AllMovie

The original Hungarian title of Darkness in Daytime was Nappali Sotetseg; director Zoltan Fabi adapted the screenplay from a novel by Boris Palotai. It's all about the May/December romance between middle-aged writer Lajos Basti and young Jewish girl Erika Szegedi. But this isn't exactly a lighthearted comedy: the film, based on a true incident in the life of novelist Palotai, is set during World War II. In order to save Szegedi from the Nazis, Basti contrives to give her his daughter's identification papers. Unfortunately, the daughter (Ilona Beres) is a resistance fighter, thus is also on the Nazis' "hit list". The film is told in flashback form; the writer, now old and guilt-ridden, anguishes over his "cowardice" in failing to save his beloved.