Gloomy Sunday (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #84

This German-Hungarian film, made in 1999, tells the story of the song "Gloomy Sunday", commonly referred to as the Hungarian Suicide Song. The song is real, but the film tells a fictional story wrapped around it. Many details are (deliberately) inaccurate, but that doesn't make the film any worse. In reality, the melody was written by Rezso Seress in 1933 and the words by Laszlo Javor in 1935, but in the film the words and music are both written by Andras Aradi in 1939.

To the film: Laszlo Szabo owns a luxurious restaurant in Budapest. His parents are both Jews, but he feels no connection with the race or the religion. As far as he's concerned, he's a Hungarian. He lives with his waitress Ilona. He doesn't marry her, because he doesn't want to tie her down. He offers her an open relationship, in theory at least, because she has no interest in other men. That doesn't change until she meets the new pianist hired for the restaurant, Andras Aradi. After this Ilona has a relationship with both men.

An important character in the film is the German travelling salesman Hans Wieg. When he visits Budapest in 1939 he also falls in love with Ilona, but she rejects his advances. Two men are enough for her. He returns three years later as an SS officer. But that's getting ahead of myself. Let's get back to 1939.

Andras composes the song "Gloomy Sunday" for Ilona. At first it's instrumental only, the words are written later. The first time the song is played in the restaurant, Hans attempts to drown himself in the Danube. Laszlo pulls him out of the water, and the two become close friends. The next evening one of the restaurant's regular customers hangs himself after listening to the song.

The song is recorded, and it's distributed first in Hungary, then worldwide. There are many suicides in connection with the record, 157 deaths in New York alone.

There are big events in 1939. In March Austria, the country previously united with Hungary, becomes part of Germany. In May Hungary leaves the League of Nations, which was the former name of the United Nations. The Second World War breaks out, but Hungary remains independent. In 1941 Hungary declares war against the Soviet Union (which I prefer to call Russia), which makes the country Germany's ally. Hungary allows German troops into Hungary to aid its war against Russia. This means that Hungary has to accept Germany's anti-Jewish policies. All Jews in Budapest have to be rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

In 1942 Hans Wieg is the leading SS officer in Budapest, and he uses his influence to prevent Laszlo being captured. Hans doesn't hate Jews, but he profits from the situation. He acquires large companies for himself by telling their Jewish owners that they'll be saved if they sell the companies for a fraction of their worth. He allows rich Jews to escape to Switzerland for $1000 each. He expects Hitler to lose the war, so he wants to build up his own wealth in preparation for the following years.

Andras himself kills himself after playing the song for Hans.

Can a song drive people to suicide?

This question is discussed in the disc's extra features. The modern consensus is that the answer is No. It's true that hundreds of people killed themselves while listening to "Gloomy Sunday", but it's thought that they would have killed themselves anyway. The song was just a good melody to accompany them into death.

Is that true? I don't know. What I can say is that the BBC took the danger seriously and banned the song from 1942 to 2002.

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Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumberless,

Dearest the shadows I live with are numberless.

Little white flowers will never awaken you,

Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you.

Angels have no thought of ever returning you,

Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?

Gloomy Sunday.

Gloomy is Sunday, with shadows I spend it all,

My heart and I have decided to end it all.

Soon there'll be candles and prayers that are said, I know,

Let them not weep, let them know that I'm glad to go.

Death is no dream, for in death I'm caressing you,

With the last breath of my soul I'll be blessin' you.

Gloomy Sunday.

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