Atvaltozas on AllMovie

In this exceptionally long, 4 1/2-hour drama, very little happens to sustain interest for that length of time, the story being a simple tale of the break-up of a marriage and the death of a grandfather inside one large house. Wanda Pasztor (Amaryllis Tamas) lives in her grandfather's house with her husband Gabor (Gabor Csordas) who spends countless hours in labyrinthian intellectual discussions with his friends and plans on starting a new magazine dedicated to culture and the arts. Wanda is ignored by her husband and upset by his lack of interest in starting a family of their own. Wanda's cousin Marta (Marta Rimoczi), a ballet dancer, also resides in the house and is dedicated to her career. The grandfather sometimes lives in the past, as he spends time looking through photographs of long-gone events and people. His eventual demise, and the results of his will and the aftermath of a split between Wanda and Gabor form the basis for the rest of the film. The lengthy, dry, academic discussions between Gabor and his friends as they smoke their way through each hour in a haze of elite verbiage, if cut to a one-cigarette repartée, would improve the drama.