Clear Brilliance in Invisibility

Now You See Me, Now You Don't
Directed by Attila Szász
Extreme Films



As a reviewer for a cinema blog still in its infancy, I was recently blessed with the opportunity to screen a Hungarian film currently making the rounds in a variety of film festivals. The winner of 12 awards, such as Best Short Film (Harlem International Film Festival), Best Narrative Short (Ojai Film Festival), Best Foreign Language Short (Oxford International Film Festival) and Best Director (Newport Beach Film Festival), Now You See Me, Now You Don't is a brilliant film that runs about 30 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly, THIRTY MINUTES. In a cinematic world full of drawn-out films that sometimes carry on for close to three hours, Attila Szász takes a fraction of that time to weave a tapestry of family relationships that draws you into a world of trust/mistrust and connect/disconnect...and it's a world you're devastated to leave when you do.



Now You See Me, Now You Don't is, on the surface, the tale of Mom, Dad, and son, Alex. Alex (Vitéz Ábrahám) plays around the house while Mom (Dóra Létay) boils water in the kitchen, preparing dinner. She scolds her husband (Ernõ Fekete) over the phone and chastises six-year-old Alex when he plays too closely to the stove. When Dad comes home from the lab, he brings something with him. The next morning, Alex is invisible. Mom becomes furious with Dad for involving their son with such an experiment and relationships begin to shatter.



The performances by Létay and Fekete are masterful portrayals of people whose marital connection has fractured. Létay is simply heartbreaking as the mother doing her best to care for her son and Fekete is unforgettable; you feel Mom's pain instantly and completely despise Dad for being so distant. These thirty minutes are a rollercoaster ride from which you can't possibly tear your eyes or soul. Aside from being riveted to the screen throughout this exceptional story, I was also dazzled by the filmmaking itself. The use of flowing sunlight and deep shadows is simply astonishing and the movement of the actors through the house is so natural and fluid, it's as if they're dancing across the screen.

Inspired by the birth of his own son, Attila Szász uses the film to express some of the emotions he has experienced in his role as a father and cites the reaction of the audience as one of the film's greatest achievements. "I was hoping to evoke some emotions in the audience, to see if I could push the right buttons," he recently told me. "The reaction to the film is overwhelming; I'm still shocked at the people's feedback. It's a spooky thing to see that your audience react almost exactly the way you were hoping for." This first-time filmmaker's greatest achievement, in this reviewer's opinion, is a film so beautiful and awe-inspiring that I had to replay it the second it ended.



Produced in 2005, Now You See Me, Now You Don't is one of the greatest films you haven't seen....yet. It continues making the rounds of various film festivals around the world until the end of the year, and hopefully, Szász adds, it will be available on iTunes for download soon. Until then, you can check out clips on the film's official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/attilaszasz. You can also order the DVD from Spiritual Cinema Circle (http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/) - you have to subscribe to become a member, but then you can order the DVD from the back catalogue. (Trust me, this film is well worth it.)

They say good things come in small packages. Now You See Me, Now You Don't is one of the smallest, and best, films I've ever seen.