Private Project

Inquiry Into The State Of My Health

Based on the famous short story by the celebrated Hungarian writer István Örkény, Inquiry Into The State of My Health is a modern reworking of a story originally about life in Soviet Hungary and about what lies beneath superficial daily platitudes.

The film stars Joe Bannister (Finding Alice, The Singapore Grip, Howard's End) and Shazia Nicholls (Doctor Foster, The Undeclared War, National Theatre).

This project is one of two short films written by István Örkény that are a co-production between Jon Tarcy, the Hungarian Film Institute and the Liszt Institute in London.

  • James Corrigan
    Director
    The Lost Scot, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company
  • István Örkény
    Writer
    One Minute Stories, Catsplay, The Toth Family
  • Jon Tarcy
    Producer
    Outlander, FBI: International, Lucky Man
  • Shazia Nicholls
    Key Cast
    "Woman"
    Doctor Foster, The Undeclared War, National Theatre
  • Joe Bannister
    Key Cast
    "Man"
    Finding Alice, The Singapore Grip, Howard's End
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Hungarian, Drama
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 22, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Raindance Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    October 27, 2021
    Off-Competition
Director Biography - James Corrigan

James is a director for both the stage and screen. His screen credits include:

Shorts: ‘Strangers', 'If It Were Done…', ‘Willow', 'Two Noble Kinsmen', and 'Inquiry Into the State of My Health'. His one minute short ‘CUT’ was a finalist in the Raindance/Filmzie OneMinuteTwist competition.

‘Inquiry Into the State of My Health’ is currently showing at Raindance.

He is in post-production for a feature film ‘SALT’ and in pre-production for a microbudget feature called ‘LADY M’.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

István Örkény’s famous 'One Minute Stories’ contains dozens of vignettes depicting life in post-Soviet Hungary. Our short ‘Inquiry’ is a modern reworking of one of his most absurd stories.

By transposing this event to an everyday conversation between everyday people in an everyday park in an everyday British town, we wanted to highlight the universality of Örkény’s observation. The absurdity of the situation becomes less absurd when you reckon with just how common (and British) it is to keep calm and carry on…even in the face of startling and grotesque symptoms, screaming out for relief.

Örkény’s genius is in placing a twisted mirror up to his surroundings; and our brilliant team aimed to emulate that through the use of quotidian dialogue butting up against an exaggerated sound design, heightened performance style and a situation that is as bonkers as it is incisive.