After just a few scenes into this swirling yet attentive documentary, you get the pulsating feeling the you are watching something special. The maker (David) races through the streets of Budapest on his skateboard, not looking for kicks, but for people. He asks them for their opinions and stories, and for a brief moment you witness them for once feeling seen and heard in an otherwise indifferent society.
And then David meets Saryi, a young boy playing football on the street with his friends. There is an almost instant connection with the bright-eyed children, who warm to the maker’s genuine interest. It is the beginning of a 12-year long project and a special friendship.
The children hang out with the maker, who films them in their adventures on the streets, their games, their fights and soon at home – a cramped apartment that Saryi shares with his parents, grandmother and brother. The fridge is often empty, father hangs around indistinctly, mother is cooking, smoking and swearing. But there is, undeniably, love, even if it is awkwardly expressed in quick slaps and negative exhortations. The presence of the camera hardly seems to make any difference to the raw dynamics of household life.
The influence of David and his skate friends on the family is undeniable. The boys love nothing more than roaming around town with them, enjoying pizza in their kitchen and chatting about everything on their minds. Never does it feel like they are being questioned or judged – the relationship is built on trust and mutual respect. The children seem to encounter positive attention for the first time: they are heard, challenged to express themselves and even make art. The elaboration of this shows itself movingly in a beautiful scene at the kitchen table. Saryi slaps an adult skate friend’s neck – just because – and it is clear from everything that he expects a slap back. When that fails to materialise, he asks why. Life is punishing you hard enough, says the young man calmly. It is an insight that you see slowly sink into the boy.
The filming style – loose from the hand and almost always in motion – makes the film feel high-energy and fast, but at the same time it is filmed with tremendous attention and care. David captures not only action but emotion: in the young boys’ eyes you can see the restlessness, the longing for acceptance and love, the knowledge that the world doesn’t have much use for them. Sometimes they act straight up shitty, but the camera always finds the innocence and human in them again.
Over the years, you see Saryi grow up from an uninhibited rascal to a petulant teenager. Only his young sister still manages to endear him. Otherwise, he works on his body in the makeshift gym in the basement, and breaks it down again on the streets with cigarettes and alcohol. But against all odds, he stays in school, gets a sensible girlfriend and has plans for the future.
The story of Saryi’s coming-of-age is already fascinating but it takes an incredibly dramatic turn due to a thoughtless action with irreversible consequences, which catapults him into adulthood. Even at this stage, David keeps the camera’s unbiased focus on the boy, his friends and family.
David has made a wonderful document about growing up in poor conditions that could have been sensationalist, moralistic and voyeuristic. But the space he gives his characters allows you to see them in all their complexity and humanity. The cursing and complaining mother works three jobs to feed her children and is unmistakably over the moon when the uprooted Saryi finally returns home. The father seems a classic alcoholic good-for-nothing, but a wrestling match with his prodigal son shows his awkward affection. And in Saryi, whose face we often see in close-up, we recognise the immensely talented, smart, ambitious, loyal and loving human being David discovered in that first meeting on the street.
2024, Hungary, 99 minutes
Directed by Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész
Produced by Viki Réka Kiss, András Pires Muhi, Victor Ede, Bálint Révész
Executive producer Dávid Gutema
Camera Dávid Mikulán
Editors Yael Bitton, Károly Szalai
Music Csaba Kalotás
Sound Ivan Zelic
Production company Elf Pictures and Cinephage
Broadcasters ARTE France, HBO Max
Distribution Gallivant Film
