Now You See Me, Now You Don’t
Written and Directed by Attila Szasz
Cinematography by Tamas Kemenyffy
Starring Erno Fekete, Dora Letay, Vitez Abraham
Extreme Films
Released in 2005

Little Alex is excited to have his father return home from the lab, and is quite curious as to a metal box he has brought home along with a cage with two mice in it. The following day, Alex’s mother discovers to her horror that Alex has become invisible. As fear and panic set in, she begs and pleads for her husband to undo what he has done, for she is positive it has something to do with a breakthrough at the lab. All of her horrors are realized though when he forlornly replies “I can’t.”

This short film, from first time (and only time as of this writing) Hungarian director and writer Attila Szasz, is a beautiful and haunting construction of images and music that boldly says more within its half-hour running time than most feature-length films which strive to pack this sort of emotional punch. His soft and sweeping camerawork, coupled with the overtly white decoration in the house that provides the single-setting, is like falling into a dream or being caught up in limbo. Szasz, along with his cinematographer, frame each shot perfectly with slow and winding shots that truly engulf the characters and help to expose their raw emotions.

Adding a further emotional punch to the flowing visuals is the soundtrack, which for the most part consists of minimalist piano keystrokes that sustain for multiple beats at a time. The drawn-out pacing of the single notes slowly builds up a sense of dread and unease that begins with the first scene and doesn’t let up until the end. The notes themselves even feel like they are afraid to advance to the next bar of music until absolutely necessary, out of fear for what they may accompany next.

While first-time actor Vitez Abraham does his job well as Alex, it is Dora Letay and Erno Fekete in the roles of mom and dad who draw from the same bleak emotional well that Szasz has and create a tonal symmetry to the soundtrack and cinematography. One can only imagine what dark and distant memories these actors have drudged up from their past to give such honest and heartbreaking performances. Even given the short running time and their limited time on screen, both Letay and Fekete breathe into their characters and life they share together an untold back story that should be the envy of most actors.

Szasz’ film falls into the diminishing spectrum of movies where the less you know the better and given the thorough marketing these days, rarely are films that should be in that category get to remain there. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t has been a darling of film festivals since its release in 2005 and still remains to be shown well into 2008. Szasz’ film should be at the top of your list of movies that no matter what it takes you need to see. If this is just a sample of what Szasz will evolve into as he matures as a filmmaker, then we are no doubt looking at the next great master of cinema.

Please check out Attila Szasz on MySpace to see what festivals are currently screening his film and how to get the film on DVD.