Magyar Művészeti Akadémia's 53 Hungarian Films
The 53 Magyar Film is a list compiled in 2012 by Magyar Művészeti Akadémia (The Hungarian Academy of Arts) of feature length Hungarian narrative films.
The voting led by Sandor Sara yielded a list of 53 films between the years ranging from the first Hungarian film in 1931 up to 1994.
The voting led by Sandor Sara yielded a list of 53 films between the years ranging from the first Hungarian film in 1931 up to 1994.
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- DirectorSándor SáraStarsLászló DózsaGyörgy CserhalmiJácint JuhászA group of Hussars stationed at a Polish outpost hear there's a revolution going on in their native Hungary. Their attempt to return home incurs the wrath of the Austrians.
- DirectorAndrás JelesStarsJános OpoczkiIstván IványiJózsef FarkasTwenty-year-old Laszlo Sz., a driver's mate steals the money he should have posted and wandering around Budapest, visiting bars, restaurants, pinball parlors and various other places trying to make the day different and meaningful.
- DirectorAndrás KovácsStarsJózsef MadarasFerenc BácsFerenc FábiánA new supervisor arrives at a horse ranch, but as he is not at all well-liked, he meets quite an amount of resistance and cannot put across his will.
- DirectorPéter BacsóStarsFerenc KállaiLajos ÖzeZoltán FábriBanned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, which was also well received by critics and general audiences alike when it was finally released outside of Hungary. Its candid and realistic portrayal of the incompetent communist regime has earned great acclaim for both the director and the film itself when it was shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. 'The Witness' takes place during the height of the Rákosi Era, which was closely modeled after the ruthless and brutal Stalin regime. The film follows the life of an ordinary dike keeper, József Pelikán, who has been caught for illegally slaughtering his pig, Dezsõ. Instead of doing hard time for his "heinous" crime, Pelikán is elevated into an important position, generally reserved for the communist elite. Of course, Pelikán is utterly clueless about his newfound luck, not to mention his new job. Even his new benefactor, the mysterious Comrade Virág, is reluctant to reveal the real reason behind Pelikán's preferential treatment. Thus, begins Pelikán's hilarious adventure deep within the "sophisticated" communist society. One failure after another the incompetent Pelikán is elevated higher and higher on the communist echelon, all the while remaining completely clueless about his promotions. Until one day, when he gets called for to return the "favour" by falsely testifying against his long-time friend in a mock-up show trial.
- DirectorMárton KeletiStarsTamás MajorImre SinkovitsIván DarvasDuring World War II, PFC Molnár decides his military service is over, and with a serious amount of money hidden in hand grenades, he heads to an abandoned mansion where he encounters not only the sour butler but a bunch of others who are also trying to wimp out on their duties.
- DirectorGábor BódyStarsSándor CsutorosGyörgy CserhalmiAndrás FeketeThe film commemorates the Hungarian emigration of the forties. Its history takes place in the last days of the American Civil War and shows the different fates of three different characters, the rationalist, the fatalist and the romantic.
- DirectorPál GáborStarsVera PapErzsi PásztorÉva SzabóVera Angi works as a nurse in a hospital after WWII in communist Hungary. Because she speaks up about the terrible conditions in which the nurses and doctors have to work, she's placed in a six-month education course.
- DirectorLászló RanódyGyula MészárosStarsZsuzsa CzinkócziAnna NagySándor HorváthAn orphan girl suffers abuse from her adopting parents.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsLajos ÖzeLászló MárkusFerenc BenczeIn Budapest in 1944, a watchmaker, a book seller and a carpenter are drinking in a bar with the owner, when they are joined by a stranger. The watchmaker asks a hypothetical question that will change their lives.
- DirectorIldikó EnyediStarsDorota SegdaOleg YankovskiyPaulus MankerTwo twin sisters, who grew up separately, Dóra, a pseudo-aristocrat, and Lili, an anarchist bomber, are reunited through Z, a mysterious traveller of the luxurious Orient-Express.
