Zoli and Barba are inseparable as friends, connected by their love of comics and their physical disabilities. In a world where they are invisible the two worry about finding any meaning in their lives. Their meaningless meander through life is interrupted when they meet Rupaszov, a disabled hit man. Seeing something in the two young men he embroils them in his latest job…

Kill on Wheels (Tiszta szívvel. 2016 - 105 mins) is a dark comedy written and directed by Attila Till.

Zoli (Zoltán Fenyvesi) and Barba (Ádám Fekete) both live lives dominated by their disabilities, from spending time at the rehabilitation centre to conversations about being disabled, the two find their lives dispiriting, as Zoli states he is sick of being ‘the disabled one’, feeling it’s time for someone else to have a go. It’s little wonder when they have an offer to make a bit of money, their own money and not the 120 euro state hand-out, that they jump at the chance.

Rupaszov (Szabolcs Thuróczy) is a broken man and this is not confined to his legs which no longer work, having been crushed when he worked as a fireman. It is not that the two boys trust him just because they share a disability, in fact Zoli admits that he is a little afraid of Rupaszov, but compared to the grinding monotony of their lives even feeling fear is a good experience.

The trio soon use their disabilities to their advantage, knowing that the general public would either like to ignore them or give them money out of pity. This social desire to ignore them means that Rupaszov can pretty much gun down a man in broad day light as the victim's minders scan the surrounding crowd but never look at the three disabled men.

Things however do not go the way the trio would want as Rupaszov’s boss feels that his two newest helpers are a risk and orders Rupaszov to kill them.

Till says that he wrote the screenplay after working in a rehabilitation centre and at no point does the film make any patronising plays. The characters find both pathos and humour in their disabilities. There is one particularly funny scene of the three trying to get through a swamp in order to go for a day’s fishing, which does not work out as well as they had hoped.

Zoli is our primary POV character, although he shares this with Rupaszov. We see Zoli being offered lifesaving surgery, being paid by a father that he has not seen and only knows from an old photograph. Zoli refuse the offer promising his mother that he will either pay for it himself or not have the surgery. Rupaszov is an altogether sadder figure. Not having been born disabled, he seems the least able to deal with it, blaming losing his love to the disability, rather than the fact he pushed her away.

In a way he is a nice contrast to Zoli, whose surgery will not cure his disability, only offer a longer life, whereas Rupaszov kills because he thinks that if he has enough money he can go back to the person he used to be. Zoli for all his protestations turns out to be the more accepting of his condition.

The film is presented in Hungarian with English subtitles. The disc has a concrete 2.35:1 HD transfer with audio options for either a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround or PCM 2.0 stereo, which although it has a solid mix is inferior to the 5.1. The only extra on the disc is the Theatrical Trailer (2 min).

It’s a quirky-comedy drama which keeps you thinking. The comic book that the two are constructing for a competition plays a central role and the film plays around with the idea that nothing you are seeing is real, just the story in their comic or it’s all real and the two are just tapping into their experience, the film lets you decide which way to go.

7

Charles Packer