My Favorite Hungarian Movies
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- DirectorPéter BacsóStarsFerenc KállaiLajos ÖzeZoltán FábriBanned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, which was also well received by critics and general audiences alike when it was finally released outside of Hungary. Its candid and realistic portrayal of the incompetent communist regime has earned great acclaim for both the director and the film itself when it was shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. 'The Witness' takes place during the height of the Rákosi Era, which was closely modeled after the ruthless and brutal Stalin regime. The film follows the life of an ordinary dike keeper, József Pelikán, who has been caught for illegally slaughtering his pig, Dezsõ. Instead of doing hard time for his "heinous" crime, Pelikán is elevated into an important position, generally reserved for the communist elite. Of course, Pelikán is utterly clueless about his newfound luck, not to mention his new job. Even his new benefactor, the mysterious Comrade Virág, is reluctant to reveal the real reason behind Pelikán's preferential treatment. Thus, begins Pelikán's hilarious adventure deep within the "sophisticated" communist society. One failure after another the incompetent Pelikán is elevated higher and higher on the communist echelon, all the while remaining completely clueless about his promotions. Until one day, when he gets called for to return the "favour" by falsely testifying against his long-time friend in a mock-up show trial.
- DirectorBéla TernovszkyStarsMiklós BenedekGyula BodrogiIlona BéresAn agent delivers plans to save mice from a feline syndicate dedicated to eradicating rodents.
- DirectorNimród AntalStarsSándor CsányiEszter BallaZoltán MucsiA tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, the fellow inspectors on his team, all without exception likable characters, a rival ticket inspection team and racing along the tracks - and a tale about love.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerIldikó BánságiKrystyna JandaIn early-1930s Germany, a passionate stage actor faces a dilemma: renounce his apolitical stance and comply with the Reich's doctrine, or face oblivion. But, Faustian bargains never end well. What is the price of success?
- DirectorAttila DargayStarsJudit PogányJózsef GyabronkaTeri FöldiFamous, great hunters, better stay away, here comes Vuk! (They say he is cunning as a fox!)
- DirectorMárton KeletiStarsTamás MajorImre SinkovitsIván DarvasDuring World War II, PFC Molnár decides his military service is over, and with a serious amount of money hidden in hand grenades, he heads to an abandoned mansion where he encounters not only the sour butler but a bunch of others who are also trying to wimp out on their duties.
- DirectorSándor MihályfyStarsImre OlvasztóRóbert KoltaiTeri HorváthStory of a mischievous outspoken kid in a small Hungarian town.
- DirectorAttila DargayStarsAndrás KernPéter GesztiLászló CsákányiA young peasant boy stands up to tyranny, aided by his trusting friend- a goose.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsAntal PágerJános GörbeEmil KeresA young journalist resolves to find out the reasons for a murder of an agricultural farm employee, killed eight years before.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerErland JosephsonIldikó BánságiA man's story parallels Hitler's rise. Austrian Klaus Schneider, wounded in World War I, recovers in the care of Dr. Emil Bettleheim. Bettleheim discovers that Schneider possesses powers of empathy and of clairvoyance, such that could aid suicidal patients. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen and goes to Berlin, as a hypnotist and clairvoyant performing in halls and theaters. He always speaks the truth, which brings him to the attention of powerful Nazis. He predicts their rise (good propaganda for them) and their violence (not so good). He's in pain and at risk. What is Hanussen's future?
- StarsLászló BánhidiZoltán SeregiFerenc ZentheGyula and his friend are spending the summer vacation with their relatives in the countryside.
