Best Hungarian music movies

Quiet 10-year-old Zsofi has just changed schools. Feeling out of place at first, she is quickly admitted to the school’s famous choir and befriends her popular classmate Liza. Soon, they have to stand up united against their choir master, who isn’t quite the friendly and inspirational teacher they first thought she was.

On 27th July 1986, British stadium rock band Queen broke new ground by playing for the first time in Hungary, a country which was still under a communist dictatorship behind the Iron Curtain.

In 1920s Vienna, a young girl receives a magical doll on Christmas Eve.

Brothers Tamás, Ákos and András find themselves in deeper trouble than ever after swindler Alex drains them into a chase for a priceless stolen stamp. With both the police and rival mafia crews, Baláék and Toniék, on their tail, they’re joined by Eszter and Timi as everyone races against the clock. Their fortunes, and perhaps their lives, depend on whether they can outwit both friends and enemies, and escape unscathed.

Miklós Fenyö's parents returned to Communist Hungary in the mid sixties - when everyone else was fleeing to the West. Miki's old friends don't know what to make of his outrageous clothes, flawless American accent and collection of original Buddy Holly 45s. His childhood sweetheart is cold and distant while local tough guy Röné is unmoved by the challenger to his rock 'n' roll crown. But that's not all. When the authorities see the effect Miki's gyrating hips and lewd music have on teenage girls, they won't stand for it. His father's job is on the line, and, for the first time, Miki must play by the rules. He has no choice but to enter the local talent show...

The movie is set in the actual "Ki Mit Tud?" talent contest in 1962. In reality the contest in dance music category was won by an army brass band. "Omega" which later became one of the most successful Hungarian rock bands came out in the second place.

István, a király ("Stephen, the King") is a Hungarian rock opera written by Levente Szörényi (music) and János Bródy (lyrics), based on the life of Saint Stephen of Hungary. The storyline was based on the play Ezredforduló (Turn of the Millennium) by Miklós Boldizsár, who co-wrote the libretto. The opera was first staged in 1983 on an open-air stage in Budapest. This first performance was also made into a 1984 film, directed by Gábor Koltay, and its music released on an album. The musical became a smash hit and is still very popular in Hungary and among Hungarian minorities in neighboring countries.

Zsolt Mohai, an eccentric shop window decorator in his 40s, drops by Anna Parádi on his wedding day, asking her to phone his bride Klára Horváth and call off the event. Drama, discussions and musical numbers ensue over topics like romance, loyalty, ambition, and settling for a family life in a modern day city.

Wellhello is a Hungarian music band whose song combine the stories of the movie. This is a generation movie: portrays the feeling of life, thinking, problems and relationships of today's twenty-year-old's.

Lili is a typical girl of our time: she's lonely and tries to convince herself that this is what's good for her. But one day, she finds an old package of letters in her parents' apartment, which her mother apparently didn't want to show her at all. Of course, she doesn't hesitate much, she starts reading, and the past comes alive... an unforgettable summer in the early 1990s, when three good friends are on vacation at Lake Balaton, and of them, only Eszter wants to stay faithful to her boyfriend who left her at home, who swallowed a stake. But her plans, which she usually follows with engineering precision, are slightly messed up when she meets Gergo, easygoing, funny and has another very good quality: he plays in a band and performs with his friends on the beach in Szigliget in the evenings.

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.

A Hungarian band plays American rock & roll and blues hits with great enthusiasm and passion, but success seems to avoid them. TV and radio don't play their songs, sometimes even their crowd just sits and sips beer. Something must be done, and the band's leader (Lóránt Schuster) comes up with the big idea: write and play songs for the people about themselves and not about some exotic, but too distant people's life. "We move from Tobacco Road to Retek street." With the remains of the band and a second singer (Gyula Deák "Bill") they find what they failed to show people before. The rich new sound can finally translate the spirit of blues and rock much more than words from any dictionaries could, this is the Kőbánya blues.

Music video for Jung Kook's latest single "Standing Next to You".

Papi, a penniless retiree living in a rundown riverside boathouse, owes everyone and has nothing, until Wizy, a flashy super-club owner, threatens to evict him to build yet another party palace. With no other options, Papi enlists his equally hapless but charming grandson Tomi, who rallies his friends for a classic underdog showdown: can crafty David really defeat Goliath?

