Syed Sheheryar Amer - Látom amit látsz - Review

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Látom amit látsz Review

Látom, amit látsz or Wandering Leaves (2023) is a Hungarian romantic drama with elements of fantasy and sci-fi, and is the directorial debut of Mátyás Szabó. The plot revolves around the character of Ábel, played by Benett Vilmányi, a young man in his twenties who has worked all his life for an unspecified agency responsible for finding lost children, by using a machine that enables him to connect to their vision, a process called “subjectification.” His otherwise empty life changes drastically when he accidentally connects to a hobby photographer Vera, played by Petra Hartai. Their newly found love is however concerning for Ábel’s guardians, Mrs. Mituk and the Professor, who run the child rescue operation and are afraid of losing their valuable asset. Despite the interesting initial premise and promising visual atmosphere of the film, Látom, amit látsz is still plagued by the superficial treatment of its major themes.

The film uses a rather clichéd romantic notion as its premise coupled with a more philosophical idea of being able to experience the world through someone else’s eyes. Subjectification, is not only used as a romantic trope but also is the major speculative or sci-fi element of the movie. The Professor’s machine enables Ábel to connect to the visual perception of other people after hearing their voice. Furthermore, the sci-fi element in the film is used in a distinctly Eastern European style of cinema. As a smaller film industry, Hungarian filmmakers lack the funds for constructing an alternate and futuristic world that could house this technological aspect so it uses a way around it. Instead of visually exquisite visual design, it keeps the setting commonplace and contemporary, even regressing it slightly by the use of retro analogue tape recorder and the backdrop of 1970s or 80s Budapest. This is a common approach among Eastern European directors looking to experiment with sci-fi, considering the limited budgets available to filmmakers from such smaller industries. However, the film is not fully fleshed out as sci-fi, as the phenomenon of subjectification in the film is presented vaguely and the audience never gets to know the science behind the procedure. Instead, it appears as a fantastical superpower that some people like Ábel have and others, like the Professor’s son Marián, do not. Neither have the filmmakers made the effort to situate the technology in the diegetic world context, it is not specified whether this technology is widespread or not, whether the children’s rescue operation is privately managed or sponsored by a government agency.

Apart from the appeal of the film’s basic creative concept, the visual atmosphere is the area where Mátyás Szabó’s debut feature film excels. Set design follows the trajectory of the plot, perfectly. In the beginning when Ábel is still stuck in the monotonous routine of life as a subjector, the background features the oppressive visuals of eighties’ Budapest with its grey and desolate urban landscape. In the latter half of the film, the director introduces colour

through the yellow rapeseed fields and the greenery of the Hungarian countryside Ábel and Vera escape to. Furthermore, during Ábel’s subjecting, the perspective turns somewhat hazy, giving it a dream-like quality that enhances the atmosphere for exploration of themes of romance and love.

Figure 1.1: Oppressive visuals of Budapest

                

Figure 1.2: Ábel and Vera in a rapeseed field in Hungarian countryside.

Both Ábel and Vera are socially awkward and incapable of human interactions, Ábel especially can’t even roam around independently and constantly needs to have someone by his side. The film does not even bother to expand further and explain why he is so impaired, leaving a bit too much to audience’s imagination. Both Vilmányi and Hartai do a good job at capturing these difficulties in socialization through their performances. Additionally, their awkward but in-sync movement and elongated eye contact enhances the romantic atmosphere of the film. Thus, the lead actor’s performance makes the characters relatable for the audience because of the difficulties in communication that young people falling in love face.

Similar to the sci-fi aspect, the romantic element also remains at a superficial level. Even though the core idea of having complete strangers meet under unusual circumstances is promising and the challenges to fulfil a romantic relationship, like overcoming social awkwardness and introverted personalities or fighting the resistance posed by Mrs. Mituk and later the Professor, follows well-tested patterns of the romance genre, the plot of Látom, amit látsz stops at a surface level in the exploration of the theme. Instead of treating it like a reflection of the way relationships work in real life, the film presents it in superficially metaphorical terms. Subjectification, as the force that brings them closer, seems like an apt metaphor for love between strangers, nevertheless the story fails to build on it, as throughout the film the characters motivations remain hard to grasp. For Vera, it simply feels good when Ábel is viewing the world from her perspective thus turning this subjectification metaphor into a mere pleasure device that makes her initial concerns over her privacy being breached disappear. For Ábel, their relationship is a way to escape the oppressive and exploitative routine of his usual life. However, the metaphorical treatment again makes it hard to understand his motivation to give up his role as the subjector as well as permanently tying himself up to Vera’s eyes. He decides to risk losing his own eyesight so that he could keep his love and view the world through her eyes for the rest of his life. The trust or conviction that apparently incites him to make this serious decision is simply not developed in the story.

Another theme of the movie is the existential crisis Ábel faces because of being a subjector all his life. While he develops romantic feelings for Vera, he is also coming to the realization that he is missing out on the opportunities life has to offer by working under the oppressive system of the child rescue company. Vera makes him realize that he has lost agency in life and is in danger of professional burn-out unless he starts living it. Consequently, the cracks in the “Messiah” complex instilled in him—the belief that he is a chosen savior—begin to surface, making it increasingly difficult for him to reconcile his sense of duty according to which great power brings great responsibility. The film uses the metaphor of the fragile insect called wandering leaf who pupate before its eventual bloom. Similarly, Ábel has lived his life tucked away from the world, guarded by the Professor and forced to focus only on his purpose as saviour of lost children. During the course of the story, Ábel evolves from a cocooned and puppet-like life into something new, however the plot fails to build on this theme once again: Ábel escapes the life of a subjector but does he get to have a normal life? Not really, as he makes a choice to give up his eyes for Vera, hence moving to another state of dependency. Whereas the film treats its main themes of love and agency in terms of metaphors, like subjectification and the wandering leaf insects and, while this lends a unique poetic quality which could be one of the film’s strength, the plot fails to build upon these tropes and leave the viewer feeling disappointed.

Lastly, Mátyás Szabó and team also lose the opportunity to make the film socially more relevant by further elaborating the situation of runaway children and those receiving institutional care. Hungary has over 20,000 children live in state care and these children are known to be discriminated against. One of the factors in this discrimination is the fact that Roma children are overrepresented in state care, according to a European Roma Rights Centre report published in 2011. The film only subtly hints at the fact that children in state care and other institutions are mistreated. One of the children Ábel locates is called by Mrs. Mituk as a “second-timer” and mentions that he never got used to the institution he lives in. Similarly, at one point Mrs. Mituk is seen reading a story to a runaway child about a piglet separated from his family. While the feeling of loneliness and the sense of being lost is a central theme of the movie, at no point does it try to shine light on wider issues of children separated from their families or highlight their social demographic.

In conclusion, Látom, amit látsz is a beautifully filmed visual poem that is weighed down by the weaker narrative structure making it a rather superficial romantic drama. It has an original sci-fi premise but the budgetary confines and the shortcomings of the plot falter its ambitions and instead turn it into more of a fantasy. Furthermore, an essential element of the story is the initiative for rescuing lost or runaway children, yet the film fails to highlight the plight of these children, thus falling short of making more social impact.

 

Works cited

European Roma Rights Centre. Life Sentence: Romani Children in State Care in Hungary. 20 June 2011, www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/life-sentence-romani-children-in-state-care-in-hungary-20-june-2011.pdf. Accessed 28 June 2025.