This Hungarian-German co-production tells the story of Anna, who turned to thievery for her lover and has ended up in prison as a result. She persuades the prison doctor to release her for one night so that she can see her lover one last time. But that night, she discovers the true face of her shady paramour... The film creates a unique atmosphere by cleverly combining elements from the crime film and melodrama genres. SLAVE BIRD will be presented in a new restoration that was carried out with support from the EU-funded programme “A Season of Classic Films”.

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At the beginning of the movie, we can gain behind-the-scenes insight into the work of journalists in the editorial office of Az Est. Here, there is a glimpse of the famous Hungarian poet Lőrinc Szabó while in a later scene the full toolkit used by crime scene investigators is laid out. The perception of reality is at most distorted by the projected emotions, which at times, for example in the claustrophobic solitude of the prison, flood the images in an almost explosive manner. The unusual angles, for example the shot taken from the ceiling of the prison cell, the play with horizontal and vertical movements, and rhythm, lend the storyline a particular dynamic. At moments of heightened emotion, the actors’ faces and close-ups are emphasized, yet their acting is not exaggerated, thus leaving plenty of scope for the subtle portrayal of character. In the farewell scene between Anna and Jenő, the tracking shot under Elizabeth Bridge provides the scene with a dynamic that is light years away from the decorative and static visual imagery of silent motion pictures of just a decade earlier. Camera equipment becomes freer; thanks to the so-called liberated camera (entfesselte Kamera) technique inspired by the Weimar cinematography tradition, movement of the camera becomes an integral part of the dramaturgy.
Janka Barkóczi, nfi.hu, 11.12.2023