This is the Hungarian version of the French musical Roméo et Juliette: de la Haine à l'Amour based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, with music and lyrics by Gérard Presgurvic.

Cremaster 5 is a five-act opera (sung in Hungarian) set in late-ninteenth century Budapest. The last film in the series, Cremaster 5 represents the moment when the testicles are finally released and sexual differentiation is fully attained. The lamenting tone of the opera suggests that Barney invisions this as a moment of tragedy and loss. The primary character is the Queen of Chain (played by Ursula Andress). Barney, himself, plays three characters who appear in the mind of the Queen: her Diva, Magician, and Giant. The Magician is a stand-in for Harry Houdini, who was born in Budapest in 1874 and appears as a recurring character in the Cremaster cycle.

Who can sum up the story of Mowgli, raised by wolves, Bagheera, freed from the cage of men, Baloo, a wise teacher of the law, the mysterious Ka, and Shere Khan, thirsty for revenge and human blood? It tells of birth and death, of acceptance and rejection, of team and loneliness, of the magic of childhood and adolescence - of everything that can happen to a "cub", whether raised among wolves or humans.

With an intimate look into the band's life, this concert documentary is about the farewell concert of cult Hungarian band 'Kispál és a borz'.

Baracs Pista, engineer at the construction site of a railway line near the Korláthy estate, falls in love with Rolla, a countess disguised as a peasant girl. The count is giving a party as he wants the railway line to go across his lands.

A music documentary about Hungarian musicians creating music around lake Balaton. The feature film continuation of the acclaimed Kodály Method (2011) videos.

A rockumentary about four Hungarian musician: Mester Tamás, Papp Szabi, Ganxsta Zolee and Tóth Tibi. They moved in together for seven weeks to record an album, put together a concert while they were recorded by the crew who made a music documentary film of the whole work.

Attila Baukó, aka Azahriah is one of Hungary's most famous singer, who filled the biggest sport arena of the country with three consecutive concerts. But this film is not a concert film. It is not a music documentary. Nor is it a traditional portrait film. We are Azahriah is the story of a real and an imaginary journey inspired by Azahriah's life and songs.

A pirate radio, the girl next door, and a test of friendship.

Set in the "Golden Era" of the wandering Hungarian theatre troupes. Mariska and Liliomfi fall in love without suspecting that Mariska's foster father, Professor Szilvay, 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 by exposing the professor's hypocrisy, greed, and tyrannical selfishness.

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.

A heartwarming story about a group of small, seemingly insignificant creatures who discover their inner strength and courage, banding together as a team to overcome significant challenges, demonstrating the importance of responsibility and the power of working together, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.

Kató Varga (Klári Tolnay) is unable to play its part in front of the Admissions Committee of the School of Dramatic Art. Geszty (Tivadar Bilicsi), severe President of the Commission maintains that she has no talent for acting and mercilessly tells you will never be an actress. Kató prepares to take revenge and under the false name of Katyi Csiba, dressed as a peasant village, obtains admission to the house Geszty. Turning everything upside down, she makes your life hell.

George, Prince of Wales mingles with the crowd in Bowie Street in disguise under the pseudonym Bob. He falls in love with the poor Uncle Tom's daughter, Annie. But to save his business, the indebted Uncle Tom promised her to the usurer Plumpudding.

Judith arrives at Bluebeard's dark castle hoping her love can convince him to reveal the secrets behind the locked interior doors.

Istvan Varju a.k.a. Kanya is a track driver. He drives alone on the roads and listens to the radio. We're In the middle of seventies, the radio broadcasts hungarian beat music. He is convinced that interesting and significant events in the life happen on the roads, so we should go, go and go in order not to miss something.

A folk musician recovering from a near-fatal car accident covers a pop icon’s song, incorporating a small Romanian folk band’s motif, resulting in Hungary’s biggest hit in a decade. Quimby, an alternative rock band since 1991, paused in 2003 when singer Tibor Kiss went to rehab. After returning, he wrote “Broken glass paradise,” inspired by his recovery, but it didn’t succeed immediately. Years later, the Hungarian Csík Band covered it, making it a massive hit. Formed in 1988 by János Csík, the band gained popularity by covering pop/rock songs with folk instruments. Their cover of “Broken glass paradise,” featuring a Transylvanian folk motif, was viewed over 15 million times on YouTube, with many mistaking it for a traditional folk song.