- DirectorImre FehérStarsIván DarvasMargit BaraSándor Pécsi1914 in a small Hungarian town. The journalist Sándor has a love affair with a girl but ruins it when he won't marry below his own ranks.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsKrystyna MikolajewskaMikhail KozakovTatyana KonyukhovaDuring the Russian Civil War, the Red Army - aided by Hungarian Communists - and the White Army fight for control of the area surrounding the Volga.
- DirectorZoltán HuszárikStarsItschak FintziIstván HollAndrea DrahotaTivadar Csontváry Kosztka the one-ideaed Hungarian painter was thought to be crazy by his peers, but he eventually became a significant artist.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsMari TörőcsikMária MezeiKároly KovácsYoung maid Anna starts to work for the noble Vizy family. Mrs Vizy is proud of the hardworking servant but doesn't treat her well. Her nephew seduces Anna with sweet words, but leaves her as soon as she gets pregnant. The humiliations of Anna finally lead to a tragic ending.
- DirectorZoltán VárkonyiStarsFerenc BessenyeiIván DarvasZoltán LatinovitsBased on the novel by Mór Jókai, the film revolves around several decades of life of a noble family Karpati, during the first half of the XVIII century.
- DirectorGéza BereményiStarsKároly EperjesJudit PogányEnikõ EszenyiSandor Monori thinks that he can buy everything with his gold. The story takes place after the World War II at the famous Teleki ter where he is the King of the market.
- DirectorIstván SzötsStarsAlice SzellayJános GörbePéterke FerencyA woodcutter moves his wife and son onto a mountain for an attempt at a better life but tragedy soon sets in.
- DirectorIstván SzötsStarsAlice SzellayJános GörbeJózsef Bihari
- DirectorSándor SáraStarsLajos BalázsovitsNadesda KazassianTodor TodorovAn aspiring film student is denied a scholarship to the state-funded university when his father is thrown in jail. The man had stopped a train in order to facilitate the union between two old friends. The son then takes a job as a land surveyor and meets a Greek man who works towards the collective benefits of the peasants. The man is killed in a peasant uprising prompted by a bureaucratic boondoggle. The surveyor looks after the man's widow as his emerging political and social awareness leads him take a stand against government injustice. Another incident, in which gypsies are rounded up by state hygiene workers, further galvanizes the man's beliefs. He photographs the incident, and his work allows him to be accepted into the school from which he was previously denied admission.
- DirectorIstván DárdayStarsMárta HimmerEszter BodnarZsuzsa SzakácsA powerful, at times shockingly authentic, epic-length film about three contemporary women who also happen to be sisters. The film employs documentary-like style to tell the story which spans about 2 years, and is is notable for memorable performances by a cast of mostly amateurs.
- DirectorPál ZolnayStarsIstván IglódiFerenc SeböMárk ZalaA photographer and a retoucher are wandering in small villages. They go from house to house offering their services. They try to record the truth, the true faces of these people.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsErnö SzabóNoémi AporEmmi ButtykayWhen a Latin teacher publishes an essay on the Carthaginian General Hannibal, he is quickly hailed as a celebrity genius, but in reality has become an unwitting pawn of far-right politicians.
- DirectorKároly MakkGyörgy HintschStarsJános GörbeIrén PsotaMargit BaraA returned prisoner of war, his pretty new wife and his first wife's hunchbacked sister live together in a small isolated house, but none of them can find happiness.
- DirectorAndrás KovácsStarsZoltán LatinovitsIván DarvasTibor SzilágyiSet in 1946, this movie deals with the planning and execution of the January, 1942 Novi Sad massacre of 4,000 Yugoslavian Serbs and Jews by Hungarian army units. It was undertaken as a reprisal for a partisan ambush (in which 17 soldiers were gunned down). And it is mainly explored through the reminiscences of four participants--Major Buky, Lieutenant Tarpataki, Ensign Pozdor, and Corporal Szabonow--cell-mates awaiting trial. Ultimately, however, what you get is an extended debate over issues of individual responsibility.
