IT’S NOT THE TIME OF MY LIFE

IT’S NOT THE TIME OF MY LIFE starts off smack in the middle of a boho-chic apartment belonging to Farkas and Eszter, an attractive couple in their late 30s. Their little kid Bruno is an annoying perpetual motion machine whom Farkas doesn’t seem to like very much. Adding to the tension of the household, Eszter’s sister and her sad-sack husband turn up suddenly with their preteen daughter. They’ve just returned to Hungary after a misbegotten attempt to emigrate to Scotland, and it’s unclear how long they plan to stay. Farkas lectures them about their life choices. Eszter is agitated. Bruno shrieks for attention. And the apartment feels increasingly small. But as we get to know these surprisingly sympathetic characters, we see the disconnect between everyone’s theories of morality and how they play out in the mess of everyday life. Sensitive portrayals by director Szabolcs Hajdu as Farkas and his real-life wife Orsolya To¨ro¨k-Illye´s as Eszter, render the film’s relationships incredibly genuine. Though Hajdu assigned 13 film students to each shoot a sequence, and we never leave the apartment, this prize-winning film is as fluid as the characters’ values. (In Hungarian with subtitles) —B.B.