Self-effacing Hungarian pianist, József, has a unique talent for fusing contemporary jazz with traditional Roma music. This new sound catches the attention of the acclaimed saxophonist Tim Ries and the two begin performing together. József dreams of escaping his humdrum life and making it big in the home of jazz: America. Along the way, he conquers his demons and learns that when shooting for the stars, success is not the destination, but the journey itself.

Betty and her friend V have a major project: the open-air music festival, Sziget Festival held every summer on one of the Danube islands in Hungary. Instead of money the teenagers have a stash of grass waiting for a buyer. Food? Nothing wrong with the leftovers from other people’s plates. Tent? Why bother when you can sleep under the stars. Sleep? No way: the party goes on all night. V is a pretty girl who knows how to use her charms to the best advantage. Betty, more reserved and shy, never quite knows what to do with her hands, how to hold a cigarette, what to say to the boys they meet. But the tables are turned when the pair go their separate ways after an argument.

Once, when the evil armoured graphite beetles ruled the forest, one morning a beautiful flower with healing powers grew in the middle of the meadow, and the magic flower chased the grey beetles back underground. But one day a great storm came and broke the magic flower... The stalk was taken by the hornbill as a prop against the wind. The fallen petals, held above their heads, were carried by various insects fleeing from the rain: one by ants, another by flies, a third by garbage beetles, and a fourth by scarab beetles. The fifth petal went to the Rainbow Beetle, but was spotted by the grey beetles that had escaped from the ground. They almost caught it, bit it on the arm, it escaped, but the sting made it sick. Will his new friend, the Starry-eyed Beetle, be able to reassemble the magic flower in time to cure Rainbow and send the grey beetles back underground? Performed by the KFKI Chamber Ballet, with the participation of students from the Madách Musical Dance School.

"Are you looking to buy a car? Not sure which one to buy? Clueless? We can solve all your problems. Watch our latest film! All your problems will be solved because we'll talk you out of them for the price of a single ticket." - says the comedy's obliging narrator (Ervin Kibédi), who tries to talk the viewer out of buying a car. To do this, he tells the audience some instructive and humorous car-related stories...

In the open-air cinema-like scenery domestic rock bands get time for a short movie clip each, linked by an also short musical frame-play. Each of the altogether eighteen clips is a whole film etude playing with visual-lingual associations, film ideas, revealing the back-thought of the songs, and on the whole sometimes melancholicly, sometimes ironically the hopeless, sad picture of the era can be distinguished.

Moleman 3 is a documentary diary about a journey from the underground to the cultural surface. Music styles and artists ignored by record labels and the mainstream media didn't have much chance of getting wide recognition back in the day. The digital revolution changed everything. The internet and digital technology, accessible to everyone, reshaped the music industry completely. The significance of record labels which controlled mainstream music has changed and decayed. For genres building themselves up from the bottom, success was once unimaginable without a record label and money. As of today, thanks to the digital revolution, it can easily be done.

Gruber is a normal 16-year-old growing up in Budapest in 1962, but he has a problem -- how does he get to know the opposite sex? At the Sunday afternoon dance classes the young "ladies and gentlemen" hold each other while dancing, and that makes the lessons worth something. Otherwise, the pianist's attention wanders and the orchestra does not exactly play with a single-minded dedication. In fact, everybody seems to have other things on their minds, except for the enthusiastic dance instructor and his ever-smiling assistant.

A semi-documentary film about the legendary hungarian rock guitarist, Béla Radics.

1942. Owing to a stolen mink coat, Süti, the young poet and journalist, gets acquainted with Katalin, the idolated singer. Before being drafted to labour service, he shows the actress the song he composed for her, entitled Smouldering Cigarette.

The film is about a piano player who falls in love with Mari, a beautiful blond woman, who happens to be the wife of a deaf-mute animal caretaker. Both men adore Mari, as she loves both of them. Albeit all of them know this way won't stand.

A documentary of the legendary band of the eighties called CPg (Come on Punk group). CPg was one of the first Hungarian punk (not skinhead) groups. In the eyes of the political leadership, they were the most reactionary and the rudest. Their songs sounded like a naive, somewhat anarchistic social criticism but were never racists. They were sentenced to two years in prison.

