anklage, Herr Major? Das ist Sache der Staatsantwaltschaft, erwiderte ich. Sollte ich angeklagt werden, auf grund welches Paragraphen kann man mich verurteilen? Wegen Anstiftung zum Mord.
In the movie the character of Magda is seen coming to Eva's house after being released from Prison, here we can read that maybe they had a relationship, at least its clear that they both share a secret or at least a common desire. In the book Marosi finds the name and number of Magda in one of Eva's notebooks, he goes to see her. We get to know the whole story from Magda's perspective. Magda and Eva were university colleges. Magda spent a year in jail, cause she wrote some political poems. Once she comes out of Prison, Magda tries to initiate something with Eva, But Eva doesnt want to, she says:
Einmal war ich in meine Verzweiflung sehr zudringlich und fragte sie, ob sie nur deshalb nicht liebe, weil sie trotz allem glaube, ich sei doch ein Spitzel(...)
Nein, Magda, ich liebe dich einfach nicht. versteh das bitte!,
Warum gibst du dich dann aber mit mir ab? fragte ich sie.,
-Weil ich allein bin. Weil man meine Freunde gehenkt oder ins Gefängnis gesteckt hat, und weil es mir noch nicht gelungen ist, neue Verbindungen zu knupfen. Ich muß irgendwem ein paar Worte wechseln. Mit irgendjemandem, der seinen Verstand nicht darauf verwendet, wie teuer gelbe Rüben auf dem Mark sind. Deshalb. Aber gib dich keinen Hoffnungen hin.
There is also this weird quote from Eva in the book were she explainins Marosi, why she can not love him. This dates back to their school time and is remembered by Marosi
Dafür gibt es keine Eklarung, sie lachelte ein wenig. Uns ist es geläufig, daß Sätze so beginnen: Schon die alten Griechen wußten... Nun das wußten selbst die alten Griechen nicht: Wir waren Freunde, weil er er war, und weil ich ich war. Nun zwischen uns beiden ist es umgekehrt. So viel zu dem Thema.
There is a nude scene in the film that does not happen in the book. After Eva quits the magazine (they are censoring all her work so basically she is not publishing anything) Eva moves back to her family to the country side, there Livia comes to visit.
Conclusion
If one only watches the film the rate of liking it is high. I read the book because i though maybe the story in the book is much more rich and well yes, more "lesbian" but thats not the case. Actually as i mentioned before one can only get happy that the authors decided to lighten up the story. In the book the only clear lesbian is Magda
Ich bin lesbisch
she says. And its not like I need a declaration of principles from everyone but the mood in the book follows the old lesbian tragic line. It comes out that the "single" potential lesbian is the ones that dies, then the other lesbian, the out lesbian ends up hidden in a library, alcoholic. On the other hand the character of the "married" woman Livia, the one that chose "the normal path" is still portrayed lost, spoiled and selfish. Is it then a general mysoginistic mood? if all women are bad? I feel the critic goes more to the repressive system. I like that even though Eva plays the single with unclear sexuality, still the affair does not solely falls on her. Livia plays an active role as well. We dont know what Livia feels for Eva, we just know that she does not love Eva enough in order to fight for her/follow her to her home town (like in the film).
Rede jetz nicht. Ich bete deinen Mund an. Er ist weich, ein einziges Flehen, und trotzdem ist soviel Kraft in ihm, wie ich noch nie in einem gefunden habe. Ich liebe dich sagte ich. Kommt zu mir (Eva zu Livia) Ich werde schon einmal kommen
still somehow Livia manages to be morally protected by the fact that she was married, had a male-older-lover and also a baby! (the baby is also missing in the movie)
Wissen Sie, ich hätte mich vor Eva auch dann gefürchtet, wenn sie ein Mann gewesen wäre.(..) Wissen Sie, sie stand alles in allem... irgendwie außerhalb der Gesetze.
Honecker-Brezhnev
Ad AirBerlin summer 2015
