Iska ’s Journey (Iszka Utazása )

Iska’s Journey tells the harrowing story of a twelve-year-old girl who shows courage in the face of harsh poverty, only to succumb eventually to its ravages. Csaba Bollók’s third feature film is surely one of the most stunning entries of last year for Hungarian cinema.

In her decaying mining town in Romania’s Zsil River valley, Iska (Mária Varga) scavenges for scrap metal under deplorable conditions – a practice rife in the aging grey industrialised areas of Eastern Europe. When she haggles over price with a buyer and goes home with nothing, she receives a savage beating from her alcoholic mother and is eventually taken into a youth shelter.

The film centres on the luminous, freckled face of its young lead, Mária Varga, who appears in almost every frame, her innocent large eyes dominating each shot. Iska’s Journey eschews a straightforward plot, emotional grandstanding or easy moral messages, lending the film an authentic, documentary feel. The result is a moving portrayal of the ravages of one girl’s world and the corrupt people for whom she is nothing but currency.

Dimitri Eipides, Toronto Film Festival Catalogue