An intriguing first feature by director Gyula Gulyas, Light Falls tells of a couple’s growing attraction amid the ruin and chaos of a lost war. Based on a short story by Transylvanian poet Laszlo Kiraly,the film is deliberately vague in its setting. A war has raged sometime in the recent past omaybe the 1848-49 Hungarian War of Independence oand two masked, hooded figures on horseback ride into a devastated village,observed by a lonely,widowed teacher (Jozsef Biro).The figures turn out to be a man (Lorand Vata) and a woman (Klara Tompa),and the teacher lets them stay over for the night.Two things become clear: the woman is a young widow who lived in the village during happier times,and the man has escaped from a military firing squad. A series of striking flashback sequences reveal more about the woman ‘s past life, and late in the film she and her co-traveller finally consummate their longing in an impressively lyrical sequence. A rich visual feast that continually perks the imagination,Gulyas ‘s film conjures a broad range of images that are enhanced by a musical score that incorporates everything from medieval-flavoured choruses to sensual sinuousness.