Mephisto

Mephisto 1981

7.20

A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. As his associates and friends flee or are ground under by the Nazi terror, the popularity of his character supercedes his own existence until he finds that his best performance is keeping up appearances for his Nazi patrons.

1981

The Legend About the Death and Resurrection of Two Young Men

The Legend About the Death and Resurrection of Two Young Men 1972

1

The director of Meztelen Vagy was imprisoned for many years during the latter part of the Stalin era and is known for his highly imagistic and symbolic storytelling techniques. This film tells its story in the same way, and at no point is the story made explicit. Images of love, death, suicide, violence and mutilation dominate.

1972

The Round-Up

The Round-Up 1966

7.30

After the failure of the Kossuth's revolution of 1848, people suspected of supporting the revolution are sent to prison camps. Years later, partisans led by outlaw Sándor Rózsa still run rampant. Although the authorities do not know the identities of the partisans, they round up suspects and try to root them out by any means necessary.

1966

The Annunciation

The Annunciation 1984

5.70

The Annunciation (in Hungarian: Angyali üdvözlet) is a Hungarian film directed by András Jeles in 1984, based on The Tragedy of Man (1861) by Imre Madách. When Adam (Péter Bocsor) and Eve (Júlia Mérő), having succumbed to Lucifer's temptation, are cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam holds Lucifer (Eszter Gyalog) to his promise, reminding him that "You said I would know everything!". So Lucifer grants Adam a dream of the world to come. And what a bizarre dream: Adam becomes Miltiades in Athens; a knight called Tancred in Byzantium; Kepler in Prague; Danton in revolutionary Paris; and a nameless suitor in Victorian London. Guided by a deceptively sweet but ultimately contemptuous Lucifer, Adam confronts an endless procession of the horror of the human story... rapists and concubines, betrayal and savagery, mindless cruelty and fanaticism.

1984

Colonel Redl

Colonel Redl 1985

6.80

Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl, an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.

1985

Twenty Hours

Twenty Hours 1965

5.50

A crusading newspaper reporter covers the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Initially critical of the communists, the feature later espouses the virtues of the social changes implemented since the invasion. The title refers to the period of time the reporter spent interviewing witnesses to the invasion.

1965

Hanussen

Hanussen 1988

6.14

A man's story parallels Hitler's rise. Austrian Klaus Schneider, wounded in World War I, recovers in the care of Dr. Emil Bettleheim. Bettleheim discovers that Schneider possesses powers of empathy and of clairvoyance, such that could aid suicidal patients. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen and goes to Berlin, as a hypnotist and clairvoyant performing in halls and theaters. He always speaks the truth, which brings him to the attention of powerful Nazis. He predicts their rise (good propaganda for them) and their violence (not so good). He's in pain and at risk. What is Hanussen's future?

1988

Faithful for Nothing

Faithful for Nothing 1966

1

Eve, the old professor zsongják beautiful wife surrounded by colleagues. When the professor's going away for a conference abroad, intensifying the suitors attempts. Eve, however faithful to her husband, so that the denials are increasing. Oddly enough, the rejected accidents ...

1966

The Red and the White

The Red and the White 1967

7.10

In 1919, Hungarian Communists aid the Bolsheviks' defeat of Czarists, the Whites. Near the Volga, a monastery and a field hospital are held by one side and then the other.

1967

Red Psalm

Red Psalm 1972

6.30

Set in the 1890s on the Hungarian plains, a group of farm workers go on strike in which they face harsh reprisals and the reality of revolt, oppression, morality and violence.

1972

Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls!

Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls! 1970

5.60

Savanyú and his friend work at a plant. After the monotonous shifts they engage in the pleasures of the afternoon and the night, i.e. parties and concerts. Savanyú dates Juli, they are already engaged. The young men live as sub-tenants, the young women in workers' hostels. None of these places are suited for spending time together. They are in need of an apartment. Out of the ruinous apartment which they lay siege on, however, they are sent away by the otherwise friendly policeman. At a concert held in the Park of Youth, Juli gets to know Géza. They flirt, then go to the country with a pop-group. Savanyú and his friends follow them. A minor fight cools the atmosphere.

1970

Electra, My Love

Electra, My Love 1974

6.30

It has been fifteen years since the death of her father, Agamemnon, and Elektra still burns with hatred for Aegisztosz, who conspired with Elektra's mother to kill him.

1974

Story of My Foolishness

Story of My Foolishness 1965

1

The celebrated actor considers his wife a nitwits actress of a mediocre talent. But an influential playwright, a friend of theirs, has written a play with the main role designed for her, Kati, particularly. Its title is "The Most Intelligent Woman in the World". On the day of the first night performance Kati recalls their past, the times she had together with her husband.

1965

A Harum-Scarum Family

A Harum-Scarum Family 1981

6.30

The intellectual family Faragó lives a bit busy life, but ensures complete autonomy for its members in a tiny flat in Budapest, while the newly rich Belvizis in the neighbourhood have a luxury apartment and a conventional and purposeful life, sentencing their only daughter for solitude.

1981

The Prefab People

The Prefab People 1982

6.40

Using verite conventions, a young couple with a baby and a child are worn away by the monotony of their lives.

1982

The Fifth Seal

The Fifth Seal 1976

8.00

In 1944 Budapest, one of a group of four friends poses a hypothetical moral question to the others, an act that will unexpectedly alter their lives forever.

1976

The Fly

The Fly 1980

7.13

A fine day in the life of a fly presented completely from the fly's point of view. A fine day until something dreary happens, that is.

1980

The Witness

The Witness 1979

8.20

Hungary, 1950s. József Pelikán, who works as a dam keeper on the Danube, meets by chance Zoltán Dániel, an old friend whom he saved from death years before and who is now a powerful politician.

1979

Winter Wind

Winter Wind 1969

7.13

The preparation, in Hungary, of the assassination in Marseilles of King Alexander of Yugoslavia in 1934.

1969

My Way Home

My Way Home 1965

7.30

During WWII, a young Hungarian captured by the Soviets is left in the custody of a young Soviet soldier to assist him on a dairy farm.

1965