In Hungary, toward the end of WWII, twin teenaged boys are left with their ill-tempered grandmother away from the dangers of the hunger stricken city. An alcoholic with a violent temper, the grandmother abuses the boys and works them like slaves. The brothers decide to cope with the inhumane world of adults by systematically training by becoming ruthless and cold hearted themselves. The twins keep a written record of all they have witnessed during the war in a notebook their father gave them. Based on a bestseller by Hungarian writer Agota Kristof, Le Grand Cahier is a masterpiece by Hungarian director Janos Szasz. The film focuses on the twin’s innocence, which is completely shattered by war. We are horrified and shocked by the boys cutting themselves with knives to train physically and embarking on strenuous mental training to survive the brutality that surrounds them. As the Crystal Globe winner of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the film is a stunning report of cruel dehumanization. (RHEE Soue-won)