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

Twilight

Twilight 1990

7.00

In the dense and murky woodlands of provincial Hungary, the search for a child murderer drags a once-respected detective into an all-consuming obsession enshrouded by irresolution and despair, even long after he has been taken off the case. What emerges is not a crime story, but a harrowing venture through the darkness of the human soul.

1990

Abandoned

Abandoned 2001

6.36

Áron is a happy child in his family. But at some point things take a different turn, and his mother starts to lose her health rapidly. As this happens, the man in charge decides what's best for Áron without consulting the young boy's opinion, and the boy finds himself thrown out of his warm home into an orphanage in the woods. He's utterly displeased by what's happening, without knowing he has yet to face much worse...

2001

Daughters of Fortune

Daughters of Fortune 1999

4.40

A story of a mother who had to change her profession from a teacher to a high class prostitute to make a living.

1999

Peter and Paul

Peter and Paul 1978

6.00

The subject-matter of this comedy is age-old: that of the schizophrenic soul. Papa would have liked boy twins years ago, but her wife gave birth to a single child weighing six kilograms. He would like to dampen his feeling of emptiness by having the boy registered both as Péter and Pál.

1978

Cantata

Cantata 1963

6.60

A young doctor undergoes a spiritual crisis when he returns to his rural home.

1963

Heavenly Hosts

Heavenly Hosts 1984

1

When hunting, Zrínyi Miklós finds an Angel with a broken wing. He takes him for a heavenly message and carries him to his castle for cure. Lords and priests come to Zrínyi's court, one after the other, to see Angel. The occasion is appropriate for the ban to win them over to his plan: they should unite their forces to fight for the country's independence.

1984

The Witman Boys

The Witman Boys 1997

5.20

Turn-of-the-century Hungary. Two young brothers, neglected by their cold and uncaring mother, descend deeper and deeper into psychosis, with tragic consequences.

1997

Potteries

Potteries 1981

6.00

Andras (Zygmunt Malanowicz), an older man employed as a furniture designer, gets a life-jarring shock when he returns from a trip and finds that some of the work he developed has been given over to a younger employee. This instigates a mid-life crisis over his own identity and his sense of security and self-worth, all exacerbated by a recent divorce and estrangement from his son. Recognizing that he needs help, the man goes for therapy and starts to face his problems. Therapy counteracts some of the damage of living, and the man starts to consider his son, his relationships with women, and his father in a different light.

1981

Diary for My Father and My Mother

Diary for My Father and My Mother 1990

6.20

This story follows a young student, who is orphaned as she grows to adulthood in the shadow of the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Coming from the Communist intelligentsia, she sees her friends and family react differently. Her lover, a married factory manager, supports the patriots and later assists fellow workers in staging a strike. Meanwhile her sister and others express anger at being forced from their homes during the revolution and continue to express a hatred for the rebels afterwards. But in the end they realize that for all people, real life is not possible after the revolt and its brutal suppression by the Soviets and their collaborators.

1990

Passion

Passion 1998

6.90

A woman and her lover plot to kill her older husband.

1998

Adventure in Gerolstein

Adventure in Gerolstein 1957

1

In Gerolstein, those girls who were born the same year as the princess, cannot marry until she remains maiden. An attractive and very rich husband is needed for Antónia in order to fill the treasures up. The wonderful reigning princess meets her selected bridegroom, the emperor of the neighbouring Pecunia in disguise and by accident.

1957

25 Fireman's Street

25 Fireman's Street 1973

5.40

On one hot summer night, the residents of a Hungarian apartment house slated for demolition restlessly revisit their haunted pasts as they face an uncertain future. In a gently turning kaleidoscope of dream imagery, regret-laden nostalgia and painstakingly intimate detail, the looming wrecking ball pales in significance to the accumulated experiences each dreamer revisits. Pre-war prejudice, occupying Nazis and Stalinist deprivations all come and go as each tenant’s backward glance yields moments of aching sensuality, infectious exuberance and catastrophic loss.

1973

Tolerance

Tolerance 1986

1

The unskilled, jack-of-all-trades András and his wife, Éva are put in jail for serial work-place thefts, -committed in order to try to ensure a normal living standard for his family - and for aggravated assault committed for self-defence, respectively. Their two small children are put in state care, then given to foster parents. András, still in prison, commits everything to help the released Éva get hold of an apartment and get their children back so that when he will have served his term the family could be together again.

1986

Ruthless Times

Ruthless Times 1992

1

Hungary, end of World War II. Five Hungarian soldiers desert their troop which has been directed to Germany. They are escaping with the help of a stamp and unfilled travelling warrants, trying to survive until the war ends.

1992

Belated Full Moon

Belated Full Moon 1996

6.00

The story largely centers on a grandfather who finds himself deeply depressed by the dramatic downward turns Bulgarian society has taken. The changes of the past half century have created a deep communications gap between generations and he is unable to communicate with his troubled son. Nor is the old man able to do much to help his grandson who is making his first forays into criminal life, blaming it all on his mother who admits she is incapable of loving him. The grandfather tires of life with the bleak family and so goes to an old folks home. But that proves repressive, so he and a couple of friends leave to enact a money-making scheme. When that fails, the old man finds himself alone and destitute on the rough streets of Sofia where his despairing eyes witness the further ruination of his homeland.

1996

Labyrinth

Labyrinth 1976

1

The film director starts shooting his film about the manager of a large corporation who committed suicide for mysterious reasons. As the cumbersome process of making a film goes along, everybody involved in it starts having differing opinions of the tragedy, its causes and its victim.

1976