Synopsis

In 1925 a violent scandal shocked the city of Budapest. The wealthy butcher Ferenc Kudelka was murdered and dismembered in his own slaughter room, stuffed into suitcases, carried through the streets and finally dumped in the Danube. This gruesome crime was committed by a one-eyed ex-police officer named Gusztáv Léderer and his wife Mária, a former prostitute – cold-blooded, but cruelly amateurish act. Kudelka, the butcher, had fallen madly in love with the wife of the former policeman, and with the knowledge and support of her husband, he was able to spend amorous hours with his beloved – in exchange for money, of course. Driven by greed, the two Léderers finally managed to kill Ferenc Kudelka after two failed attempts. The film documents the slow decline of three individuals as they increasingly become entangled in a world of sin and decadence. It is the story of a wild and voluptuous love triangle. With brutal truthfulness and raw realism, János Szász’ film tells of flesh, love and a manic lust for murder. This piquant occurrence is expertly staged in bright black and white and with echoes of the silent film aesthetics of the 1920s.