18.15, 20.30: Nuit blanche (98 min., French-Belgian thriller, original language, Hungarian subtitles)
A cop with a connection to the criminal underworld finds his secret life exposed when he and his partner are caught stealing cocaine from a powerful drug dealer, a move that puts his son’s life in jeopardy.
17.00, 20.00: L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (122 min., French drama, original language, Hungarian subtitles)
This claustrophobic picture (aka L’Apollonide Souvenirs de la maison close) is a frank, unexploitative account of life in a smart Parisian brothel in 1899 and 1900. It demonstrates that la belle époque was less belle for the girls than for their wealthy clients, though better than walking the streets or working in a sweatshop. The film is superbly designed to suggest the oppressive, hypocritical haut-bourgeois decor, the obsessive eroticism that excludes real desire, and the languorous timelessness that makes one day like another. There is enough detail about money, cosmetics, hygiene, sexually transmitted diseases, theatrical deportment and authentic camaraderie to qualify the film as a kind of documentary. But a final coda offering a glimpse of whores in present-day Paris, waiting in the streets for passing motorists to pick them up, shows that plus ça change, plus c’est le même commerce. The movie’s most startling image is of an abused, once beautiful prostitute who imagines her client’s sperm turning into tears and flowing from her eyes.
18.00, 20.00: Jiro Dreams of Sushi (81 min., Japanese documentary, original language, Hungarian subtitles)
A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his business in the basement of a Tokyo office building, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
19.30: Kuma (93 min., Austrian drama, original language, Hungarian subtitles)
One family, two women, many secrets.
