Miss Iza (1933) Review - Loud, Melodramatic, and Weirdly Addictive

If you love dusty, rare 1930s European cinema with big theatrical acting, Miss Iza is absolutely worth hunting down. But if you can't stand crackly audio and melodrama that feels like it was staged for the back row of a theater, you'll probably hate this one.

It’s a Hungarian film from 1933 starring Sári Fedák, who was apparently a massive deal back then. The plot is basically about this older woman, Iza, trying to navigate family expectations and societal drama in Budapest.

The first thing that hits you is how much noise there is. Not just the physical hiss of the old print, but how loud everyone talks.

Sári Fedák has this incredibly intense screen presence. She doesn't just walk into a room; she sort of conquers it with her eyes.

There is a scene at a dinner table where three different people are trying to talk over each other. It’s chaotic and feels surprisingly real, like a family dinner where everyone is slightly drunk. 🍷

I love how the camera just sits there sometimes. No fancy cuts, just letting these theater actors do their thing.

It reminded me a bit of the dusty, theatrical vibe in Die Claudi vom Geiserhof, though that one had way more mountain scenery.

There’s this one guy, György Dénes, who plays a character that seems to exist purely to look worried in the background. Every time the camera pans, he's just there, sweating and holding his hat. 😅

The music is... a lot. It swells up during the most minor arguments, like someone spilled tea and the orchestra decided it was a national tragedy.

I honestly lost track of who was related to whom about halfway through. The writers, István Mihály and István Békeffy, throw in so many cousins and neighbors without much introduction.

It has that classic early sound-era awkwardness. People stand too close to the microphones, which I find charming but others might find annoying.

If you've seen some of the early talkies from this era, like Ladies of the Jury, you know how stiff things could get. Miss Iza actually avoids some of that stiffness by just letting Sári Fedák chew the scenery.

But then it has these weirdly slow sequences where someone is just reading a letter. And we watch them read it. For like, two whole minutes.

There's a dog in one scene that clearly wanted to leave. It keeps pulling on its leash and staring at the crew behind the camera. 🐶

Also, the fashion is wild. The hats are absolutely massive.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a weirdly fascinating window into 1930s Budapest culture. I'm glad I watched it, even if my ears are still ringing from the high-pitched music.