Home movies are fascinating records of the lives of individuals. In the inspired hands of Hungarian artist Peter Forgacs, these found films take on the poetic import of nuanced historical accounts, complete with cultural and philosophical dimension. Having carefully collected home movies, particularly from the thirties and forties, Forgacs renders lyrical portraits of bourgeois families, mostly from Budapest. The "Private Hungary" series, begun in 1988, carries its collage compositions forward, using stark black-and-white footage-often slowed to timeless tableau-and charmed music by composer Tibor Szemzo to convey its impressions. Notes of a Lady (1992-94, 48 mins), the eighth installment in the series, focuses on a woman of paradoxical nature whose restrained beauty contrasts with her abundant wealth. Possessed of an honest, untethered smile, the "lady" can be caught subtly playing for the camera, a quirk Forgacs brilliantly engages to charge his seductive sketch. In a newly commenced series, "An Unknown War," an expanded collection of home movies from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Hungary allows Forgacs to depict "the quiet life" in occupied regions of World War II Europe. Part three, Meanwhile Somewhere...1940-43 (1993-94, 52 mins), glimpses the private resignation of families seeking some semblance of normality in the worst of times.-Steve Seid Plus excerpts from the Wittgenstein Tractatus (1992).