Passion

In this black-and-white Hungarian version of James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice (filmed four times previously), a wife (Ildiko Bansagi) and her lover (Janos Derzsi) plot to kill her older husband (Dzsoko Rozsics). This time the book's opening chapters have been dropped to have the tale begin with the drifter already employed by the old man. Cain's 1934 novel was first filmed in France by Pierre Chenal as Le Dernier Tournant (1939), followed by Luchino Visconti's neorealist classic Ossessione (1943) and the more familiar American adaptations by Tay Garnett (1946) and Bob Rafelson (1981). Passion won a half-dozen of the 1998 Hungarian Film Awards -- Best Film, Director, Actress, Actor (shared), Cinematography, plus the award selected by foreign critics.~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide