The Notebook

The Notebook 2013

6.60

In a village on the Hungarian border, two young brothers grow up during war time with their cruel grandmother and must learn every trick of evil to survive in the absurd world of adults.

2013

Don't Keep Off the Grass

Don't Keep Off the Grass 1960

1

Daddy Kárász, the stakhanovist worker, complains in a television interview about the fact that his family, consisting of many members, cannot get a home on their own. Kéri, the chairman of the local authority, promises to help him on the condition that if he does not, they may move in to his villa at elegant Pasarét. Nothing happens, therefore the Kárász family takes Kéri by his word. From this time on, tumultuous scenes and frequent quarrels take place in the villa between the two families.

1960

The Deserters

The Deserters 1986

7.20

Set in military barracks in a small town during World War I. The soldiers herded in the barracks are 'politically suspect' mix of characters from all over of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Czechs, Jews, and even Italians, but officers in charge are Germans. A new lieutenant arrives with the mission to bring order to the unit. He is the sadist, enjoying humiliating the men. Fed up with his behaviour the lower ranks kidnap him one night and string him up in a public toilet. They also make sure that he fouls up during the inspection. Eventually the five ring leaders are imprisoned. They escape and end up in Budapest posing as guards as guards of veterinary surgeons. They are caught and sent back to face a court martial and their old tormentor.

1986

Two Half-Times in Hell

Two Half-Times in Hell 1961

7.70

To celebrate Hitler's birthday, a soccer match is organised between the Germans and a group of Hungarian political prisoners, one of whom is a famous pre-war football star.

1961

The Golden Head

The Golden Head 1964

5.30

Stevenson, the famous English criminal expert visits Hungary with his family. While he is chairing a conference on criminology, infamous art treasure robbers steal the golden herm of Saint László. Suspicion is cast on the Stevenson children.

1964

Adoption

Adoption 1975

6.75

When middle-aged Kata realises that her life will only be complete if she has a baby of her own, her longstanding-but-married boyfriend Joska refuses to comply. But by developing an unlikely friendship with the angst-ridden teenage orphan Anna, who is also involved in a controversial relationship, Kata discovers aspects of herself, and her role as a woman, that have gone unexamined throughout her entire, lonely life.

1975

Nine Months

Nine Months 1976

6.20

Juli works in a factory while pursuing a course in agrarian science. Her manager falls in love with her and an affair develops. She wants a sincere relationship, but still hides the fact that she has a child born out of wedlock. When her secret is revealed, he is not prepared to acknowledge her son.

1976

Germinal

Germinal 1963

7.40

Dismissed from the railroads in 1863 for his union activities, Etienne Lantier found a job at the Voreux coal mine. But work was hard, wages were low and safety left much to be desired. Lantier tried to organize the miners into a union. When mine manager Hennebeau refused to negotiate, the workers launched a general strike, which ended with the intervention of the troops.

1963

On the Sideline

On the Sideline 1976

1

The corpulent and ageing Ivicz, once an excellent baker, works as a deliverer now. He lives alone. At the weekends following the toilsome weekdays he is the boss. He regularly travels to the country, to work as the incorruptible referee of third class national soccer games.

1976

Haber's Photo Shop

Haber's Photo Shop 1963

6.30

A priest who has been set free from prison recently joins a spy organization.

1963

Yesterday

Yesterday 1959

10.00

October, 1956. Colonel lieutenant Szabó sends a platoon with the mission of calming the people demonstrating in the town. The platoon is lined up under the command of Lieutenant Csendes and the soldiers aim at the demonstrators. Szusza Kis changes sides, and Csendes is unable to shoot at his childhood mate. They withdraw.

1959

Fallow Land

Fallow Land 1973

1

The story of the film with a touch of journalistic atmosphere takes place in the autumn 1919 after the fall of the proletarian dictatorship. The main figure is Zilahy Kálmán, a high-school teacher, very much attracted to Ady's ideology. He is, at the same time, a rational minded sober character keeping a certain distance from the chaotic events. During the first months of the terror of the Whites, he takes a stand for his persecuted colleague, and with his wife's help, he hides Pálos, a Communist commissar in his flat.

1973

The Brigade No. 39

The Brigade No. 39 1959

1

The spring of 1919. Karikás Frigyes reorganises brigade 39 at the Tisza. His most devoted soldiers are Korbély János and his followers, who remain faithful to the political commissioner under all circumstances.

1959

The Brute

The Brute 1961

6.10

This drama about a boorish non-conformist takes place in Hungary after the war and is dulled a little by political overtones but is still an engaging story. The setting is the countryside, where an independent, landowning farmer busies himself in his free time by bedding down the women on his farm and then tossing them aside. One such ill-treated lass ends up marrying a young man who is in charge of a communal farm, a farm the womanizing "beast" of the title is later forced to join. The arrogant, formerly independent farmer does not reform his ways and is soon chasing after the young manager's wife, the woman he dropped not that long ago. The results are disastrous.

1961

Two Confessions

Two Confessions 1957

5.00

This easy-to-take Hungarian drama is also known as Two Wishes. The prinicipal characters are a pair of juvenile delinquents, who may still be redeemable. The sullen duo is befriended by a kindly police inspector, who takes it upon himself to straighten out the boys. What follows cannot be termed surprsingly or innovative, though it is immensely satisfying. Of interest is the fact that a Communist-bloc film would admit to a delinquency problem in the so-called Worker's Paradise. Ket Vallomas was the Hungarian entry in the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.

1957

The Lost Paradise

The Lost Paradise 1962

6.00

Sebők Zoltán, the brain surgeon, performed a secret abortion on his lover and the woman died. The man waiting for the autopsy (and his arrest) escapes to his father's villa at Lake Balaton.

1962

Egy szoknya, egy nadrág

Egy szoknya, egy nadrág 1943

8.00

When the actress he loves seems to be infatuated with a frivolous count, an actor disguises himself as the count's real interest, a wealthy Spanish woman whom the count has never seen before but wants to hoodwink into marrying him.

1943

People of the Mountains

People of the Mountains 1942

7.70

A simple, religious Hungarian woodcutter lives with his wife and boy child with a small community of squatters among the peaceful mountains of Transylvania until a lumber company claims their land and forces them all to become company workers or else leave the land. This 1942 Hungarian film takes a detailed and unflinching look at the hardships of mountain living, and the realistic approach proved influential to the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema. Hungarian master director Istvan Szots won the Biennale Cup at the Venice Film Festival for his auspicious debut, but the film was banned by the Nazis as "too Catholic" and not publicly exhibited until after World War II.

1942

Spiral Staircase

Spiral Staircase 1957

1

The film is an interpretation of everyday life and privacy as well as the first love-triangle story after 1945. Benkő Lajos, the country librarian, is stationed in the capital. In lack of a suitable apartment, his wife and children have to stay in the country.

1957

We Never Die!

We Never Die! 1993

6.22

In 1960s Hungary, an introverted teenager’s life is turned upside down by a few days in the company of his coat hanger salesman uncle: a roguish charmer with a zest for life and a weakness for horse racing and women.

1993