The Lost Weekend

American film noir, black-and-white, by Billy Wilder, Language: Hungarian, Subtitles: English, 101'

...

SCREENINGS

09.07. 16:15
Toldi Main Hall

Introduction: Charles Drazin

Directed by Billy Wilder
Written by Charles R. Jackson
Screenplay by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder
Director of photography: John F. Seitz
Music by Rózsa Miklós
Cast: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen
Production: Paramount Pictures

According to one prominent Hungarian addictionology expert, there are currently nearly800,000 alcoholics in Hungary. Still today, Hungarian comedians generally portray thestumbling drunk as a humorous, even endearing element in sketches and funny scenes,which only reinforces these negative trends. If there were ever a time for a film like BillyWilder’s no-holds-barred, thought-provoking melodrama, it is now. Before Wilder, drunkswere also shown in American films as absurd, comical figures. This film however puts theviewer squarely face-to-face with the destructive impact of alcohol. This movie depictingauthor Don Birman’s struggle and eventual downfall is an adult film in the sense that it isnot easy to watch for anyone who has been in direct contact with this disease. The musicwas written by the Hungarian Miklós Rózsa, the composer of the score for Ben Hur, andis considered to be one of his most mature pieces.