Kocsis Bettina

Evaluation of Mirella Keller’s Free Fall Review

The aim of this essay is to evaluate Mirella Keller’s review on Free Fall. The author of the article graduated from Eötvös Lorand University where she studied film theory and film history.  Her film review was published in September 2014 after the movie Free Fall (directed by György Pálfi) came out. The article can be found on filmtekercs.hu which is one of the most popular Hungarian websites that specializes in movie-related topics. Keller has two main ideas in her review. In the first paragraphs, she aims to present some problematic elements of the movie. She emphasises the cohesion and the running time of the movie. The second part of the article focuses on the analysis of those social issues which give a basis for the message of the movie.

The movie can be divided into seven scenes which are loosely connected to each other. Keller mentions the lack of cohesion between the scenes. This is definitely the weakest argument of her review because it is not supported with enough convincing evidence. Between some scenes I also miss the cohesion; however, in this part of the review some examples for connection were left out because while the author mentions the flat in which the scenes take place as the only thing which connects each scene, I can give more evidence for the relation between the scenes; for example, every scene tells a story of a family and, at least, one member of each family has a specific fear which appears in the movie.

Furthermore, the issue of the movie’s running time is also pointed out. The author of the article tries to convince the readers that the film needs longer running time in order to fully understand its message. The evidence she illustrates to support this argument is convincing. Although the scenes convey serious and very complex messages, the director of the movie gave less than fifteen minutes for each scene. I also think that each scene could be longer in order to help the audience to fully understand the meaning the movie tries to deliver. With longer running time, each scene could provide more explanations for the overall message which is demonstrated in the movie.

Finally, the arguments on today’s social issues are well-structured and supported with enough and satisfying evidence. She examines the scenes in a chronological order. She starts with the analysis of the first scene, in which the old married couple lives their monotonous life; however, it is also part of their ordinary life that the old woman jumps off the roof of the flat they live in on a daily basis. Surprisingly, the old lady has no injuries apart from a small bleeding scar on her face. What is more surprising is the reaction of the other people in the flat. They are extremely cold and show no signs of empathy. This is the key element the critic emphasises. Each scene contains an element that is shocking.

To conclude, my impressions towards Keller’s review are positive. The review is well- structured. I liked her academic language use, too. Except from one argument, what I mentioned earlier in this essay, the other arguments are supported with enough evidence and specific examples from the movie. After reading her review, most of my thoughts concerning the movie changed due to her convincing reasoning. Thus, my own position is mostly the same as the author’s position. However, I do not completely agree with Keller’s opinion about the movie’s poor cohesion. To improve that argument, she would need to examine the movie more deeply to find the details that suggest that the movie does not lack in cohesion as much as she thinks.