- DirectorMárton KeletiStarsÉva RuttkaiLajos BástiIrina Petrescu
- DirectorMárton KeletiStarsMiklós GáborÁgi MészárosMarika NémethRolla, the daughter of Count Korláthy sneaks out to the village funfair dressed as a maid. There she meets a young engineer, Baracs, and they fell in love almost instantly.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsIldikó PirosIstván BujtorFerenc KállaiA murder is revealed during the private investigation of a journalist. Prestigious economic and political people of a small town gather for a name-day celebration in a luxury villa. Everything starts as usual, but this time an incident disrupts the stag party. Andrea Bíró, accompanied by a friend, announces to her father, the director of the Ironworks, that she is leaving home. Bíró, enraged, shoots the boy with a hunting rifle. Those present claim it was an accident. Despite obstacles and death threats, Luca Péteri, a journalist for the local newspaper, starts investigating the case.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsMari TörőcsikSándor PécsiLászló KozákIn Budapest, two rival gangs of young boys lay claim to a vacant lot. The hostilities escalate yet never quite boil over into actual violence. The film poignantly portrays the struggles and resilience of youth amid the harsh realities of war.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsMari TörőcsikImre SoósÁdám SzirtesIn a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives a humble but promising young farmer girl called Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to an old but rich man with whom he does business. Land marries land, he says. This seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the young lover is ready to stand up to any challenge to keep Maris love.
- DirectorRóbert KoltaiStarsRóbert KoltaiMihály SzabadosGábor MátéSet in '60s socialist Hungary, an introverted and somewhat inhibited teenage boy has a life-changing experience as he spends a few days with his uncle full of zest, a love for earthly pleasures, and a weakness for horse racing and betting.
- DirectorIván KapitányPéter RudolfStarsPéter RudolfGábor ReviczkyImre CsujaThis film tells the story of a few uneventful days in the life of six pals. Lali, a great fan of America, owns a sandwich stand on the side of the road, called The Glass Tiger. Gaben pinches cars; Fox is a petty swindler; Sanyi a half-wit homeless; Coco can't shut up about getting some dough and going to America; Slimmy keeps playing the saxophone, despite the others' frayed nerves. Gaben talks Lali into buying an old Chevrolet Impala, the real American dream. After the long escapade of getting the car, Lali doesn't even get the chance to try the Chevvy out, because a truck completely demolishes it. Fox in the meantime is looking excitedly for the "Wreck", what he has been trying to sell for big money. But Lali has sold what he thought to be scrap, not good for anything. Fox is threatened by some tough guys to bring it back or pay up. He has to get money at all costs. Coco can think of only one solution. They have to rob the nearby bank. They all get into a car, but the big heist does not work out perfectly.
- DirectorPéter BacsóStarsDorottya UdvarosZoltán BezerédiAndrás KernIt is 1951, and Lucy Sziráky is a pretty, ambitious operetta actress. Her blossoming career has been thwarted by deportation. Because of her ex-husband's count rank, she has to leave the capital. For her, the adjustment to her forced village life is doubly difficult: she is far from her true livelihood, the theater, and must also contend with the resentment of her fellow aristocrats, who see her as an interloper. But Lucy is a real actress and a real no. Soon she finds the right voice for the displaced people and the men who admire her: the village party secretary, the local police captain, but she soon gets fed up.
- DirectorPéter GothárStarsAnikó IvánIstván ZnamenákPéter GálfyA teenager boy has to grow up in the shifting political and moral landscape of post-1956 Hungary.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsGábor KonczÉva PapJózsef BihariMany Hungarian migrant workers work in Germany in good conditions and for good wages during WW2. They face the war only once they return home to Hungary.
- DirectorZoltán VárkonyiStarsIstván KovácsVera VenczelImre Sinkovits1552, the great Turkish Empire wants to conquer Europe, and the world. The last stand is Hungarian Kingdom, and the castle of Eger. The brave soldiers decides they will fight till the end of their lives.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsZoltán LatinovitsImre SinkovitsMárta FónayThe Tót family resides in Northern Hungary. The couple has a daughter and a son, the latter a member of the armed forces. When his weary major is ordered to take a vacation, the son talks him into a visit to his family home. Comedy endues when the Tót's go overboard trying to make things pleasant for the visiting major in hopes of an easier life for their son the soldier.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerHans Christian BlechArmin Mueller-StahlSet during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl (Brandauer), an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.
- DirectorMarcell JankovicsStarsGyörgy CserhalmiAnikó NagyErzsi PártosA traditional Hungarian poetic fairytale that describes the epic adventures of a young shepherd through love, war, magic and death.
- DirectorFrigyes BánStarsLászló BánhidiAntal PágerJános Rajz
- DirectorAttila GigorStarsZsolt AngerAndrás Márton BalóPéter BlaskóBadly needing money for the treatment of his ill mother, pathologist Tibor Malkáv accepts the proposition of a stranger to murder someone he doesn't know a thing about.
