Márciusi mese: A charming, dusty relic

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for old black-and-white comedies that feel like they were filmed in a dream, yeah, maybe. People who get annoyed by plot contrivances or slow, theatrical pacing should probably skip it. It’s not exactly The Simple Life, but it’s got that same gentle, slightly dizzy vibe.

Gyula Kabos is basically the whole reason this works. He has this way of looking at the camera like he’s just realized he left the stove on, and it’s brilliant.

There’s a scene about halfway through where someone tries to fix a mistake, but it only creates five more. It goes on a little too long, honestly. The silence in the room gets a bit heavy, but then he mutters something and you're back in it.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Márciusi mese (1934) through its definitive frames.

It’s not as snappy as Seven Keys to Baldpate. It moves at its own pace. Sometimes that pace is a brisk walk. Sometimes it’s a nap.

Odd little notes

• The lighting in the office scenes is strangely flat. It makes everyone look like cardboard cutouts.
• I’m still not entirely sure why that one guy is always standing in the background.
• There’s a hat in the second act that deserves its own credit. It’s huge.
• The dialogue feels like it was written for a stage, not a movie. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s funny how these movies try to convince you that money problems are just cute, little misunderstandings. Everything works out so perfectly in the end it’s almost frustrating. But then, you see a smile from the cast and you kind of just let it go. ☕️

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. I wouldn't even call it essential. But it’s a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon if you don’t mind subtitles and a bit of dust. It reminded me a bit of the feeling I got watching Kaiserliebchen, just a bit more grounded in its own silliness.

The ending is… well, it ends. It doesn't tie everything up, but it doesn't need to. Sometimes movies just stop. I like that.