In Russian animator Alexey Alexeev's hilarious short, three professional musicians — the Bear, the Rabbit and the Wolf — are practicing their art in the forest, when suddenly a hunter appears on the scene.

Story of the owners (Mastroianni and Schygulla) of a fancy nightclub in Budapest before and during WWII.

"Silver lute", the choral society of the Vác Engine Works, led by Réz, the conductor, is preparing for its 25th anniversary. All the important members of the society, among them Seregély, a magician, are, at the same time, all "fathers" of Zsóka, daughter of a former colleague, who has been killed in an accident, and whom they then adopted.

Csótány, the 30-year-old rocker, works as a locksmith's assistant. He lives with his aunt, who accepted him in her apartment in Pest, but Csótány can no longer contribute to the rent. His two biggest passions in life: his favorite Norwegian metal band, Pulzaar, and his secret love, Évike from the bakery downstairs. When he sees the poster that his beloved band is coming to Budapest, he is struck by lightning, which sets off a whole chain of events. Will he finally manage to get to the concert and gather all his courage to invite Éviké as well?

The dance play is based on the legend of the girl who was danced to death. Using the tools of folk dance, classical ballet and modern dance, the three parts tell the tale of the black man's spell that takes the girl away from her lover in a setting of folk tales, 18th century Rococo and the 1960s metropolis. But in the modern world, in the ballroom bustle of the last part, the girl is no longer alone, but with the help of the other young people, she is freed from the magic of the red shoe and manages to stay with her lover.

A man pretends to be a manager and helps veteran rockstar god, Johnny G. and his ex-band to reunite once more.

Our story takes place in a small frontier town that is a real cross-section of the dreaded terror of the 1950s. On October 23, 1956, the ÁVÓ is throwing a ball for the birthday of the daughter of the local Russian commander. At this ball, the young people plan a clash with the local armed forces. The plan is foiled when the ball is interrupted by news of the outbreak of the Budapest revolution. By this time, Juli, the daughter of the local caretaker commander, and Robi, the son of an actor who has been deported from the capital, are in love. In this revolutionary situation, can the two opposing hearts of love be for each other?

A modernized version of the famous ballet work by Bela Bartok

Documentary about the life and work of the Hungarian composer, Gyorgy Kurtag

The 104 minute show was recorded at Budapest's Petofi Hall on 26th January 2002 and mixed in 5.1 surround format in Steve Hackett's own MAP studio. The setlist offers a variety of Steve's favourite acoustic material including selections from 'Bay of Kings', 'Momentum', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Sketches of Satie' together with unique acoustic arrangements of some of his band material and even one or two new and unreleased pieces. Hackett was accompanied by brother John (flute) and Roger King (keyboards)

Dangerous spies act as representatives of an international recording company to get important plans from the father of an aspiring composer.

In Luxoria Prince Igor is preparing to accede to the throne and choose his wife on his 24th birthday. The mother Duchess's candidate is Duchess Xenia, but Igor loves Annie, the soap-maker's daughter.

A young man spends his last three nights with his lover before his army regiment is ordered to war. When he deserts his unit to return to her side, he discovers the woman he loves is gone, and he is interrogated by the police when he learns his lover is a communist agent. The two finally are reunited at the police station where the embarrassed man denies ever knowing the accused woman.

Lugosi works in the locomotive factory, earning little. He does not feel at ease in the world. One reason for his discontent is that his wife - a tractor factory worker - earns more than he does, and another is that she has even had her innovation accepted, while his has not. And because trouble doesn't come alone, poor Lugosi gets involved in a sabotage case.

A short film made to the music of Béla Bartók's famous ballet, Der wunderbare Mandarin (The Wonderful Mandarin).

The story unfolds using the Lajtai operetta The Old Summer. The son of landowner János Pataki comes from Sweden to visit his father in Budapest for a month's holiday. The parents are divorced because of a prima donna, and the mother warns her son against operettas and Buda pubs. The young Pataki, with the help of his father, enters the theatre world...

Laci is facing maturation and he wants to work, but his intellectual parents want him to be at the university. Laci feels lonely, because back home the centre is his younger brother and he also deceived in Zsuzsa, his class mate. The girl is already an accomplished pop singer, member of the Illés, and she only returns the love of Laci as a friend. But through Zsuzsa he can meet the members of the well-established group, whose members even lend him their instruments for the concert of the school group. They also play together and another brown girl cheers him already.