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Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), once a brilliant architect, now works as a
ticket controller in the Budapest subway system, but not only that, he
lives - & spends all his time - underground.
Ticket controllers are probably the least liked subway employees as it
is, & Bulcsú & his team - the Professor (Zoltán Mucsi), Lecsó
(Sándor Badár), narcoleptic Muki (Csaba Pindroch) & rookie Tibi
(Zsolt Nagy) are probably the most chaotic team on the force, the only
kick they get in their job being outrunning fare dodgers, even if that
means pushing their way trhough paying customers without consideration for
their safety ... but professional fare dodger (if that is a profession)
Bootsie (Bence Mátyási) regularly gives them a run for their money,
& has yet to be caught.
Bulcsú's team is of course held in low respect by his colleagues,
especially model ticket controller Gonzó (Balázs Mihályfi), who
eventually challenges Bulcsú to a railrun, meaning running from one
station to the next, with the train behind them, quickly closing in ...
& Bulcsú wins ...
Eventually, Bulcsú falls in love with a fare dodger, Szofi (Eszter
Balla), who mostly rides the subway in a silly bear costume, & she is
appreciative to his avances ...
Oh, & have I menitioned a hooded killer (Gyözö Szabó) is on the
loose in the subway system, who repeatedly pushes passengers in front of
trains, but makes it look like suicide ?
Eventually, Bulcsú stumbles over Bootsie yet again, but this time he
has made up his mind to indeed outrun & catch him, but after a long
chase, rather suddenly, Bootsie is pushed in front of a train by the
hooded killer ...
However, the internal affairs department of the subway suspects
Bulcsú to have killed Bootsie, & almost try to frame him to get
out of a jam, however their suspicions (let alone evidence) are not strong
enough to call in the police, & Bulcsú just quits his jpb,
disappointed about how everything has turned out. But Bulcsús stumbles
ofver Gonzó & his team in the next subway he steps into ... &
since Gonzó hasn#t taken his defeat at the railrun slightly, he & his
team beat up Bulcsú badly.
When later Bulcsú regains his full senses, he sudenly spts the killer
... & what's worse, the killer spots him, & soon chases him
through a subway tunnle. Thing is, Bulcsú is an expert at railrunning,
& makes it to the next station ... the killer, however, gets run over.
At the station, Bulcsú meets Szofi (now dressed like an angel) again,
& with her he finally dares to leave the underground.
What might sound like a thin & underdeveloped murder mystery with a
lovestory tagged on, is in fact an entertaining, episodic comedy about
life in the Budapest subway (founded in 1896 & thus the oldest subway
of continental Europe, should anybody be interested), represented by the
story of a run-down ticket controller. That the film was shot in the
actual Budapest subway system (during closing hours, which allowed the
filmteam only to shoot five hours every night) does help the film a great
deal as it lends it some run-down aethetics you just can't duplicate in a
studio.
The film might occasionally lack depth & have quite a few
plotholes, but it's great fun nevertheless.
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