- DirectorLászló RanódyMihály SzemesKálmán NádasdyStarsJános GörbeZoltán MakláryLajos BástiIn 1953, the film evokes the 1848-49 periods up to the revolutionary struggle of the internal and external enemies. Petofi start there in the events, even in the ranks of waiver is that Bem's army in order to fight. Bem fights the odds, Gabor Aron cannons knocking the enemy.
- DirectorZoltán VárkonyiStarsMária SulyokVera SzemereTibor BitskeyA family struggle during the 1848 Hungarian revolution against the Habsburg Empire.
- DirectorSteve SekelyStarsGyula CsortosGyula KabosMici HarasztiA butler changes the life of a nouveau-riche entrepreneur's life, while his daughter falls in love with the company's manager instead of a suitor chosen for her.
- DirectorKároly MakkStarsIván DarvasMarianne KrencseyMargit DajkaMariska and Liliomfi fall in love without suspecting that Mariska's foster father is also Liliomfi's uncle. Soon the couple must contend with the professor's plan to make Liliomfi give up his "unrespectable" profession of acting.
- DirectorSándor SáraStarsLászló DózsaGyörgy CserhalmiJácint JuhászA group of Hussars stationed at a Polish outpost hear there's a revolution going on in their native Hungary. Their attempt to return home incurs the wrath of the Austrians.
- DirectorImre GyöngyössyBarna KabayStarsHédi TemessyFerenc ZentheGábor FehérAn elderly Jewish couple, adopt an unruly non-Jewish child to whom they intend to pass on their wealth and knowledge before Nazi oppression engulfs Hungary.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsImre SinkovitsDezsö GarasLászló MárkusOn Hitler's birthday, the Germans decide to organize a soccer match between prisoners of war and Germans.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsErnö SzabóNoémi AporEmmi ButtykayWhen a Latin teacher publishes an essay on the Carthaginian General Hannibal, he is quickly hailed as a celebrity genius, but in reality has become an unwitting pawn of far-right politicians.
- DirectorJózsef NeppStarsFerenc KállaiJános KörmendiIlona BéresA farcical retelling of Snow White. Disillusioned Snow White isn't all that pretty or cute, her friends dwarfs aren't all that hospitable, her evil stepmother is an alcoholic and prince charming likes the ladies too much.
- StarsÉva SzerencsiAttila NagyLajos BástiHungary during World War II. Georgina, spoiled daughter of General Vitay is not delighted when her father takes her to a religious boarding school in a smalltown. She rebels against the strict rules of the school, alienating most of her schoolmates and tries to escape from the school. When her father visits her and learns about this, he decides to tell her why she must stay in the school: he is trying to find a way to get Hungary out of the war before it claims too many lives and he is afraid that his enemies will capture and torture her, thus blackmailing him into betray his cause. Gina agrees to stay in the school, the only place where she is safe. Suddenly she grows up under the weight placed on her shoulders. Life is hard, she often feels she is treated unjustly in the strict school, and even though she makes peace with her schoolmates, often the only "person" to whom she can turn to is a statue nicknamed Abigél in the school's garden; who, according to the legend, helps those who write a message and put it in the vase in her hands. No one in the school knows who's hiding behind the statue, although many students tried to find it out, and at first Gina thinks this is only a childish tradition, but when she gets a message from Abigél, in which "she" reveals to be her father's confidante, she starts to believe, and later, when her whereabouts are revealed to the enemy and her father is captured, only the person behind Abigél can help her...
- DirectorFerenc AndrásStarsGyörgy CserhalmiHédi TemessyZita PerczelTwo old women who happen to be pickpockets stole money from Simon, the taxi driver. The police are unable to find the thieves, so Simon decides to find them himself.
- DirectorGéza von RadványiTamás AlmásiStarsÁgi MargitaiAntal PágerTamás MajorOctober 1944. Carlotta, a run-down traveling circus proprietress, recurs to smuggling to sustain herself and her band of Yugoslav partisans. In her adventurous journey, she comes across refugees who must live their country for racial, or political persecution. One day, a professor joins the circus...