Gloomy Sunday
If you've had a difficult Sunday, you might not want to see this film?! But the great thing about this mulitlingual post is that you'll be exposed to many different languages with music!
The original German Title of this film by German director Rolf Schuebel was, “Ein Lied von
Liebe und Tod.” It translates into “A Song about Love and Death.” This German
film takes place in Budapest before, during and after World War II. Laszlo
(Joachim Krol, who played briefly as Inspector Brunetti) is a restaurateur in Budapest who has restaurant called Szabo’s..
His lover Ilona, played by the lovely Hungarian Erika Marozsan works as a waitress in his restaurant. One day Andras (portrayed by Italian Stefano Dionisi,(just an aside but this actor played the famous castrato Farinelli!) a
pianist auditions and gets a job to entertain there. Many men are charmed by
Illona. But her two great loves are Laszlo and Andras.
A regular German customer named Hans Wieck ( played by Ben Becker ) falls for her too. When she rejects
his proposal, he jumps off a bridge and is rescued by Laszlo. The next morning
Laszlo sees him off at the Budapest-Berlin Express. Andras writes a song for Ilona which is
recorded and helps promote Szabo’s. The
song becomes a hit and attracts many new patrons to the restaurant. But it also
has a dark side to it as many people commit suicide while playing the song.
I don't want to say too much about the plot except that the time period is before, during and after World War II in Budapest, Hungary. Yes, it has Nazis.
The screenplay for this film
inspired by a real song that was written by a Hungarian composer named Rezső Seress. This film is a love story and a mystery. Enjoy it and don’t let the music
make you feel too sad…I don't want to say too much about the plot except that the time period is before, during and after World War II in Budapest, Hungary. Yes, it has Nazis.
Here are a few scenes from this film:
Regarding the song...
One of the most well-known
recordings of this song in English was done by Billie Holiday in 1941. It's been recorded in many different languages.
Here are links to a number of
different versions of it:
Link to version from the film in German:A Hungarian version from the film:
Video about legend and original recording:
Here's a French version:
Here's Billie Holiday:
An Italian version done live:
A version that's in Spanish with piano and gypsy flavor to it:
A version by Sarah Brightman:
Bjork's version at a memorial:
Japanese version:
Here's a Russian version:
Here's a Vietnamese version:
