Liza, the Fox-Fairy (2015)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I know, the plot sounds really good. A 30 years-old woman searching for her true love is cursed, so that all of her pretenders die unexpectedly. It's gotta be a mystery, a thriller, what can go wrong? Well, if you are used to what Hollywood calls a Sci-fi, this is probably not for you. First of all, for some reason, this movie makes too many characters look like they are socially dumb. It's got too much silence in a bad way, I mean not that type of silence you would enjoy, the boring one. Secondly, it's not realistic. I know, it's supposed to be a fiction, but the viewers should still find a convincing plot. You might think it's a fairy-tale, but again, it's not quite there. It feels like this movie can not define itself. I'm not going to say more, don't want to spoil it. Lastly, the curse- breaking is not sensational. It feels like the writers had no good idea about how the story should end so they threw in some nice effects and everybody is happy. Nope, not really. The only funny thing about it were the older cops (again, not telling you more so it won't become a spoiler), but again, you were not supposed to have a funny moment as a highlight for this movie. Trying too much, not getting anywhere. But don't simply believe me, go check it out.

Had to write this after seeing a cruddy review from some local misery guts who waffled on forever and ever about how bad it was. Long reviews are generally an indicator of little to say along with a sense of self importance. Well Liza was a great film in my opinion. The movie, if fantasy fairy tales are your thing, is a well written, beautifully visualised and made European film. There aren't reams of dialogue to put off those who don't like subs, just enough to move the plot and produce gags. The casting is faultless. God bless the Hungarians for financing it's production. To invoke the awful Hollywood cliché that invariably stops me from seeing movies, it is a 'Timeless Classic', Much like 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. I recommenced it, it's funny and entranced me and will do many others for decades.

I loved 'Citizen Dog' and this movie falls under the same category. I haven't seen many Hungarian films, but recently I saw and liked 'White God'. After seeing the overwhelmed responses to this, I think I anticipated a lot only to get disappointed. I'm not completely upset with it, I liked the story, maybe I expected more cute and innocence like an Audrey Tautou character from 'Amélie'.There are lots of fun that you could feel the movie is not simply trying to impress you, but begin to evolve to build a fine storyline and a better conclusion. The deaths, inclusion of a Japanese character, songs and a fairytale is how the concept was developed that became the centre of the narration.At a time I felt a little too much use of them is why my interest on this slightly declined during the watch. I definitely won't consider it a bad movie, but only felt it should have been a little better in the storytelling. I might have not liked it as much as other similar films, but it's a superior quality, with the good performances. I think anyone who enjoyed 'Citizen Dog' and 'Amelie' should try it with the low expectation.6/10

Liza, the Fox-fairy is one of the most pleasant surprises I ever had watching a Hungarian movie. The cinematography and scenery were beautiful, the actors did an excellent job. The idea of adding Japanese pop culture and mythology to a fictional capitalistic 70's Hungarian scenery might seem a little far fetched at first, but it really works well. The story was captivating. Most reviewers mention Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Amélie' and Wes Anderson's movies as probable inspirations. I have to agree, but these influences are not explicit at all, they stay on a vibe level. Also I have to add, it's way darker than those movies and that it has more of a 'Delicatessen' mood, (also) a Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro movie. Anyway, if you like weird love stories with dark twists and dark humor you should definitely give this movie a chance.