In 1944 Hungary, in the midst of World War II, two identical, inseparable twin boys are sent by their mother to the far countryside to avoid the dangers of war. They are sent to their grandmother (Piroska Molnár), a tough, vicious old woman who is known as the town witch. She is outraged that she is stuck with the boys, referring to them only as “bastards” and beating them daily. Despite their mother’s intention of protecting them, the boys are inevitably exposed to the horrors of war, and the twins decide to make themselves immune to suffering by taking drastic actions, including beating each other up and starving themselves, all in the name of becoming emotionally tough in the drama The Notebook (‘Le Grand Cahier’).
The film is an exploitation movie disguised under the veil of foreign World War II drama.
The synopsis of The Notebook is essentially a set-up to create as many disturbing situations as humanly possible in a two-hour film. Nearly any scenario possible to make an audience horrified is included: pedophilia, murder, starvation, anti-Semitism, rape, abuse of power, bombings, you get the idea. And what is all this trying to prove? Essentially nothing, other than it is awful to watch, which we could have easily guessed without enduring ourselves to this. There is no story, no tension, just a series of set-ups for sadistic circumstances. I understand that war is a horrific thing and has a massive ripple effect. Violence in movies is usually meant to serve a purpose in moving the story forward, or possibly commenting on a larger theme. Here we get neither, and by the halfway point, the film becomes absurd trash, as numerous side characters meet gruesome scenarios with no real purpose.
There is no saving grace to this film. The story is an absolute mess, the characters are unsympathetic. The film is an exploitation movie disguised under the veil of foreign World War II drama. As much as I am an advocate for foreign films, and despite my personal affinity for the country of Hungary, I must advise strongly that you spare yourself the misery of this nightmarish film.