- DirectorIstván GaálStarsMari TörőcsikIstván FerencziIrma PatkósA married couple lives in a deserted Hungarian village. The harshness and loneliness of their existence lead to internal turmoil.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsAntal PágerJános GörbeEmil KeresA young journalist resolves to find out the reasons for a murder of an agricultural farm employee, killed eight years before.
- DirectorSteve SekelyStarsGyula CsortosGyula KabosMici HarasztiA butler changes the life of a nouveau-riche entrepreneur's life, while his daughter falls in love with the company's manager instead of a suitor chosen for her.
- DirectorLívia GyarmathyStarsEdit SoósIla SchützMargit Dajka
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsImre SinkovitsDezsö GarasLászló MárkusOn Hitler's birthday, the Germans decide to organize a soccer match between prisoners of war and Germans.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsMari TörőcsikImre SoósÁdám SzirtesIn a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives a humble but promising young farmer girl called Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to an old but rich man with whom he does business. Land marries land, he says. This seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the young lover is ready to stand up to any challenge to keep Maris love.
- DirectorKároly MakkStarsIván DarvasMarianne KrencseyMargit DajkaMariska and Liliomfi fall in love without suspecting that Mariska's foster father is also Liliomfi's uncle. Soon the couple must contend with the professor's plan to make Liliomfi give up his "unrespectable" profession of acting.
- DirectorKálmán NádasdyLászló RanódyStarsImre SoósErzsi PártosTeri HorváthA young peasant boy stands up to tyranny, aided by his trusting friend- a goose.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsGábor KonczÉva PapJózsef BihariMany Hungarian migrant workers work in Germany in good conditions and for good wages during WW2. They face the war only once they return home to Hungary.
- DirectorPéter GothárStarsAnikó IvánIstván ZnamenákPéter GálfyA teenager boy has to grow up in the shifting political and moral landscape of post-1956 Hungary.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerIldikó BánságiKrystyna JandaIn early-1930s Germany, a passionate stage actor faces a dilemma: renounce his apolitical stance and comply with the Reich's doctrine, or face oblivion. But, Faustian bargains never end well. What is the price of success?
- DirectorMárta MészárosStarsZsuzsa CzinkócziÁgnes CsereAnna PolonyHaving lost her parents to Stalin's purges, a girl returns from Soviet Union to her native Hungary to live with her Stalinist aunt.
- DirectorGábor BódyStarsPatricia AdrianiUdo KierGyörgy CserhalmiNarcissus and Psyche is based on a novel by Sandor Weores. Borrowing the character of Psyche from mythology and placing her in Europe in the 19th century, the authors give her a "modern" life. She is an attractive young woman - and remains so throughout the film, in spite of one hardship after another. Psyche is libidinous, and her prurient interests shock her staid contemporaries.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsZoltán LatinovitsAndor AjtayBéla BarsiA young doctor undergoes a spiritual crisis when he returns to his rural home.
- DirectorLászló RanódyStarsAntal PágerKlári TolnayAnna NagyFor many years, the Vajkays have been desperately hoping that their unfortunate, ugly daughter will finally find her mate and happiness. Even now, they send Pacsirta away for a few days to visit relatives and introduce her to the widowed father of three. The lonely couple reunite with their old friends. They go to the theatre, which they haven't been to for years because Pacsirta can't stand the smell of theatre. After the performance, Vajkay is invited to the casino by his former table mate. The old man, who has given up everything years ago, now spends the night having fun, and at dawn, in a moment of bitter sobering up, he and his wife face for the first time their ruined lives, their lost happiness sacrificed for their daughter.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerHans Christian BlechArmin Mueller-StahlSet during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl (Brandauer), an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.
- DirectorPál SándorStarsDezsö GarasTamás MajorLászló MárkusThe laundryman only lives for one thing: soccer. His dream is to have his team in the premier league, but for that he needs money and the only way he can do that is by selling some of his players.
- DirectorBéla TarrStarsMihály VigPutyi HorváthLászló feLugossyOn the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.
