William Penn Life, 2018 (53. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2018-02-01 / 2. szám
Tibor's Take with Tibor Check, Jr. Binge-watching, Magyar-style IF YOU HAPPEN TO LIVE in Canada or the northern United States, you know how cold and long the weeks of late winter can feel. February, the shortest month, seems to drag on interminably, one gray day melting into the next, abbreviated by long nights and bitter chills. Far from spring and the buoyancy of the yuletide holidays, these chilly days are the perfect time to bundle up on the couch and watch movies and television while we wait for warm weather to return. I hope that your winter-time viewing could include some Hungarian selections. This month's Take surveys some recent films and shows I have seen that have a Hungarian connection. A few are classics; others are fresh from the cinema. I grew up watching old black and white movies and action flicks. What was available to me in the way of Hungary-related cinema was very limited. It was primarily old Hungarian-language movies on VHS tape. One often-watched favorite of my family was Brady's Escape, a film starring John Savage, about the trials and tribulations of an American bomber pilot shot down over Hungary in World War II. Avoiding roving German patrols, the pilot is taken in by Hungarian csikós (cowboys) and hidden by them for several months. The movie was filmed entirely in eastern Hungary and features the beautiful architecture of the Debrecen area. It is a unique and moving film. Hungary is well known today for producing advanced auteurs who have mastered the cinematic medium. Hungarian films often fare well on the international film festival circuit. A few years back, the Hungarian-made and directed Son of Saul won best foreign language film at the Oscars. This year, Ildikó Enyedi's On Body and Soul is in the running for Oscar recognition. The work of writer Joe Eszterhas is also well known: Music Box is one of my favorite films and helped inspire me to go to law school. The late Vilmos Zsigmond, who captured some of the most stunning footage of the 1956 Revolution, was a wizard of cinematography. His eye behind the camera gave us the iconic images found in critically-acclaimed films like The Deer Hunter, Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Black Dahlia. Hungary's rich musical heritage also stars in several famous films. Doctor Zhivago features one of the most famous on-screen examples of Hungarian-style Roma music, all the way down to the bouncing twang of the cimbalom. Similarly, The Inspector General starring Danny Kaye features several full-length songs performed on screen by a Hungarian folk band. If you are a Eord of the Rings fan, "Gollum's Theme" (or "Gollum's Menace") from The Two Towers' score prominently features the cimbalom: the bouncing notes give this recurring musical motif a hint of mental imbalance and apprehension that is central to understanding Gollum's character. Recently, the prominence of Hungary, Hungarians, and Hungarian-Americans on the silver screen seems to be increasing. For example, I was surprised to see hundreds of Hungarian names in the credits of 2017's sci-fi blockbuster Blade Runner 2049, starring A-list celebrities Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Harrison Ford, and Jared Leto. It turns out that Blade Runner 2049 was principally filmed in Hungary. Another example comes from the 2011 spy flick Tin-Point to Ponder.... What kind of Hungarian-related movies do you like to watch? Do you have a favorite movie or TV show that is set in Hungary? For you younger readers, do you know of any video games set in Hungary or that have a connection to Hungarian culture? - Tibor 6 0 February 2018 0 WILLIAM PENN LIFE
