Hukkle

Hungarian director György Pálfi's debut film is a one-of-a-kind experiment in strangeness, as if an extraterrestrial had fallen from space, camera in hand, and filmed the daily life of a Hungarian village with no particular emphasis on animal, vegetable, or mineral, as all are given equal screen time in Hukkle (pronounced HOOK-leh, a Hungarian variant of "hiccup"), a nearly dialogue-less film that nevertheless teems with the sounds of life. Beginning with an odd old man with a chronic case of hiccups, the film meanders in its relaxing pace to examine a variety of mysteriously interconnected events (including the harvesting of grain, a frog devoured by a fish, various meals being prepared, the death of a cat, and much more) that range from benign and peaceful to ominously disturbing. Amidst all of this is a murder mystery (or is it murder at all?) and a detective sorting through clues, but Hukkle's real draw is the way it magnifies the little moments that most people ignore. If you've ever grown fixated watching a spider weave its web, you'll have some idea of what the film--a kind of David Lynch dream transplanted to a tiny rural village--is like. Unconventional and unclassifiable, this is recommended. [DVD extras include a director/cinematographer commentary that delves further into the film's mysterious universe, and a 25-minute "making of" featurette. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a quirky little film.] (J. Shannon)