The Man From London

The Man from London (Hungarian: A Londoni férfi) is a 2007 film by Hungarian director Béla Tarr. It is an adaptation by Tarr and his collaborator-friend László Krasznahorkai of the 1934 French language novel L’Homme de Londres by prolific Belgian writer Georges Simenon. The film was co-directed by editor Ágnes Hranitzky, and features an international ensemble cast including Czech actor Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton, and Hungarian actors János Derzsi and István Lénárt. The plot follows Maloin, a nondescript railway worker who recovers a briefcase containing a significant amount of money from the scene of a murder to which he is the only witness. Wracked by guilt and fear of being discovered, Maloin sinks into despondence and frustration, which leads to acrimony in his household. Meanwhile, an English police detective investigates the disappearance of the money and the unscrupulous characters connected to the crime.

The French, German and Hungarian co-production of the film was fraught with difficulty and obstacles. The first of these was the suicide in February 2005, days before shooting was due to begin, of the film’s French producer, Humbert Balsan.

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