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Review

Men in the Nude follows Tibor, a highly intelligent and mildly melancholic author who will soon turn 50. He shares a listless marriage with an irrationally narcissistic actress who greatly fears aging and the effect it will have on her once thriving career. Tibor goes to great lengths to give his wife the attention that she requires until he meets Zsolt, an effeminate 19-year-old street thug who uses what seem to be his only assets: his blonde hair and slender body. The appeal of Zsolt's youth outweighs the fact that Tibor has always been chiefly attracted to women. While his wife is working out of town, he brings Zsolt home and begins a passionate and experimental affair. Though initially reluctant, Tibor ignores his better judgment and falls in love with the much younger boy, embarking on a potentially dangerous but exciting sexual odyssey of which he never before would have dreamed. Paying homage to Thomas Mann's literary classic "Death in Venice," director Esztergályos carefully and respectfully explores taboo subjects while using multiple perspectives to make insightful observations about the fear of growing older, the nature of bisexuality and the unavoidable downfalls brought on by vanity. (Hungarian with English subtitles)

 -- Robert O'Neill