Confidence

Confidence may not possess the surface sheen or panache of Szabó's later blockbuster Mephisto, but it's a film of near-equivalent substance within its more intimate scope. Acting a role during wartime is again the focus, but here the false identities (as man and wife) of a harmless refugee couple living through the Nazi occupation of Hungary are assumed out of strict necessity. He is a resistance fugitive, she the wife of another underground member, hustled to safety as a net closes on her husband. At first they share only suspicion and insecurity, but they are hemmed by circumstance into an alliance, then an accommodation, then a relationship. Trust is the crucial variable between them; and the more claustrophobic the film becomes, the more it opens out to address the crux of any relationship, sexual or social. Notions of betrayal and commitment resonate far beyond the couple's tenuous haven. This reductionist description may sound dry, but the film isn't: its political-thriller edginess and emotional poignancy intersect absorbingly, and the central performances are flawless.