This 1974 Hungarian feature combines cinéma-vérité footage with a narrative structure to create what Variety called “a fascinating quasi-documentary about truth and photographic illusion....
“Two actors, István Iglódi and Márk Zala, impersonate traveling photographers who peddle their wares to potential camera subjects in a small Hungarian village, while seemingly-hidden film cameras record the assorted reactions of the townspeople.... What at first appears to be an intellectually sophisticated ‘Candid Camera' soon evolves into something much more hypnotic, however, when photographic ‘truth' and reminiscent ‘illusion' begin to collide....
“The subjects' predilection for a retouched look they confuse with beauty and the contrast between past and present visual records of their lives are continuously compelling, seldom cheaply ironic. Most remarkable, however, is a final lengthy interview with an old couple in which a past family murder is resurrected and examined from several refracting viewpoints.
“All of this footage is beautifully photographed by Elemér Ragályi in some of the most controlled, focused, well-lit, and zoom-free camerawork ever labeled cinéma-vérité. Equally remarkable is the evident affection Zolnay feels for his real-life subjects....”