The District
December. 19,2007In an effort to end family feuding, a young gypsy travels back in time to kill mammoths to ensure Hungary becomes rich by killing mammoths in order to create a massive oil reservoir. Things don't go entirely according to plan...
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Best movie of this year hands down!
Such a frustrating disappointment
It is a performances centric movie
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
this one took me by total surprise! i'll be damned if i can recount (or follow) the plot, but i know that it involves oil, rival gangsters, public surveillance, time travel, terrorism, rebel teenagers, possibly evil horses, and an area in Budapest known as "the district." sharply written and wittily drawn, it also features cameos by a host of international luminaries, from Osama bin Laden to the pope -- George W. too! (spouting lines like: "Our agents were mislead while they were busy misleading.")decidedly un-PC and deliberately "primitive" (particularly in its animation style, recalling everything from The Adventures of Prince Achmed to South Park), this will easily appeal to gamers, hip-hoppers, and fans of Adult Swim, but should also be given a chance by any other regular film-goer/lover.watching this, i was reminded of something Ralph Bakshi said: "The art of cartooning is vulgarity. The only reason for cartooning to exist is to be on the edge. If you only take apart what they allow you to take apart, you're Disney. Cartooning is a low-class, for-the-public art, just like graffiti art and rap music. Vulgar but believable, that's the line I kept walking."my guess is, Bakshi would be plenty impressed by The District.
I watched this movie in it's original language with subtitles at the Fantasy Film Festival in Stuttgart/Germany and I enjoyed it very much indeed! This animated feature is not for the faint of heart or for people who do care about PC things ... so it's not for children either or Bush sympathizer's! But for lovers of great dark comic humor. There are so many gags hidden here, you might not get them all at your first viewing ... But unfortunately you might not get them the second time around. It's not the movies fault, it will be because you don't get all the nuances of the original (you have to speak Hungarian and maybe even have lived there to get some things ... at least that's what I've heard from other viewers, who must know ... Hungarians of course)
The District is one of the most interesting, annoying, filthy and funniest animated movies I've seen in a long while. This film, a twisting of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, (and we're talking a severe twisting) combines it with a story about um, global domination of the oil supplies in their neighborhood. There's also music, sex, and really bad behavior. So as you can tell, this is not a kid's movie. Far from it. The animators seriously have warped personalities to have come up with this. Although the story is a bit shaky and wraps up rather goofily, The story almost takes a back seat with all the strange animation, singing, and oh yes, guest appearances (hello George Bush!) going on. Highly highly original, this is well worth a look.
Familiar South Park technology set in a Budapest ghetto, to outline a Romeo and Juliet type story between the offspring of two rival gangs. The plot is not the strongest: the main storyline follows how local school kids in the Dangerous Minds mold scheme to make some money, because money gets girls. They bet on oil, find a way to get it and set off a craze to control the revenue. The two rival gangs, local politicians, George Bush, the Pope and even Osama Bin Laden get involved. Even with the sometimes flawed plot, the smart dialog and sharp characterizations carry the movie, although it may be difficult for non-Hungarians to grasp all the references to Budapest urban folklore. There's a bit of singing and rapping, but that really doesn't get in the way. Good fun and a brave film.