The most controversial film from Hungary this year. It is a story of a single mother who has to explain about her absence to the social workers to regain the custody of her three-year-old daughter. The extraordinary account of how she was sold into the sex trade by her estranged father, is simply astonishing. Mona walks you through the tale of how she went from the underbelly of Europe into a British brothel in a surreal and fantastical manner. It brings to mind the work of Emir Kusturica like [Time of the Gypsies]. ‘Bibliotheque Pascal’ is the name of a high-end brothel run by an English man called Pascal. The mise en scene resembles that of Stanley Kubrick’s [A Clockwork Orange], not to claim it achieves the same level as his masterpieces. It is evident that Hajdu put a lot of thoughts into building an elaborate style. Horizontal tracking shots are beautifully executed and incongruously sweet music runs throughout film, offsetting the viewers’ discomfort to a certain extent. With happy ending, Hajdu offers a rather cliched but touching theme of greatness of motherhood. (JEON Chanil)