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sights & culture
November Film Guide: this month’s movies in English
With Christmas round the corner, November is a bumper month for English-friendly movies in Budapest. New films include Denis Villeneuve’s epic Sci-Fi fantasy Dune, partly filmed in Budapest, Wes Anderson’s eminently entertaining The French Dispatch and a horror movie in thrall to Sixties’ pop culture, Last Night in Soho. Note that masks must now be worn in all cinemas. Here’s what’s showing:
Cinema information
Note that masks must now be worn in all cinemas.
For screening times and cinema locations, see Art Mozi (Hungarian only but the schedule easy to follow) for arthouse films and CinemaCity for mainstream movies.
1/9
Déli-Doku
For the
one-day Déli-Doku Festival at the Bem cinema on Saturday, 6
November, three films are being shown in their original language with English
subtitles. The Extraterrestrial deals with the topic of being an outsider – through the meeting of a documentary filmmaker (Ádám
Breier) and a Cuban, who moved back to
his own planet after having lived seven years in the United States, leaving
his family behind. Havana, One Way explores the concept of Communism both in Hungary
and Cuba, while Los Reyes is a magical documentary about two charismatic dogs, Chola and Football, who
live in a skate park in Santiago, Chile. Latin-American food, drinks and music will also be
provided. Admission 1,000
forints.
2/9
Dune
Partly filmed in Budapest, this month’s big hitter is Denis Villeneuve’s
more successful attempt to adapt the Frank Herbert novel to the screen – the
1984 David Lynch version was more faithful to the original but a huge flop.
This one won’t be, partly because of the superb screenplay, partly because of an
excellent performance by Timothée Chalamet in the lead role and partly because
the world needs an epic such as this to escape for 155 minutes. The plot has contemporary
echoes, too – a planet in danger, a vital, fix-all drug and a father-and-son
saga. Visually gripping, with a daring soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, Dune is already
a cinematic smash with $300 million taken at box offices by early November. A
sequel is scheduled for 2023…
In original English with Hungarian subtitles at: Allee, Aréna, Corvin, Mammut,
Művész, Puskin, Toldi and Westend
3/9
Eternals
Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao was brave enough to write and direct this latest
Marvel superhero epic, for which British Asian actress Gemma Chan plays the
lead as the Eternals battle the Deviants for control of the planet. It’s long
– 157 minutes – and somewhat unwieldy, with any number of subplots,
but the visuals carry the day. Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) and Angelina
Jolie also star.
In original English with Hungarian subtitles at: Allee, Aréna, Campona, Mammut and Westend
4/9
The French Dispatch
A new Wes Anderson at last, and a cinematic love letter to The New Yorker at that. The main characters are based on real-life legends from the golden age of journalism,
set in post-war Paris. Filmed in Angoulême, The French Dispatch is also a gorgeously
witty tour of Gallic culture, in which cuisine, cycling and student revolution
on the streets of Ennui-sur-Blasé move the various plots along. Alexandre Desplat,
who won an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel soundtrack, provides the music,
with snatches of Charles Aznavour and Jarvis Cocker thrown into the pot. Cultural
references abound, of course, even the nod to Sergeant Pepper in the film poster. A
huge ensemble cast includes the usual suspects – Bill Murray, Adrien Brody,
Owen Wilson – as well as newcomers such as Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright and Benicio
del Toro. At just over 100 minutes, it’s a sheer delight.
In original English with Hungarian subtitles at: Allee, Aréna, Campona, Corvin,
Duna Pláza, Mammut, Művész, Puskin and Westend
5/9
Last Night in Soho
This month’s other major release is a psychological thriller in which London’s
square mile of sin is the real star. This is Beatles-era Soho, whose cinematic
icons (Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham) appear more than half a century later,
while Diana Rigg (The Avengers) and Margaret Nolan (A Hard Day’s Night) bid filmic
farewells. The stage is given over to Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) and
Thomasin McKenzie, who juxtapose lives and generations amid murder, vice and a
chilling version of Petula Clark’s Downtown sung by Taylor-Joy herself. Edgar Wright
(Baby Driver) directs, having pitched the idea to Oscar-nominated screenwriter
and ex-Soho barmaid Krysty Wilson-Cairns after the pair of them had embarked on
a pub crawl through the late-night lairs of London’s still thrilling epicentre.
In original English with Hungarian subtitles at: Allee, Aréna, Corvin, Művész,
Puskin and Toldi
6/9
Midnight Cowboy
Of all the classic movies being screened in English this month at the
Bem cinema, this Oscar-laden gem stands out. Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight hustle
the streets of New York, gatecrash one of Andy Warhol’s famous parties and strike
up a memorable if unlikely friendship. Harry Nilsson sings Fred Neil’s evocative
theme song Everybody’s Talkin’, although he literally begged the producer that
his own I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City take centre stage.
In English with Hungarian subtitles at the Bem cinema, Sunday, 21 November, 7.30pm-9.30pm
7/9
Moszkva tér
The Bem cinema also shows classic Hungarian films with English subtitles
so that non-Magyar speakers can delve into domestic celluloid culture, too. On
23 November, it’s screening Ferenc Török’s Moszkva tér, set on the eve
of the fall of Communism in 1989, when Buda’s busy crossing point was not named
after turn-of-the-century prime minister Kálmán Széll, nor next door to a
massive mall. Instead, this was Moscow Square, where disaffected youth gathered
in the absence of anywhere else to go. This film follow the fictional adventures
of one such group one particular party night.
In English with Hungarian subtitles at the Bem cinema, Tuesday, 23 November, 7pm-8.30pm
8/9
Tina
Timeless Tina Turner is the subject of this Emmy-nominated documentary,
which follows the extraordinary career of the singer who rose to fame in the
1960s then reclaimed the spotlight two decades later. Filmmakers Dan Lindsay
and T. J. Martin, whose previous works, Undefeated and LA92, were showered with
acclaim, combine once more to deliver an entertaining, in-depth look at a music
legend.
In original English with Hungarian subtitles at: Aréna and Mammut
9/9
Verzió
This year’s International Human Rights Film Festival, Verzió, running
9-14 November, covers subjects as diverse as freedom of speech in Minsk,
suicide in Scandinavia and toxic waste in Chile. The organisers have selected more
than 60 films, opening with Máté
Kőrösi's documentary, Dívák, which gives
an insight into the lives of three 20-year-old girls
from Budapest.
All
films are screened with English subtitles at Kino, Művész and Toldi. Full programme here
