Cat's Play (Macskajáték) is a 1974 film from Hungary directed by Karoly Makk.
The story centers on two sisters, Giza and Erzsi. They are now old ladies. Giza at some point in the past emigrated to West Germany, while Erzsi remained behind in Hungary. Giza, the older sister who is now wheelchair-bound due to nerve damage, wants Erzsi to emigrate to be with her. Erzsi, however, refuses. She has not retired, continuing to supplement her pension by working as a cook part-time and also working as a choir teacher. More importantly, Erzsi has a boyfriend, an opera singer named Viktor. As it turns out, Viktor and Erzsi are renewing an old romance, from long ago, when they were all young people in pre-war Hungary.
Tropes:
- As You Know: Erzsi, feeling the need to defend herself as she continues to dye her hair red in old age, says "Our dear mother had red hair."
- December–December Romance: Between Erzsi and Viktor, both now in their seventies. Towards the end Erzsi reveals that it's a matter of Old Flames reuniting, that she and Viktor were lovers when they were young and continued their relationship even after she got married. Erzsi only broke it off back in the day after her husband had a health scare and came out of a life-or-death surgery.
- Desk Sweep of Rage: Erzsi responds to the sight of her lover Viktor and her friend Paula having dinner together, by yanking back the tablecloth, sending all the food on the table flying.
- Disturbed Doves: A flock of pigeons is seen flying away from Giza's chair by the cliff, as Erzsi gets word by telegram that her sister died during the operation.
- Driven to Suicide: A flashback reveals that Giza and Erzsi's father killed himself, after being humiliated by a White officer during the civil wars in Hungary that followed World War I.
- Epistolary Novel: A rare cinematic example. The bulk of the movie, at least two-thirds, consists of letters going back-and-forth between Giza and Erzsi. The letters are heard in voiceover, sometimes describing flashbacks, sometimes describing what is going on in the present day, like when Erzsi writes her sister a letter about how she confronted Viktor for cheating on her with Paula.
- Flashback: There are many flashbacks to the sisters when they were young decades ago. Many show them cavorting in the lakeside resort of Leta with a young Viktor. Others show Erzsi going off alone to see Viktor in a performance.
- Gray Rain of Depression: It's pouring rain outside when Erzsi, who herself just narrowly escaped suicide by pills, gets a telegram informing her that Giza has died.
- Kids Are Cruel: The teenaged girls in Erszi's choir group decide to screw with her by singing horribly off-key in a performance for the school's headmaster. This is bad for Erzsi, because the schoolmaster has already been pushing her to retire.
- Love Triangle: A December-December-December version. It's eventually revealed that Viktor is also seeing Paula, a mutual friend of Viktor and Enzsi's that lives in the same building. Erzsi is enraged when she finds out.
- Reluctant Retiree: The headmaster of the school where Erzsi works as a choir teacher is pushing her to retire and take a pension. Erzsi doesn't want to, and says that he should retire (the headmaster is a good 30 years younger than she is).
- Repeat Cut:
- The rather silly moment where Erzsi carefully opens the door, and looks to see whether the coast is clear before letting Viktor out of her apartment, is repeated.
- Played for drama later, as the scene where Erzsi rips open a curtain to catch Viktor and Paula together (she was in the dentist's office, separated only by a curtain), and then rips the tablecloth off sending the food flying, is repeated twice.
- Swing Low, Sweet Harriet: An unusual twist on this trope shows an empty swing, still swinging back and forth, as Giza and Erzsi remember their happy memories of the past vacationing by the sea at Leta.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Younger actors play Erzsi, Giza, and Viktor in the flashback scenes to their youth.
- Visual Title Drop: The title doesn't have much to do with the story, but Erzsi does have a cat, a tabby which is seen from time to time giving her inscrutable stares.
- Voiceover Letter: Nonstop throughout. The majority of the movie is letters going back and forth between Giza and Erzsi, read in voiceover as they describe what is going on in their lives.
