Explanation for Everything -

Original title: Magyarázat Mindenre

Directed by: Gábor Reisz

Country: Hungary

Length: 152 min. / 125 min. (selected countries, official re-edit of the filmmaker)

Year: 2023

Premiere: Venice Film Festival 2023

Synopsis: Abel is an eighteen years old high schooler at his final history exam. Usually almost just a formality for students, in his case things go horribly, and his teacher just has to fail him. The explanation Abel gives to his father will lead to a mediatic backlash.

RATING: 5/5

REVIEW

Awarded as Best Film at Venice in the Horizons section, Explanation for Everything is universally acclaimed as one of the best films of the festival, in fact better than many movies in the main competition. 

The english language title, "Explanation for Everything", doesn't translate a subtleness of the original one, "Magyarázat Mindenre", which intentionally contains the word "Magyar", "Hungarian". Gábor Reisz's latest film is in a way a fresco of the fracture that divides contemporary Hungary, and in doing so, perhaps the most daring and unfiltered endeavour in years, rightfully awarded as the best film in the Horizons section at Venice as it is one of the most relevant and topical films that was presented at the festival as a whole.

The film starts by replicating the classic Rashomon structure, with three points of view over the same events: Abel, his teacher, his father - each with their own polarised political views, which will play an important role. The 4:3 framing is justified for the prominence of close-ups, to convey a more intimate narration, yet, eventually, the film changes its course. After the incident, the game of perspectives ceases, a greater distance is estabilished, with more medium shots.

In an obvious antithesis with the title, almost no motivation is given for any of the characters, especially Abel and the teacher - purposefully. Incomunicability is a key factor in the movie, as exemplified by a scene in which the teacher tries to interview a witness of the '56 revolution but the two are just unable to discuss the events from a position of equality. The result is a strong sense of humour in the work, which sadly is often lost in translation but lightens the mood of a film that tackles a hard topic.

Hungary and hungarian identity are a very central aspect of the context, and the location of the ending scene is not a coincidence, although most of the film is set in the urban context of Budapest.
People familiar to the peculiar traditions that surround the end of High School will find a lot of nostalghia in the film. The score, mostly comprised of choir pieces by Bárdos and Kodaly, features some of the most well known songs associated with a scolastic-choral context that is embedded in hungarian culture, which could be an element of curiosity to foreigners.

If there are metaphors in the film, it is the personification of several identities and groups of people through the protagonists: Abel's father is the spokesperson of a frustrated generation that carries the weight of the communist era and has adhered to the current government, the teacher represents those who find themselves on the opposition, but can't voice their concerns in a diplomatic and conciliatory way, Erika, the journalist that shows up in the second half of the film, belongs to the hungarian minority living in Romania. Abel's physical appearance, a thin youngster with a outgrowing moustache, has the connotations of the typical "legény", "hungarian lad".

At one point, the character of the teacher wonders if questions can still be asked today. The movie as a whole is the answer, its brave audacity to question the status quo, to describe a society that is spiraling down across all of Europe in an alarming direction - and does so without a single ideological point or alignment, to the point that several audience members at Venice, unaware of the political turmoils between pro-government positions and oppositions were confused by the film. Explanation for Everything is the masterpiece that was missing from hungarian cinema for years, and could not have arrived at a better time.