Bubble Bath is an arthouse animation and bizarre love triangle set in the heart of the Hungarian capital. The first and only feature film by artist György Kovásznai, it was also the first adult animation in the country, and based on an original screenplay. In an approach ahead of its time, numerous film forms (musical, rom-com and documentary) are mixed up in the hybrid-genre experimental film.
The soundtrack, composed by János Másik is a playful, operatic zoo, bringing in samples of Bossa Nova, bluegrass, funk, and disco. Depicting a city life with city-people problems, the film spoke a radically new language in comparison with Hungarian storytelling films made for children earlier that decade. (See Janoz Vitez and Mattie the Goose Boy). Initially met with mixed reviews by contemporary critics and viewers, it has since become a cult favourite and a high point in European animation.
This film also sounds so good. János Másik composed the characteristic music and catchy melodies, with lyrics written by Kovásznai himself.
"Just pulled this bluray into our shop and was DYING to watch it before we put it out — so psyched ya'll have this on the Eternal!"- @secretroompdx
The action takes place in Budapest’s downtown and it reveals the story of a love triangle: Zsolt, the middle-aged window shop decorator, runs away on his wedding day, fleeing to Anna, colleague of his attractive, worldly bride-to-be Klara, who works as a nurse and is preparing for her new role as a housewife. Drama and musical numbers follow as they discuss romance, loyalty and ambition.
A standout scene happens about halfway through the film, when a conversation about family life leads to a montage of interview clips in a clinic waiting room, backed by a percussive, harmonica-heavy score. Bubble Bath achieves its documentary status in this scene, animating genuine interview footage and integrating it into the film’s fictional storyline. These reports, interviewing women, children, and families were made in the waiting room of an actual mother and infant clinic.
These scenes are semi-rotoscoped onto the black backdrop, unlike the more abstract, high-energy moments with the leading ladies Anna and Klára. In the interview sequence, we hear the more candid perspectives of real people within their historical moment in Budapest. The focus was on actual people reporting from the Now! Very unusual for an animated film to do such a thing!
Some quirks about this animation style::
Often praised for its hybrid aesthetic, the film gets its unique visual texture through mixed media sampling, seen here with light and oil paint. Director György Kovásznai is a painter by trade, and made several works featuring the characters from the film.
Four paintings from throughout the film.
Kovásznai also uses light as an active element in the scenes, sometimes as psychedelic mood lighting, other times layering the natural flares of the film for emotional effect, or just to soften transitions. This extra layer of light is present in almost every scene, enhancing the already-dynamic visuals and score. The lighting also adds a kind of fourth-wall skimming realism to the scenes, when they sometimes expose scratches in the animating glass, or shadows of the cels on the pane behind them. Trad lighting on top of cel animation creates a dissonance that reminds us we're watching an animated film, and these images existed in a studio full of people before they got beamed over to us. So thanks to Gyorgy and the bubble bath crew for your incredible work!
"This speaks to my soul in ways I can't understand 🐦"-Instagram commenter
Through the characters’ dissatisfaction with their own social situations, the film portrayed the disillusionment the younger generation felt about modern life, characterizing the late 1970s in an entertaining yet grotesque way.
All characters were shaped on the basis of real models, and the three main figures were drawn on the basis of Hungarian fashion model Géza Girardi and actresses Kati Dobos and Irén Bordán.
Anna, Zsolt and Klara
Kati Dobos, Géza Girardi, and Iren Bordán
Watch Bubble Bath and more Hungarian animated films at Eternal Family TV
