Now You See Me, Now You Don't

(Most latszom, most nem latszom)

Review by M.G. Wood

2005 - Hungary - 30 min

Written and Directed byAttila Szasz

Produced byDalma Hidasi

Director of PhotographyTamas Kemenyffy

Co-producerAttila SzaszTamas Kemenyffy

Edited byLaszlo Hargittai

SoundCsaba Major

Production & Costume DesignerIbolya Bardosi

StarringErno FeketeDora LetayVitez Abraham

Do you know what’s great about Short Films as an art form? In Short Films you get the poetry and subtle nuance sometimes lost in a feature-length film all too often bogged down by a three act structure and weighted down by contrived exposition and forced conflict.

Now You See Me, Now You Don't trailer

In a well crafted Short you can be transported into a moment in time all within a potently compressed arc; ultimately you will become a voyeur, an outsider looking in on a slice of life, a vignette, a poem.

And this is what you have with NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON’T Written and Directed by Attila Szasz. A film produced and directed at such a high level of craftsmanship and skill, it will leave you wondering what will these film makers do next. And where can I see it?

What begins as a simple portrayal of domestic discord between a wife, husband and child soon morphs into a mystery of sorts.

Now You See Me, Now You Don't film clip 2

With gorgeous photography, atmospheric music and whip-smart editing, NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON’T is a film made by adults for adults (a film distinction growing rarer and rarer in modern cinema).

Has the cold, distant father done something to the child? Has the child actually disappeared by way of some kind of magic? Has the child simply run away from home? Was he ever there at all?

Now You See Me, Now You Don't film clip 1

The crushing finale to NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON’T is pitch-perfect. Just as one can pluck a single frame from the film of your life and evoke emotions long dormant, so too a short film made with such care and craft as NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON'T can take you there as well.

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