If you don’t speak Hungarian but want to visit the cinema in Budapest, it can be difficult to find out which films are showing in English. Luckily, there are many cinemas and film clubs screening newly released films and classic flicks with English subtitles and/or with the original audio. Each month we share some movies to check out, with links to the show times too, so you’ll know exactly which cinema to head to and when. All you need do is grab some popcorn!
A Clockwork Orange
This 1971 Kubrick classic is an extreme crime film that employs disturbing and violent images to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs and other social, political and economic subjects in a dystopian future. In A Clockwork Orange Alex and his Droogs spend their nights getting high at the Korova Milkbar before embarking on "a little of the old ultraviolence". After he's been jailed for bludgeoning the Cat Lady to death, Alex submits to Ludovico behavior modification technique to earn his freedom; he's conditioned to abhor violence. Returned to the world defenseless, Alex becomes the victim of his prior victims. A Clockwork Orange is an all-time classic, but highly disturbing, yet not recommended for anyone under 18.
Where to watch it?
The film screens with original English audio and Hungarian subtitles at 6pm and at 9pm on March 2nd at the Bem Cinema. More details
Black Panther
Black Panther follows T'Challa who, after the events of Captain America: Civil War, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T'Challa's mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk.
Where to watch it?
The film screens with original audio and Hungarian subtitles at Cinema City Allee, Aréna and WestEnd. Click here for screening times.
Francophone Film Days
Between February 28th and March 7th, many modern French movies screen with original audio, plus English and Hungarian subtitles, at the Corvin Cinema, Puskin Cinema, Toldi Cinema and the French Institute. For more details about the event, read our recent article or check out the French Institute website.
Lady Bird
Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird is nominated for five Oscars at this year's Academy Awards. This coming of age story tells of the stormy relationship of a mother and her teenage daughter over the course of an eventful and poignant senior year of high school. The movie is a mirror of the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us and the unmatched beauty of the place that we call home.
Where to watch it?
The film screens with original audio and Hungarian subtitles at Cinema City Allee, Aréna, Campona, Duna Pláza and WestEnd, as well as at the art cinemas. Click here for screening times.
On Body and Soul
If you have not yet seen Hungary's Oscar nominee you can still watch it on the big screen in Budapest. On Body and Soul is a metaphor-filled surreal drama based on the duality of the world of imagination and dreams. In the film, Mária and Endre work at a slaughterhouse, and realize that they are both part of the same intimate and tender dream, in which they gradually get closer to each other as deer. However, in real life they often find themselves in rather awkward but truly realistic situations, and their relationship is not nearly as intimate and soothing as in their shared dreams.
Where to watch it?
The film screens with original Hungarian audio and English subtitles at the Art+ Cinema, organized by the Budapest Boulevard Cinema, at the Corvin Cinema and at the art house cinemas.
Red Sparrow
This hit spy story was shot in Budapest over the summer, during which time Jennifer Lawrence seemed to enjoy herself around the Hungarian capital. In Red Sparrow, prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Egorova emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, Dominika meets a CIA agent who tries to convince her that he is the only person she can trust.
Where to watch it?
The film screens with original English audio and Hungarian subtitles at Cinema City Allee, Aréna and WestEnd. Click here for screening times.
The Shape of Water
An odds-on for an Oscar – with 12 nominations – Guillermo del Toro's other-worldly fairy tale has been charming everyone lately. Against the backdrop of Cold-War era America circa 1962, Elisa lives life in isolation in a hidden high-security government laboratory. However, her life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda discover a secret classified experiment, a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank.
Where to watch it?
The film screens with original English and Russian audio, and Hungarian subtitles, at Cinema City Allee, Aréna, Campona, Duna Pláza and WestEnd, as well as at the art cinemas. Click here for screening times at Cinema City and here for Corvin.
