The 38-year-old director's career is rather unusual for a contemporary Hungarian director. His first film attracted much attention and won several awards. Continually evolving over the past ten years, Hajdú has always been able to tackle exciting topics and offer an original vision. And in 2010, he has again shown that he is capable of a renewal of form.
The title Bibliotheque Pascal does not give much away. It takes quite some time into the film before one learns that it does not refer to a library. Instead, it is a luxury brothel run by a pimp called Pascal. Here each prostitute, whether man, woman or child, is forced to play the role of a literary figure while satisfying their snobbish customers' every desire. Creating these Jeanne D'Arc, Desdemona and Dorian Gray roles is typical of Hajdú's extraordinary imagination. The spectacular way they are presented makes it look like a Terry Gilliam film, though the excellent set designers Mónika Esztán and Péter Mátyassy obviously had a much smaller budget to work with. Under these perverted masks, Hajdú's almost socio-film-like sensitivity is undeniably present. (As such, the film could be most simply described as a marriage between Slumdog Millionaire and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.)
The film presents the response that a Transylvanian woman named Mona Paparu gives to the authorities when they ask what happened to her daughter. Played excellently by Orsolya Török-Illyés, Mona tells a heart-gripping story.
Bibliotheque Pascal is a grand feature film by a witty and self-confident director.
Author: Bálint Kovács
