PSIFF 2013: JUST THE WIND

Birdy (Katalin Toldi) in Just the Wind.

Branded outsiders

By Miranda Inganni

A Romani neighborhood is the target of violent attacks in this year’s Oscar entry from Hungary.

Influenced by a real racist crime spree that occurred in a Romani (AKA gypsy) neighborhood in Hungary in 2008-2009, Just the Wind (Csak a szél) is a “day in the life of” tale of a family similar to the one that was brutally murdered. It focuses on hard working Birdy (Katalin Toldi) and her two children -- adolescent Anna (Gyöngyi Lendvai) and not-quite teenage son, Rio (Lajos Sarkany).

Anna is studious, dutiful and keeps her head down – sometimes to a fault. Rio is sinewy, defiant and breezy, skipping school to stock his secret emergency bunker. Just what he is expecting is unclear, but he is a boy prepared. He steals from nearby houses, including the one of the recently murdered family -- bloodstains still seemingly dripping on the walls -- but is thoughtful enough to include items, such as nail polish, for Anna. (It’s during this break-in that he overhears two policemen discussing what kind of Romani are the “right” ones to kill.) Brassy Birdy works two manual labor jobs and not only cares for her children, but also her father (Gyorgy Toldi), who is unable to care for himself. The four live together in close, dark quarters with no running water. With the tightknit community on high alert after the viscous attacks, Birdy and her family try to go about their day and night like nothing has changed. But it has.

Director Benedek Fliegauf’s Just the Windsinks its teeth into the true grit of this family’s life for one day, bouncing between each one’s activities for that day. The three main actors, each of who is making their movie debut, are remarkably adept at bringing their characters to life. Sadly, the plight of this family (as is true of so many Romani families) is a tragic one.

Just the Wind is as tense as it is intense. Its somber realism is jarring, but telling at least this tale of Hungary’s largest minority is a necessary one.