Let’s go to the movies
The Round Up (Szegénylegények, 1965) by Miklós Jancsó, the greatest Hungarian director and screenwriter of the 20th century.
The Round Up depicts the fate of the Hungarian guerilla after the fall of the 1848-49 revolution, when the Austrian hegemony was ruthlessly re-established.Control (Kontroll 2003) directed by Nimród Antal, a California native of Hungarian origin. He studied at Budapest’s Hungarian Film Academy, and since then has written and directed several award-winning flicks. Control is a dark comedy-thriller combo with a psychedelic-philosophical twist taking place in the parallel universe of metro ticket inspectors.
Son of the White Mare (Fehérlófia, 1979). An animated movie based on Hungarian folk tales. The brilliant brain behind this classic is Marcell Jankovics, a world-renowned artist and cartoon director who won an Oscar in 1974 for his animated short Sisyphus.
Hipo (Hukkle, 2002) by Györ Pálfi. The movie, which barely has any dialogue, tells a strange story about the inhabitants (including animals) of a small and serene rural community in Hungary – which is instantly turned upside down by a murder.
Soulful songs
- Ivan & The Parazol is one of hottest Hungarian bands around. Their very first hit, Take my Hand, was enormously popular and topped Petőfi Radio’s list 10 weeks in a row.
- Mary Popkids is a top-notch Budapestian band established in 2010.
- Punnany Massif is a hip hop band from Pécs. They’ve been doing their thing since 2003, and have released six albums.
Reading is the drug of the wise
- The Tragedy of Man, a play written by Imre Madách in 1861, is considered one of the greatest works of Hungarian literature. In 1984, András Jeles adapted into the film entitled The Annunciation. The main characters are Adam, Eve, and Lucifer, and the plot is a voyage through history and around human nature.
- How to be an Alien, written by George Mikes (György Mikes), a Hungarian-born English author. How to be an Alien pokes fun at the English, and has sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
- Satantango, written by Lászlo Krasznahorkai. Irimias, thought dead, returns to a calm Hungarian town. He takes control over everything and a period of violence starts. The book was adapted into a 7-hour-long movie directed by Béla Tarr (which happens to be one of Brad Pitt’s favorite flicks).
- Budapest Noir, written by Vilmos Kondor, is a classic noir detective story set in the Budapest of 1936. The plot, as it usually happens is in noirs, begins with a dead body – in this specific case, with that of a Jewish girl. Zsigmond Gordon, a crime journalist, sets off to find the killer. The book also serves a bottomless well of information about the era’s social, political and historical features.
Foreign inspirationEzra’s BudapestGeorge Ezra, an up-and-coming, young musician hailing from Bristol, England, has never been to Budapest, but was still inspired by the city, and wrote a beautiful song that made him famous Europe-wide.
Respect from the DevilChico Buarque, Brazilian singer and writer, wrote a book simply entitled Budapest, which is a story about a character called José Costa who falls in love with Budapest and the language which he describes as “the only tongue the Devil respects”.A hotel called Budapest not in BudapestThe Grand Budapest Hotel is a comedy set in Europe between the two world wars, more precisely in a famous European luxury hotel. The main character is Gustave H, the hotel’s legendary concierge, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy. Interesting, but not so fun fact: 95% of the movie was shot in Germany and Poland, but Budapest’s architecture and history were huge inspirations for the director, Wes Anderson.
