A group of teens from the wrong side of Budapest's tracks band together to make themselves rich by traveling back in time, burying a horde of mammoths under the city's streets, then returning to the present and drilling for oil. As creators of a new oil-producing nation, their scheme draws the attention of Vladmir Putin, Tony Blair and George W. Bush. In the midst of it all, star-crossed teen love is in bloom.
Fifteen credited artists labored over the distinct animated style, a jerky collage in which cutouts of actors' heads are blended with animated bodies and surroundings; result is crude yet novel.
There's so much going on in this animated Hungarian feature that if you don't have attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder going in, you may well develop it by the time you exit the theatre, and I mean that as a compliment.
By the time The District is over, one might not have a clear idea what the film is about in a singular sense. But as a free-associating spoof of the modernworld, it's a hoot.
I've seen 2 Hungarian films in the last month, Taxidermia and this. The nicest thing I can say about this film is that it was interesting, but for a comedy I never even smiled once. I know a lot of times people say their comedy's a cultural thing, especially in European cultures, but c'mon, it's just not funny. I
don't know how many times I've heard something isn't funny because of the translation, but believe me, it'd have to be one amazing translation to make some of the European jokes funny. (I do say this in jest by the way, I am poking fun not preaching hate of European humor).
A fun animated fantasy with a unique style. I lack the cultural background to understand a lot of the references in the story but what I, as an American, could follow was quite funny. Like the rap music it features, it has a decidedly dark sensibility in its take on ghetto life. The music is bright and pleasant and
benefits from being subtitled -- I might enjoy American rap more if it had subtitles. The story is dumb, it is true, but it is clearly meant to be and it entertains while making its points effectively.
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