Hungarian cinema is 120 years old, so to speak, not so young. During these 120 years, and „the” ones have already been overthrown in every way – so now, we have collected them. Here we go from top to bottom.
The First One: A táncz (1901)
A táncz is a black-and-white Hungarian silent film made in 1901, which was created by Urania Scientific Theater as a moving illustration of a performance. It was the first Hungarian film to contain consciously arranged, dramatized scenes. The moving image has not survived, only the images published in the contemporary press are known.
Based on the idea of Gyula Pekár, and directed by Béla Zsitkovszy the twenty-some minute-long so-called „cinematography” was shown to the public on the 30th of April 1901.
To commemorate the premiere of the film, since 2018, the Hungarian Film Day is held on the 30th of April.
The Most Expensive: Kincsem (2017)
The 2017 film made by Gábor Herendi is about the Hungarian Wonder Mare, Kincsem. Starring Ervin Nagy and Andrea Petrik, Kincsem has records on both the expenditure (more than 2 billion HUF of state support, the total budget reaches 2.9 billion HUF) and on the revenue side.
The ticket sales of the most expensive Hungarian film of all time has reached the limit of 500 million HUF and 374 thousand viewers only two months after the screening. But not only because of this we will remember it, but also because of the amazing portrayal of the two protagonists.
The Most Viewed: A miniszter félrelép (1997)
The 1997 film attracted 662 thousand viewers to the cinemas, making it the most-watched film in the history of Hungarian cinema after the regime change. (If we look at the entire history of Hungarian film, this title is taken by Miska Mágnás from 1949, and Egri Csillagok is the third.)
The story which revolves around silliness, sex at work, and power, did not fly Kata Dobó (played a beautiful secretary) to worldwide fame. Even though she will not be the next Mari Törőcsik, this was the movie that laid the foundation of her career.
Valami Amerika takes third place on the podium with 529.187 viewers (again, if we are not considering the entire history, then it is fourth) and the fifth on the list is Csinibaba with 503 thousand.
