I´m particulary fond of Jancsó (mainly his 60 and 70s work), the german trilogy of Szabó or Bella Tarr but I´m sure there is much more I´m missing. For one thing I miss the great epics that were made in all communist countries (Mihai Viteazu from Romania, Marketa Lazarova from Chequia or The deluge from Poland), there is an hungarian equal to them? Some recomendations anyone?
Jancsó is very good, I recommend "Csillagosok, katonák" (= Red and White) and "Szegénylegények" (=Round Up) from his movies.
Another great Hungarian director is the director of this movie "Szerelem", Makk Károly, almost all of his movies are good, but "Szerelem" is definately the best, a classic.
If you're looking for Tarr Béla, watch "Werckmesiter harmóniák" (=Werckmeister Harmonies), it would be a little slow, but if you're intrested in this movies, it's gorgeus.
You also mentioned Szabó István, watch "Mephisto", "Sunshine" (=A napfény íze), or "Apa (=Father), this last one is one of Spielberg's favourites, he said in one of his interviews. Sunshine stars Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet, but it's far from being too hollywoodian. I also recommend "Being Julia", it's a comedy, so don't expect anything serious, like the earlier Szabó-movies, but it's awesome for a comedy, with a terrific role and a superb acting by Annette Bening (she was nominated to Oscar last year with this). Szabó's last movie, Rokonok weren't so good, unfortunately.
Great Hungarian epic is for example "Egri csillagok" (=The Stars of Eger), it's quite long, a 2-parts epic movie, the first one is a little bit lame,but the second one is definately a classic old Hungarian epic, worth watching.
I hope I was helpful :)
There was a retrospective of the Hungarian cinema during the last Era New Horizons festival (my full coverage here: http://michuk.filmaster.com/review/era-new-horizons-9-film-festival-im pressions/)
Let me copy/paste the Hungarian part of the article here:
Before coming to Wroclaw I few zero Hungarian movies except a few recent ones that were being shown in Polish cinemas. It was a huge surprise for me to discover the amazing world of Hungarian cinema of the 60-ties, with their many original directors, each of whom kept their own specific style.
I watched four movies of the retrospective, each by a different:
- "Adoption" (http://filmaster.com/film/oeroekbefogadas/) feels like a great movie from the very first scene. Fantastic music makes for a great climax. A story about love, friendship and loneliness and the need to have someone to take care of is almost perfect in its category.
- "Witness" (http://filmaster.com/film/a-tanu/) - a cult comedy that is still funny after 50 years. A must see for all Eastern Europeans. A mix of two Polish counterparts: Zezowate Szczescie by Munk and Mis by Bareja. Probably not funny at all for people who never lived in a communist country, though.
- "Love" (http://filmaster.com/film/szerelem/) is a beautiful and simple movie about love in the hardest times of Hungarian communism where people were being sent to prison for 10 years for their beliefs. A very simple plot suits the story of two women -- the dying mother and the wife -- that in two ways miss and talk about János. A very touching picture that didn't try to kill us with pathos. A pearl of the Hungarian and Eastern European cinema.
- "Silence and cry" (http://filmaster.com/film/csend-es-kialtas/) -- In this one I did not understand much of the plot and I believe not many of the non-Hungarians would. Still I enjoyed the fantastic cinematography and the climax created by the director and the impassionate characters. It may be a Hungarian masterpiece but I'm Polish.
Even though I rated "Silence and cry" worst, it's still mostly looking forward to see other, more universal movies by Miklós Jancsó as his style is the most fascinating of the above. Two of them: "Round up" and "The Red and the Wite" (mentioned above) are already on my LoveFilm wishlist.
michuk
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http://filmaster.com - movie blogs and social recommendations
It is interesting that no one mentioned, i saw just a few of those above but this is surely in the top for me: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075467/
shareSome great Hungarian films you may want to check:
Csillagosok, katonak (Jancso Miklos)
Regi idok focija (Sandor Pal)
Szabadits meg a gonosztol (Sandor Pal)
A kis Valentino (Jeles Andras)
Alombrigad (Jeles Andras)
Az otodik pecset (Fabri Zoltan)
Szindbad (Huszarik Zoltan)
Arvacska (Ranody Laszlo)
Egeszseges erotika (Timar Peter)
Megall az ido (Gothar Peter)
Narcisz es Psyche (Body Gabor)
80 huszar (Sara Sandor)
Haz a sziklak alatt (Makk Karoly)
Egy erkolcsos ejszaka (Makk Karoly)
Feherlofia (Jankovics Marcell) - animation
Hofeher (Nepp Jozsef) - animation
I second Szindbad, Megall az ido, Narcisz es Psyche, and Feherlofia. Those are all well worth watching.
I got girls up here do more tricks than a goddamn monkey on a hundred yards of grape vine.
Angi Vera, directed by Pál Gábor. Still not available on DVD (as of June 2010) but worth hunting for, in any format.
sharethese are some of my favorites of Magyar cinema, all of which are commercially available on English-friendly DVD releases:
Kárhozat (1988)
Az én XX. századom (1989)
Bástyasétány hetvennégy (1974)
Sorstalanság (2005)
Megáll az idö (1982)
Szürkület (1990)
Árnyék a havon (1992)
Bizalom (1980)
Kontroll (2003)
Édes Anna (1958)
I got girls up here do more tricks than a god damn monkey on a hundred yards of grape vine.