Transgressions and Transformations in the Filmmaking of Kornél Mundruczó

Alicja Helman

Abstract

The author describes Mundruczó as an artist who fits in with the currents and tendencies of the art of his time - sometimes he overtakes them with innovative solutions, but at the same time he does not rule out the tradition. His cinema is a cinema of transgression, which does not respect genre, type, or aesthetic boundaries, combining fiction and documentary with avant-garde tendencies. Mundruczó is an insightful observer and interpreter of contemporary reality, but in order to find and give it meaning, he reaches far into the past, towards the universal myths that culture and cinema have created. Analyzing the work of Mundruczó, the author reveals recurring themes and motifs that bind this work together with all its diversity. One of the recurring motifs is the motif of the family: dysfunctional, broken and absent; heroes deprived of the past appear out of nowhere, disturbing the balance of the frustrated community, hostile to strangers and each other. Open endings do not solve problems or indicate ways to break the deadlock or crisis. The behaviour of the characters is driven by sex and violence, and the victims are innocent people.