- DirectorIstván GaálStarsAndrea DrahotaMarianna MoórIstvánné ZsipiA hot summer day six young men and two young women meet at the beach beside a deep river. After a while they go for a swim. At a point where the river is 8 meters deep, one of the boys gets the idea of diving to the bottom, and to bring up a handful of clay as a proof of the feat. The others follow his example. Back on dry land one of the girls suddenly wonders where Gabi is. When they figure out that no one has seen him coming up from the river, they get worried. Gabi's clothes are still on the beach, and they start searching for him along the banks and in the water. Finally they have to call the police, who start dragging the river. The corpse isn't found, and the following days Gabi's friends display different reactions to the loss. Some had unsettled matters with him, which now never can be solved. Some have already started to forget his face. At the third day the body is found. Summer is gone, and the circle of friends disbands. Some go to a bigger city for studies, while others have to stay in the small town and work. Left alone in inconsolable grief is Gabi's grandmother. Gabi's father died a long time ago, and now she has lost also her grandson, her only remaining support and joy in life.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsJános GörbeZoltán LatinovitsTibor MolnárIn Hungary, the national movement led by Kossuth has been crushed and the Austrian hegemony re-established, but partisans carry on with violent actions. In order to root out the guerilla, the army rounds up suspects and jails them in an isolated fort. The authorities do not have the identity of the guerilla leaders, who are supposed to be present among the prisoners. However, they know enough about some of the suspects to apply perfidious forms of coercion effectively.
- DirectorKároly MakkStarsLili DarvasMari TörőcsikIván DarvasThe wife of a political prisoner tends to her mother-in-law and keeps from the old woman the truth about her son, whom she believes is in New York making a film.
- DirectorZoltán HuszárikStarsZoltán LatinovitsÉva RuttkaiÉva LeelössyAn old man is recollecting all the women he met in his youth. An old woman wants them to commit suicide together but changes her mind. The little town has a doctor whose wife can not forget the old man, and the waiter who serves him his dinner doesn't know that Sinbad will soon court her.
- DirectorLászló LugossyStarsGyörgy CserhalmiGrazyna SzapolowskaJirí AdamíraIn 1849 the Hungarian revolution is beaten down by the Russian Army. Ferenc Majláth, who was an officer in the army of the revolution, has to choose between imprisonment or getting enlisted in the Austrian army. He chooses enlisting but this decision is weighing on his conscience.
- DirectorFrigyes BánStarsÁgi MészárosÁdám SzirtesViola OrbánA young peasant girl wants to marry her love, but due to the pressure of her parents she ends up with a wealthier man. Their real hardships begin when they escape together from her wedding.
- DirectorPéter BacsóStarsDorottya UdvarosZoltán BezerédiAndrás KernIt is 1951, and Lucy Sziráky is a pretty, ambitious operetta actress. Her blossoming career has been thwarted by deportation. Because of her ex-husband's count rank, she has to leave the capital. For her, the adjustment to her forced village life is doubly difficult: she is far from her true livelihood, the theater, and must also contend with the resentment of her fellow aristocrats, who see her as an interloper. But Lucy is a real actress and a real no. Soon she finds the right voice for the displaced people and the men who admire her: the village party secretary, the local police captain, but she soon gets fed up.
- DirectorFerenc KósaStarsTibor MolnárGyöngyi BürösJános KoltaiCharts 3 decades of a country family, in which a peasant is able after WWII to amass land but runs into trouble during collectivization, when he will make enemies he hopes he can later turn against.
- DirectorGéza von RadványiStarsArtúr SomlayMiklós GáborZsuzsa BánkiA band of runaways and orphans of the war scour the countryside in search of food and shelter. They invade and then taken in by a musician and former concert pianist who's hiding out in a ruined castle. After the initial altercation between them the gang accepts his guidance and he wins their respect by protecting them from the elements. However, disgruntled townsfolk want to chase away the gang who has been - in their search for survival - laying waste to their crops. A battle ensues ending in the death of a little boy - and resolution.
- DirectorJános SzászStarsLajos KovácsDiana VacaruÉva IgóEverything in town appears calm, placid, lovely. But Woyzeck, a rifleman assigned as an orderly, hears voices -- the times are out of joint, at least in his cosmos. To his captain, Woyzeck is a comic marvel: ignorant but courageous, and full of energy.