Liza, the Fox-Fairy

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Liza, the Fox-Fairy
Liza, a rókatündér.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Liza, a rókatündér
Directed by Károly Ujj Mészáros
Produced by István Major, Csanád Darvas (associate producer)
Written by Károly Ujj Mészáros
Bálint Hegedűs
Based on stage play Liselotte és a május
by Zsolt Pozsgai
Starring Mónika Balsai
Szabolcs Bede-Fazekas
David Sakurai
Music by Dániel Csengery
Ambrus Tövisházi
Cinematography Péter Szatmári
Edited by Judit Czakó
Production
company
FilmTeam
Release dates
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  • 19 February 2015 (2015-02-19)
Running time
 98 minutes
Country Hungary
Language Hungarian
Budget HUF 420 million

Liza, the Fox-Fairy (Hungarian: Liza, a rókatündér) is a 2015 Hungarian black comedy film directed by Károly Ujj Mészáros, starring Mónika Balsai, Szabolcs Bede-Fazekas and David Sakurai. The film drew an audience of over 100,000 in Hungary, thus qualifying as a domestic success,[1] and was awarded the Grand Prize at the Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal, where it premiered internationally.

The films music was elected for "the 2015 year most successful soundtrack" in Hungary[2] and four songs were recorded on a limited 7 inch vinyl.[3]

Plot summary

Liza is a 30-year-old, naïve, lonely nurse living in "Csudapest",[note 1] the capital of a fictionalized 1970s Hungary with a capitalist system. She has taken care of Marta, the widow of the former Japanese ambassador, for the last 12 years. On her 30th birthday Liza goes to a Mekk Burger restaurant to find romance, upon reading about it in a Japanese romance novel. While she’s away, Marta is killed by Liza’s only friend, Tomy Tani, the ghost of a Japanese pop singer from the 1950s, resulting in Liza inheriting her apartment. Relatives report Liza to the police for murdering Marta. Sergeant Zoltan is put on the case, who gets very nearly killed in the process, and falls slowly in love with Liza after moving into her apartment as a flatmate. She gains confidence, but all her dating efforts end in fatal accidents. Liza is convinced that she has become a fox-fairy, a demon from Japanese mythology. According to the legend, men who fall in love with a fox-fairy die soon afterwards.

Cast

File:Balsai Mónika.jpg
Mónika Balsai
File:David Sakurai.jpg
David Sakurai
  • Mónika Balsai as Liza, the Fox-Fairy
  • David Sakurai as Tomy Tani
  • Szabolcs Bede-Fazekas as Sergeant Zoltan
  • Piroska Molnár as Marta, the widow of a Japanese Ambassador to Hungary
  • Zoltán Schmied as Henrik
  • Antal Cserna as Károly
  • Gábor Reviczky as police Colonel
  • Mariann Kocsis as Hildácska
  • Ági Gubík as Inge
  • Lehel Kovács as Mr. Ludvig
  • Győző Szabó: Mr B., or Jonny[4]
  • János Bán as Heartbreak
  • István Hajdu as Ferenc, a manager[5]
  • László Nádasi as staff sergeant
  • Sándor Szűcs as police doctor
  • Nóra Diána Takács as Police Secretary
  • Dezső Rancsó as chimney sweeper
  • Vali Dániel as Teri
  • Zsuzsa Töreky as Edit
  • Mária Bókay as Vilma
  • István Gőz as Dr. Keserű
  • Kata Bartsch as Kriszta
  • Klára Jarábik as Orsi
  • Rodrigo Crespo as Orsi's husband
  • Batjav Batod as Eskimo
  • Zoltán Karácsonyi as Teleshop Giovanni
  • Katalin Kiss Horváth as Johnny's daughter
  • Orsolya Mihály as Mekk Burger's salesgirl
  • Andrea Balázs as sick-nurse
  • Katalin Ben as Malvinka
  • Kata Losonczi as Timi
  • Gyöngy Bérces as Cosmo cover girl
  • Gábor Harsányi as Narrator (voice)

Production

The film is based on the play Liselotte és a május by Zsolt Pozsgai.[6] The Japanese theme was added by Károly Ujj Mészáros, who was fascinated by Japanese culture, especially pop music from the 1960s and 1970s. He was also attracted by similarities between Japanese and Hungarian traditions. He had directed several commercials in Japan, which gave him further familiarity with Japanese culture.[7] The film was produced by FilmTeam with co-production support from Origo Film Group. The budget was 420 million forint, of which 220 million came from the Hungarian National Film Fund.[8] The cast rehearsed for a month before filming started.[7]

Premiere and Festival Screenings

  • Budapest premiere: February 19, 2015
  • International premiere: Fantasporto Film Festival (Portugal), March 2, 2015
  • Asian premiere: Osaka Asian Film Festival (Japan), March 10, 2015[9]
  • South-American premiere: Pantalla Pinamar (Argentina), March 11, 2015[10]
  • Dutch premiere: Imagine: Film Festival (Netherlands), April 12, 2015[11]
  • North American premiere: Seattle International Film Festival (USA), May 25, 2015[12]
  • Tromsø International Film Festival: Film Festival (Norway), http://tiff.no/program/2016/liza-fox-fairy

Awards

– 2015

  • 35th edition of the Oporto international Film Festival – Fantasporto[13]
- Grand Prix of the fantasy competition and
- Special Effects Award
- Silver Scream Award, Méliès d’Argent for the best European fantastic film[14][15]
nominated for Golden Méliès[16]
- The audiences top-3 of the festival[17][18]
- 7th Orbit Award for Best Film (haven’t already been presented at Brussels and have been produced in the last two years, attributed by a national jury of professionals)[19][20]
- The Pegasus Award, Prize of the Audience[19]
  • Nocturna 2015 - Madrid International Fantastic Film Festival[21][22]
- "Paul Naschy" Award[23](Best Film)
- Best Director
- Best Play: Actor (Szabolcs Bede-Fazekas) and Actress (Mónika Balsai)
- Best Screenplay[note 2]
- Best Special Effects[note 2]
- Best Actress (Mónika Balsai)[25]
- Grand Jury Prize, New Directors Competition (Károly Ujj Mészáros)[26]
- Cineuropa Prize, which singles out the best international film hailing from the Danube countries[28][29]
- Audience award 2nd Place[30]
- Siren Award for best international film,
- Audience Award for Best Feature
- Audience Award for Best Feature[33]
- Audience Award for Best Feature
- Best Film "Hungarians in Hollywood" Award: Károly Ujj Mészáros[35]
- Best Actress Award jury prize: Mónika Balsai[36]
- Audience Award for New Narrative Feature[37]
- Grand Prix (2015)[39]

– 2016

  • 54th Hungarian Film Critics Award - Budapest
- Best First Film of 2015 (Károly Ujj Mészáros)[40][41]
  • 2nd Hungarian Film Week: Hungarian Film Award - Budapest
- Best Feature (Károly Ujj Mészáros)
- Best Director (Károly Ujj Mészáros)
- Best Actress (Mónika Balsai)
- Best Film-editor (Judit Czakó)
- Best Scenery and Costumes (Balázs Hujber, Ibolya Bárdosi)
- Best Film composers (Ambrus Tövisházi, Dániel Csengery)
- Best makeup, hairdressing and make-up artist (Csilla Horváth, Erzsébet Rácz, Nóra Kapás)[42]
- Best Actress (Mónika Balsai)[44]

Notes

  1. ↑ A portmanteau from csuda (or csoda) ’miracle’ and Budapest, the capital of Hungary
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 (ex aequo with the US-Canadian film Exeter)

References

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External links

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