Ildikó Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” opens on a buck and a doe going through snowy woods, in a fantasy that climaxes with the buck placing it’s head on the doe’s neck in a haunting gesture of relationship. Endre (Géza Morcsányi) and Maria (Alexandra Borbély) both see the same dream at night. Both of them work in a slaughterhouse. Endre is the manager, a middle aged man with a disabled arm. Maria is the new hygiene inspector in the farm. She examines the slaughtered beasts for signs of disease or excess fat. She finds difficult to interact with human beings. In this film,we see some explicit shots of animals being chopped up. Such scenes might give an eerie feeling to the film throughout. Endre and Maria begin to fall in love. Both do share the same dream but when it comes to real life,both of them struggle to continue the relationship. Endre has a disabled arm while Maria finds it tough to communicate with him. Maria watches pornography to know about sex in details. Both are lonely in their own lives. Just like the cows of the slaughterhouse, both of them are imprisoned in their worlds. Endre mostly talks to Jenö (Zoltán Schneider) but he is far from being his friend. One of the most interesting aspect of the film is the way window is used to separate them. At-times, Endre watches Maria through the windows of his office.
At canteen,he watches her through windows. They are so close yet so far. One day, both of them try to sleep in one room together. While doing so,they can’t sleep at all. The film is extremely well-shot. A lot of the imagery is splendidly unsettling. The music is hauntingly beautiful and Ildiko Enyedi’s direction is controlled and intelligent. She succeeds in connecting between human and animal behaviour and depiction of the alienation of modern human being. Géza Morcsányi gives a stunning performance as Endre . He successfully conveys all the emotions with a bit of sophistication. Alexandra Borbély is even better than him. Some actresses perform so wonderfully that it stays in your mind forever. She is beautiful but in most part of the film she acts as if she suffers from inferiority complex. She hardly looks confident. The script is nuanced, poignant and thought-provoking, with some pertinent points made about the subjects it explores.
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