Ikaros - Synopsis

Though the Great Classics tell us that it is impossible to investigate the story behind every slap to the face, I feel that in this instance some explanation is necessary. The film I began thinking about is not an example of stark realism; it does not strive to depict a sociologically authentic environment. The world of the film is highly stylistic. In this story, Budapest is not primarily the capital of Hungary, but is the archetypal Big City. Likewise, America is not the United States, but the Land of Promise; Hamburg is the Harbor; Helsinki is the Center of the Land of Snow; Feri is the fairytale Youngest Son; his grandmother is the quintessential Grandmother; Mari is the Girl of the Streets; etc. The objects and the buildings only generally represent the age. Feri’s imagination is quite eclectic, fed by the visual debris projected by the TV at the bar, tattoos he sees on other people, the clumsy late-Romanticism of the village church, and most of all, by his grandmother’s stories. The anticipated film shows this world of imagination with extreme visual elements, very strong colors and harsh gestures, melodramatically, and might be considered gaudy and kitsch by standard tastes. My aim is to tell a simple story, not to call the public’s attention to the terrible situation of the Gypsy nation. This is not a moral parable; it is simply a story about an utterly innocent young man who happened to be born a Gypsy. Things worked out in such a way that basic values – trust, honesty, and well-meaning – unquestionable for centuries, have these days become the attributes of a loser and a sucker. I am interested to see if it is possible to write a story that takes place today, where these qualities become the requisite characteristics and the dynamically functioning powers of an attractive, amiable hero.