MOVIE NEWS – The morgue night watchman in The Gateway House is smitten with a dead girl.

 

Soon, a unique world comes to life in cinemas across the country. But literally. The two lovelorn protagonists (Vivien Rujder and Péter Bárnai) of the romantic fantasy/comedy The Gateway House have to overcome a slightly more serious obstacle than is usually the case in romantic comedies: death.

The not-so-sombre story of the relationship between a dead girl and a boy who works as a night watchman in a morgue will be in cinemas from 8 December – and will be on show throughout the Christmas season.

And today, some exciting clips from the film are finally being revealed – the first trailer for The Passage House has been released online, giving viewers a taste of the playful, unique world the filmmakers have created.

The poster for the film, created by Marci Kenczler, was also released a few days ago. The designer also had to tackle the difficult task of showing in a single image that the story takes place in an unusual location, but is still a cheerful, likeable adventure with likeable characters and lots of ideas and jokes.

The extremely witty film design was created with the help of András Muhi and producer Gábor Ferenczy, the story was the brainchild of Péter Zsoldos award-winning writer/screenwriter Attila Veres, and the production was directed by one of the most talented and busy young Hungarian directors, Isti Madarász. The film also stars János Kulka and Erzsébet Kútvölgyi, as well as Máté Mészáros, Miklós Galla, Miklós B. Székely, Kata Dobó, Attila Árpa and the two Pamkutya.

The actors spent an unusually long time in green-wallpapered studios during the shooting of the Hungarian production, as the audience will see some spectacular elements and locations on the screen that do not and cannot exist in reality: the creators used 409 CGI cuts to create the extraordinary tricks of the film. But alongside the digital magic, visual designer Péter Horgas also had to tackle a task that probably no one else in Hungarian cinema has ever had to do: in The Gateway House, the world is turned upside down, and to depict this, the crew built spaces, interiors and other rooms that could be turned by a huge machine – similar to the one Christopher Nolan used in Origin.

“From the start, our aim was to make The Gateway House entertain: we wanted to create a film that was humorous, likeable but also very spectacular, and it’s a wonderful feeling to have so many great actors involved. Our film is about love, about the fact that love knows no impossibilities and can even cross boundaries that are thought to be insurmountable, and I am very happy that it is being released in December, because when is it more relevant to talk about love, or even love beyond the earth, than during the Christmas season?

The Gateway House was produced by Focus Fox with the support of the National Film Institute and produced by András Muhi and Gábor Ferenczy. The screenplay was written by Attila Veres, the cinematography was by Gábor Garai, the visuals by Péter Horgas, the costumes by Ibolya Bárdosi and the music by Attila Pacsay. Zsófia Muhi was the casting director. The main roles were played by Vivien Rujder, Péter Bárnai, János Kulka and Erzsébet Kútvölgyi, but Máté Mészáros, Miklós Galla, Miklós B. Székely, Attila Bocsárszky, Mari Nagy, László Quitt, Lídia Danis and the two Pamkutyas also had important roles.

The film will be released in cinemas from 8 December.