Jadviga’s Pillow

The film is the filmed version of Pál Závada’s novel of the same title, which was first published in 1997 and soon became a bestseller. The story takes place during World War I and afterwards in a small town in south-eastern Hungary. It tells about the unhappy marriage between a young man, Ondris, who is a member of the Slovak minority of the town, and his wife Jadviga. She can’t return his devotion towards her and starts a love affair with Franci, a lawyer. The film tells the history of this unhappy relationship between a passionate country man and his equally passionate, but much more erudite wife who wants something more from life but can’t get it. There is also some historic background: the breakup of the Hapsburg monarchy, the independence movement of the Hungarian Slovaks, led in the story by a ridiculous priest, etc. But this only remains the backdrop for the story of an unhappy “ménage à trois”.