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BUBBLE BATH (HABFRD) 1979, 79 min. Hungarian director Gyrgy Kovsznais wildly idiosyncratic animated musical is one of the most indescribably strange, personal and totally irresistible cartoon features ever made. Shop window decorator Zsolt (voiced by Kornl Gelley, with Albert Antalffy singing) bursts into the apartment of his fiances best friend Anik (voiced by Vera Venzcel, with Kati Bontovits singing), paralyzed with fear at his impending marriage. Zsolt is like an anxious hippie alley cat, or an Eastern European Frank Zappa in a tux; medical student Anik a more curvaceous and leggy post-modern Betty Boop and both unsure of their attraction to each other, of the choices theyve made, of what life has in store for them. A truly insane and surprisingly sexy mash-up of styles, from 1920s Art Deco to 1960s Psychedelia to late 1970s louche Roxy Music decadence, BUBBLE BATH is incredibly restless and creative, the bohemian love-child of Bill Plymptons off-kilter individualism and Ralph Bakshis wonderfully warped, rubbery visual style. In other words: its not quite like any animated film youve ever seen before. Sadly, this was director and animator Kovsznais only feature film after making a number of brilliant cartoon shorts at Pannnia filmstdio — he died of leukemia in 1983 shortly after its release. BUBBLE BATH has been beautifully restored by the National Film Institute in Hungary for its first-ever U.S. release by Deaf Crocodile. In Hungarian with English subtitles.

directed by:Gyrgy Kovsznai
starring:Kornl Gelley, Albert Antalffy, Vera Venzcel, Kati Bontovits
1979 / 79 min / 1.37:1 /Hungarian Stereo

Additional info:

Region A Blu-ray
New commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan
New essay by film historian and professor Jennifer Lynde Barker
Interview with BUBBLE BATH Composer Jnos Msik 2021, 7 min., dir. Yvonne Kerkgyrt
Restoring BUBBLE BATH 2021, 9 min., dir. Yvonne Kerkgyrt. A fascinating look at the restoration of this Hungarian animated classic featuring interviews with Gyrgy Raduly, director of the National Film Institute and the NFI film archivists
5 Rare Short films by Gyrgy Kovsznai:
Monologue (Monolg) – (1963, 12 min.) lovely and surreal cut-out animation in a pre-Terry Gilliam / Monty Python style, a wild combination of Victorian imagery and Mod 1960s design
Metamorphosis (tvltozsok) – (1964, 7 min.) Two faces a woman and a man blend and change and liquify, reflecting the history of 20th century art
Wavelengths (Hullmhosszok) – (1970, 9 min.) – Kovsznais abstract masterpiece with hints of Henri Matisse in its depiction of human forms floating in space, set to a surreal soundtrack of radio broadcasts
Nights in the Boulevard (Krti estk) – (1972, 9 min.) – Kovsznais stunningly beautiful hand-painted short of a night in the city poets and lovers in cafs, a constant hum of music and drinks and conversation done in a gorgeous post-Psychedelic style with hints of YELLOW SUBMARINE and his feature BUBBLE BATH to come
A Memory of Summer (A 74-es nyr emlke) – 1974 (1974, 10 min.) Painted animation at its finest in Kovsznais stream-of-consciousness portrait of life in the Summer, color and form and brushstrokes constantly morphing and changing, all driven by a kinetic rock score
All of the above short films in Hungarian with English subtitles
Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
English subtitles