Summer is over on the astronomical front, so we can officially start getting in the mood for autumn. The following Hungarian films are a great way to do just that.
Kincsem (2017)
A romantic adventure film inspired by the life and times of Treasure Trove, a „wonder horse”, but also a fictional story.
Plot: After the War of Liberation, Ernő Blaskovich lost everything. He lived an unmotivated, disparate life, but one day, the miracle horse of his life, Kincsem, appears and leads him to success after success on the European horse racing tracks. Fate has given him the satisfaction of defeating his old enemy, Baron von Oettingen, in a noble fight. But the growing competition is further complicated when Ernő falls madly in love with Klara von Oettingen, the daughter of his father’s murderer. Which is more important to Ernő: love or revenge?
Viskis (2017)
Based on a true story, Attila Ambrus presents an idealised and romanticised version of the original events of „The Viskis Robber”.
Plot: The anti-hero rushes through Budapest in this action thriller based on the life of Attila Ambrus. The former ice hockey player won the public’s favour by robbing 29 financial institutions, post offices and travel agencies over a period of six years.
Csinibaba (1997)
The Hungarian musical comedy, based on the short story ‘Bambi with a Straw’ by Gyula Márton, was directed by Péter Tímár in 1997. It was a huge success in the 90s. 550.000 people saw it in the cinema. This film proved the negative myth of the film industry: ‘a profitable Hungarian film is not possible’.
Plot: the story takes place in the early 60s at the end of August. The focus is on the KISZ’s ‘Who knows what’ competition, the winner of the competition will be invited to participate in the World Youth and Student Congress in Helsinki. The discovery of the sweet life in the West captures the imagination of many and the complications begin.
Napszállta (2018)
The Oscar-winning film drama by László Nemes Jeles, describing the last days of the peace in Budapest in the summer of 1913.
Plot: Orphaned since childhood, Leiter Iris returns after many years to the colourful and bustling city of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to fulfil her dream of getting a job in her late parents’ legendary hat shop. The shop’s newest owner not only won’t give her the job, he wants her out of town.
Under the cover of night, Iris is visited by a stranger who questions her about her brother’s whereabouts. It is then that she learns she has a brother. Iris begins to investigate, and finds herself deeper and deeper into the city’s labyrinth, searching for her brother. For Iris, only the glittering Leiter’s Hat Salon seems a safe place, but behind the glitter, the darkest secrets are revealed.
A berni követ (2014)
Partly fictional Hungarian thriller based on historical events.
Plot: Two young men enter the Embassy of the Hungarian People’s Republic in Bern two months after the death of Imre Nagy, where they attack the embassy staff with guns. They take the ambassador hostage to obtain the secret symbols and then demonstrate against the murder of the prime minister and his fellow martyrs during a live broadcast on Radio Free Europe.
The motive is unclear, but local reports say they want to get the files of Hungarian communist agents in Switzerland. However, some sources revealed that the attackers’ actions were intended as a demonstration of protest, a high-profile show of revenge. This goal was achieved, because in the weeks following the action, the world’s attention was once again turned towards Hungary’s fight for freedom.
Trezor (2018)
A Hungarian historical thriller linked to the events of the ’56 revolution.
Plot: The historical thriller „Trezor” is inspired by real events and takes place in the underground strong room of the Ministry of the interior in November 1956, a few days after the fall of the War of Liberation.
The key to the special locker had been lost in the chaos of the revolution, and the locker door was even bulletproof. But the Russian soldiers guarding the building tried many things without success. Finally, the police get a former bank robber out of prison who once successfully broke into the trezor. However, the prisoner discovers something different than he expected behind the open vault door. From there, a thrilling game of twists begins and nothing and no one is what they seem.
