Narrow Path To Happiness (Hungarian) (Documentary)

Gergo Gagyi and Lenard Varadi are young and in love. In many countries this wouldn’t be anything remarkable, but as Hungarian Romani it means they face both ostracisation by their community and increasing pressure from a right-wing government in a country where same-sex marriage is banned. This hopeful documentary follows this couple who dream of writing and making a musical of their life story. The couple sent email to plenty of film makers and luckily the director of this documentary is the one who saw an opportunity and met them and persuaded the pair to let her document their journey.

To realize their dream Gergo and Lenard decide to move to Budapest, where LGBTQ+ life is more open and available, and collaborations with musicians and artists are abundant. They manage to get a grant to write a script on there. Life and musical and engage with an upcoming screen writer. Gergo is also a singer and wants to write his own songs. They also make a few appearances on TV, where Gergo shares his story of how he always tried to fit in as a muscular straight man, but when he eventually came out to his family, his mother broke off all the family ties with them. We also meet Lenard's mother (who was only 16 when the filming started) and how she has been generally supportive. When the sudden death of Gergo’s mother brings a tragic wrinkle to their story, they return to the family who disowned them for one final reckoning, helping them to accept their gay identities, the key to their own acceptance and their own chance at happiness.

The two protagonists represent populations in Hungary who are actively persecuted due to their sexuality, race or ethnicity. I will be honest that I don't know much about what Roma people are (they have also been referred to as Gypsys in the film). Over the course of documentary we see how Lenard convinces Gergo to record one of the songs he has written. We also see them both going about living. Their daily lives, finding jobs and doing their part while also being very focused to realize their dream. By simply being out and living their lives as they choose, Gergo and Lenard have already proved their resilience and go-getting attitude. There are some heartfelt moments when the coupe tries to make a music video or other interactions with the priest, where he finds him very acceptable for them being gay. We don't get to see whether the couple actually will realize their dream or not, but at least they are hopeful and through this documentary , they are getting recognition and hopefully contacts. Lenard and Gergo may be, through no fault of their own, on a narrow path to happiness, but they are striding along it with pride. It's a heartfelt documentary made on probably a shoestring budget, but you cannot deny the dream or their zest to make the dream a reality. (6/10)