An old man's quest for love in an alien land.

Az Út (1997) directed by Moldovanyi Ferenc

Az Ut directed by Hungarian documentary film maker Moldovanyi Ferenc is a faithful depiction of Chinese community in Budapest.According to rough estimates there are 35,000 people of Chinese origin in Hungarian capital.Az Ut also works as a travelogue of sorts as the film maker has taken us on a tour of two beautiful cities:Budapest and Beijing.The real issue of importance dealt in this film concerns the description of love according to the principles of Chinese philosophy.This is done by our 56 years old protagonist who is looking for a lady to share his life.This situation gives rise to many questions such as : Is there any need for love for an old man ? How can any young woman ever fall in love with such a man who is much senior to her ? Moldovanyi Ferenc has made a brave attempt to answer such difficult questions through his protagonist who is an intellectual from China feeling out of place in Budapest.There is also an angle of old versus young in this film as there is a sub plot which involves this man's son who is an aimless unemployed vagrant.To conclude,it can be said that this is the film for you, if you wish to know more about the sad topic of disappointment in love

Real life story of a great woman film maker.

Kisvilma - Az utolsó napló (2000) directed by Meszaros Marta

Those who follow developments of East European cinema will surely know the importance of Marta Meszaros not only for Hungarian cinema but also for World cinema.She is one of the leading woman film makers in world who has made challenging films about women,their destinies,life of ordinary people under totalitarian regimes like Hungary and Russia. This is the last film directed by Marta Meszaros which constituted her diary trilogy.Kisvilma is the sad story of Marta Meszaros'childhood for which she chose her real life grand daughter Cleo Ladanyi.Cinema is like a family affair for Marta Meszaros as her son Nyika Jancso is also the film's director of photography.This film is about a personal loss in the form of a tragedy which upset the film maker when she was young.The film is a grim reminder of horrible days under Stalinist period when several innocent people were persecuted for no fault.A good film which allow people to know how people in Europe were tortured before second world war by dictators and authoritarian regimes.

How a dysfunctional family makes use of all its resourcefulness in order to save their only daughter.

Csók, Anyu! (1986) directed by Rozsa Janos

Family is an important unit of all cultures,civilizations and races. It is precisely for this reason that everyone strives to keep it alive at any cost.There might be fights, differences, ego problems or whatever you might call. The essential thing to remember is that when the family members join hands there is always a feeling of togetherness. Now for a bit of history lesson or nostalgia of the past,call it whatever you might.In the 1980s numerous astounding films focusing on the daily lives of common people were made in the
socialist nation of Hungary. "Csok Anyu" aka "Love Mother" directed by Rozsa Janos is one such unforgettable motion picture which has a dysfunctional family as its focal point. The center of attention is a small kid left alone to fend for himself. Spying on his neighbours using binoculars remains his favorite past time. As far as the parents are concerned, the less said the better. The famous Hungarian cinéaste Koltai Robert plays the businessman dad, more interested in his pretty young secretary. Talented Hungarian superstar Udvaros Dorottya plays the tourist guide mother of the house. The only complaint that can be made about her is that she wants to earn more money by conducting more tours for German
tourists. All this has some very obnoxious bearing on the young teenage daughter.She decides to take matter in her own hands by taking her life. Things are so pretty bad for this family as no one has time to speak to anyone.In the end all the acrimony is driven resulting in a new found happiness for all and sundry. Watching this feel,I am sure that you will feel that these days such films are rarely made and there are hardly any television networks worldwide who would be willing to show such meaningful films. I saw this film in 1990 on the
only Indian television network of the time called "Doordarshan". It showed marvellous world cinema classics as part of its "Late Night Screenings".For serious cinema enthusiasts, apart from this film,I would like to strongly
recommend a similar forgotten classic of Hungarian cinema called "A Hungarian fairy tale" by Gazdag Gyula.

A beautiful tale full of paradoxes.

Szindbád (1971) directed by Huszarik Zoltan.

A beautiful tale full of paradoxes.Imagine a film full of love affairs and not even a single sex scene in it !Well,such is the beauty of this great Hungarian film nicely shot by the legendary Hungarian cameraman Sandor Sara.One must just
keep a thing in mind before starting to watch this film.It is not for all tastes.Those who have ample patience in dealing with philosophical tales should only proceed to watch this masterpiece.Zoltan Latinovits is marvelous as the ageing Sindbad who aptly shows us that life is best enjoyed only when it is in constant movement.Watch out for a scene involving Sindbad eating numerous mouth watering delicacies.
Sindbad is based on numerous short stories by Gyula Krudy. This film is considered to be a major classic of Hungarian Cinema.