No matter how petite she is, wearing large-framed glasses, no makeup, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, there is nothing to draw attention to, she can be fooled. To get around her by looking for another Ildiko Enyendi as she was shaped by knowing her only from her films. I like such a special – unique, so to speak, in terms of the subtlety of observation – “Soul and Body”, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin (2017). The calm tone of her voice did not waver, even when she answered the question of whether she considered Orban a threat to democracy. “Undoubtedly,” the Hungarian director declares monotonously and firmly. You live in Budapest, right? I ask her to clarify. “Why should I leave my country, my homeland? It can be very sad and suffocating at times, but this is my country, full of wonderful people who suffer just like me. However, it is true that many have left.”

She came to Athens in October for Premiere Evenings, accompanying her new film, My Wife’s Story. From next Thursday it will be shown in cinemas, inviting us into an aesthetic and mental wandering of waves and halftones. In the coexistence of a mismatched and very beautiful couple, Jacob and Lizzy: a sailor who bets that he will marry the first woman to walk through the door of a Parisian cafe – early 20th century – and a dazzling existence that takes this (perhaps fatal) step. Louis Garrel and Léa Seydoux are the perfect performers. The film is based on the novel of the same name by the Hungarian writer Milan Fust (1888-1967).

“His protagonist is a man with flaws, a man of bad taste, who makes many mistakes, yet never gives up trying to understand life and other people, no matter how difficult and often heartbreaking it may be. It doesn’t stay on the surface. This honest and painstaking search is so rare, but so important.

– You’re right. There are always things under the surface. In Soul and Body this surface is transparent. In The Story of My Wife, it is perhaps harder to see from behind, because in a period film and a love story, the viewer automatically thinks they know what they are about to face. You need to be a little more generous, a little more “open” to be able to break through to the first level.

– At the beginning of the film, Jacob, the captain, is very confident in himself, safe in the archaic-male world of the ship. When he marries this woman, a completely different world opens before him, which he does not understand, but does not stop trying to understand, even when it hurts him. At the end of the film, he lost so much: the sea, his sense of security, all his confidence. But from what he tells his imaginary son, we understand that he has no problem with this. He realized that he should be more humble and receptive, grateful, so to speak, towards what surpasses him. So, even though the injury and pain, even when it’s too late, since years have passed since the death of his wife, he still learns from her, she is his secret teacher.

Why should I leave my country? It can be very sad and suffocating at times, but this is my country, full of wonderful people who suffer just like me.

– No, no, I am not at all skeptical about activism and especially about #MeToo, which was absolutely necessary and made very big changes. It’s something different, more personal and related to how I want to live. I don’t want to make a commitment, and activism is a big commitment. Until 1989, as a young student, I had many contacts with the secret democratic organizations of the Eastern bloc. From then until today, my position has been clear, and I do not hesitate to express it when necessary. Just because I don’t participate in protests doesn’t mean I don’t support activism and don’t have much respect for the people who embrace it. Like, for example, women in Iran.

– In the fall of 2020, the Budapest film school where I taught was attacked by the regime, and students occupied the university for 72 days. It was a terrible time, but at the same time a wonderful experience. Professors and students created the group Free SZFE (abbreviation for the Budapest School of Theater and Film). The students had the opportunity to test their skills at the countless art events organized as part of the mobilization, while at the same time the bonds between professors and students were strengthened.

“Yes, but I hope my children’s generation doesn’t let things get out of control.

– What is created without the need to be useful is reassuring.