The heroine of thislove story is an extraordinary old lady portrayed by Lili Darvas, the famed stageactress who worked with Max Reinhardt. A bedridden matriarch enters into anunspoken pact with her daughter-in-law which will allow her to live proudly anddie happily. The young Luca, whose husband Janos has been seized by the secretpolice, concocts a story of his voyage to America and imminent success as afilmmaker. Luca delivers airmail letters filled with Hollywood gossip; Motherdevours them. After a while, only Janos really exists in the present, and when heis suddenly sprung from prison, it is too late for the mother, who has opted forthe comforts of the past and the hope of the future. What is Love? "°alwaysexact, sad, and noble°a marvelous film, made with a precision of eye andspirit°.Of neurosis and perfidy it knows nothing." (Penelope Gilliatt, TheNew Yorker)