The Hungarian director returns in 2017 with an atypical work at the crossroads of genres. Jupiter's Moon is the sixth feature film by Kornél Mundruczó. The native of Gödöllő signs a tale of modern times, which rubs shoulders with the fantastic and the religious. All in a current social context: mass immigration. Far from falling into the cliché of many cinemas (including ours), his film is in fact the reflection of a sick society, which has lost all faith in humanity. A clever little gem, which plunges us into today's Europe, very far from being the providential continent voted in 1957…
Filming population movements
The director was marked by the crisis that affects the continent long before it began. We can already see White God, his previous film, as a parable of the ghettoization of Man by Man. The subject is treated differently but the background is the same in Jupiter's Moon. The film, which caused a sensation at the last Cannes Film Festival, was even presented in Competition.
Personally, I am wary of ideological narratives that are part of a burning topicality. However, we cannot witness this without feeling solidarity. That would be inhumane.
The story is deliberately part of a blurred temporality. A contemporary story certainly, but not dated. Hungary is currently experiencing a major wave of xenophobia. This country belongs to the continent called Europe, one of the 67 moons to which the title refers. The "old continent" has experienced incessant and continuous migratory flows since ancient times. Paradoxically, information is perceived as a scoop today. Jupiter's Moon ("Europe" should we say) paints a pessimistic portrait of a society plagued by wandering and despair. What is interesting is that this sad look is underlying the plot and is not thrown in our faces with execrable clichés. It's all about feeling and thinking in Jupiter's Moon.
Kornél Mundruczó and Marcell Rev 's camera immerse us in a populated urban decorum, with bland colors and where the intensity of the hues is reduced to the strict minimum. A dynamic visual, carried by long sequence shots with successful and narrative choreography. Instead of cutting to get various angles, the Hungarian director preferred to get his cuts in the heart of the action. Result: a cutting almost imperceptible to the eye but which is felt subtly and effectively. Like what, a simplicity in the staging and a meticulous and thoughtful execution are enough to convey emotions. We will note magnificent lateral travellings that will make his current and past peers blush. The movement is never aggressive to the eye. Phew! It may also be a common character trait of the continent Europe. The scene of the car chase leaves us wondering and delighted.
The subject of the film, which will inevitably sound political, is exposed with a certain clairvoyance. We do not fall into the Manichean cliché or the fairy tale where all immigrants are nice and the government bad. In France we have A bras ouvertes with Christian Clavier (it is far from the time of the Visitors…). In Hungary they have Jupiter's Moon ! The comparison is crude but denounces the more than annoying habit of stereotyping in recent years in our national film production. With all due respect to some cinema "critics" (the word "culture" often sounds better), the Hungarian film addresses the good and bad sides of these migratory flows with a nuance and a very well conducted questioning. The conditions of detention are cruelly real and we can humbly say that we feel a suspicion better the daily life of an illegal immigrant when leaving the film. A daily life between permanent fear and personal (even spiritual) quest to accomplish. Getting to a specific point by any means in a country where you are a foreigner and illegal. The narrative angle is interesting because, basically, the character of Aryan is not the hero (in the sense of the scenario). In any case he greatly shares the role with Dr. Stern, a reflection of the "other side", who always perceives profit in this immigration.
Faith in science
Jupiter's Moon is the playground of several oppositions. A recurring theme for Kornél Mundruczó, religion is shown here in its spiritual dimension. Essentially Catholic, the message and symbolism can ultimately be applied to a large majority of religions. There is no fighting the fact that Aryan's father is a carpenter (but he never drinks alcohol). Enjoy the nuance. The character of László can be likened to a figure of Pontius Pilate who relentlessly hunts down all these migrants with murderous relentlessness. Here lies the first duel of the film: authority against faith. For it is easy to see in Aryan the personification of Jesus Christ. The shoelace scene is a nice transposition to modern times of biblical writings. Jupiter's Moon offers a moment of escape to reflect on the deep problems of the continent. By escape we are of course referring to the gift acquired from Aryan. The character of Dr. Gabor Stern often reminds us: "we live horizontally, we no longer look up". The film denounces a loss of faith in our society. Faith in its general sense. The solution comes in hope, a renewal of confidence in the human being.
In Mundruczó's Hungary, one no longer believes in the other. We judge quickly, we make morally irreparable mistakes. The individual is lost in a world-city that is slowly eating away at his humanity. The intelligence of the film pushes him to inscribe the story in a terribly near future as in a very recent past. The populations of large cities will be able to testify, everyone lives his little life, seeks to get by, often out of unconscious selfishness. The doctor, symbol of the health of Europe, can no longer practice following a medical malpractice. So he has a big pecuniary debt to repay… Out of necessity, he seeks to make a profit everywhere, going so far as to use Aryan's gift for profit. He has lost that famous faith, with which Aryan lands on the European continent. He is disgusted with his job, is seduced by dubious schemes for greed. And don't talk to him about religion! Awareness is slow and the revival of faith will require several miracles. A bitter portrait of a society that is too rational (one can add materialistic) reduced to this extreme to open one's eyes.
On the other hand, the treatment of the music is worth seeing. Its alternation of rhythm fits perfectly to the image without overdoing it. We will appreciate the low and rocky tones of the stalking scenes, the dynamic camera helping perfectly. When Aryan flies away, he is carried by soaring melodies. We are quite close to the religious treatment of Terrence Malick's music. And once again, the image (rarely fixed) and the sound merge in such a way as to make everything diegetic! The public of the 2010s is already used to this kind of combinations but, when it is done well, it is also emphasized. Jed Kurzel (Assassin Creed, Alien – Covenant) offers us a sound immersion in Europe.
With Jupiter's Moon, Kornél Mundruczó signs an original story and captures the European public with the character of Dr. Stern. It is regrettable that Aryan is played by a Hungarian actor (of Hungarian origin). However, this trio of twenty-first century men embodies the universality of opinions on the migration issue. Beyond that, the film portrays with disconcerting simplicity and success a continent that is reaching the end of its original ideal. A more general treatment of faith that avoids above all the pitfall posed by religion in cinema. When we want to denounce realities, strangely the producers do not follow. We welcome the proposal and the initiative! Too bad we don't see that in France…
