Page - 85 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/02

Review: On Body and Soul | 85www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 85–89 Charles Martig Film review On Body and Soul (Ildikó Enyedi) HU 2017 On Body and Soul (Ildikó Enyedi, HU 2017) is an astonishing film that offers a precise and sensitive look at everyday life. the plot presents an unusual love story between Mária, a young woman who has just begun to work as a qual- ity controller, and Endres, the chief financial officer of the factory where she has been appointed. that business is a slaughterhouse, a peculiar place that is presented as a good working environment, where people speak to and respect each other. the close-up on the transformation of living being into dead meat builds the main setting of On Body and Soul and offers a scenario where cor- porality is very much present. For different reasons, the two protagonists do not have easy access to life and are confronted with limits that challenge them every day. Communication between the main characters is almost impossible. accidentally they discover that they regularly meet in dreams. the images of those dreams present nature as a place without limitation and of an incredible beauty and intensity, which is in juxtaposition to the concreteness of death within a slaughterhouse. The con- trast between freedom and constraint is staged not only within the narration but also with a style based on close-ups on small things in everyday life. after receiving the Golden Bear and the Prize of the ecumenical Jury at the Berlin international film festival, hungarian director ildikó enyedi presented her new masterpiece On Body and Soul at the Zurich film festival in septem- ber 2017. This film review consists of an interview with Enyedi focusing on the interactions between religion and film in this new work and more generally in her cinematography. You received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in Berlin. How did you response to this? it was a complete surprise for me. i was called to receive the fiPresCi award, the prize of the international film critics, and I didn’t realise that I would receive the Ecu- menical award at the same time. it was a wonderful surprise. DOI: 10.25364/ 05.3:2017.2.8