Customer Reviews

Love Budapest

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Despite the bad reviews given this film by some others here, I bought a copy anyway, expecting a boring, drab, poorly made "slice-of-gritty-urban life-in-contemporary-Budapest" film ... and was pleasantly surprised that the film did NOT meet my expectations!

"I Love Budapest" is actually a rather sweet film, very well made, with memorable -- even subtle -- acting (yes, the characters are all incredibly dumb, but charming nonetheless). What surprised me most was its fantastic/ambiguous ending that one can interpret as one likes.

I've been watching a number of Hungarian films lately, and actually this is one of my favorites. I was certainly NOT given good advice by the sour, negative reviews posted here, and just wanted to alert others to give this film a chance: yes, it's a conventional enough story (naive country girl goes to the big city, falls in with the "wrong sort"), but the acting and ending are enough to make me want to keep it for repeat viewings -- and to practice my Hungarian!

Apparently coming of age in Budapest isn't much different than in the US. The film is well captured with a strong performance by its leading lady and as well as the rest of the cast. Reminded me of the Dreamlife of Angels in many ways. Contrasting the hard grind of manual labor with the nightlife of an urban city. One moment the lead girl is filthy dressed in work clothes - the next she is in a mini skirt and skimpy top partying on the town. Profound in the way we see her trying to make the best of her plight.

Great foreign film from Hungary. I've never seen a Hungarian film before and if this is what they are like I would love to see more. Story kinda surprised me how "American" it was. Small town country girl moves to Budapest with her best friend. By day she works in a factory, by night gets sucked into the nightlife of the city. Gabriella Hamori is beautiful and very talented as the lead girl. I Can't remember the guy who played her boyfriend but he rocks too. Good to see real characters faulted but lovable.

"I Love Budapest" is one of those self-discovery films where a young protagonist from the country heads out to the city to cash in on all the excitement. One of the best examples of the genre may be "Midnight Cowboy".

"Midnight Cowboy" this is not but "I Love Budapest" managed to cast me under its spell. I cared about the protagonst, a young girl named Aniko (Gabriella Harmori) and didn't want any harm to come her way.

Aniko is from the countryside and goes to Budapest to meet a friend, Moni (Martina Kovacs), who tells her how great things are in the city. When Aniko arrives however she finds her friend's stories may have been a bit exaggerated. Moni is barely getting by, living in a cheap apartment and hanging around the wrong group of friends (her boyfriend deals with drugs).

What will happen to the young country girl? Will the big city corrupt her? The questions may sound simplistic but "I Love Budapest" never becomes a predictable bore. The film seems to care about these characters and tries to flesh them out.

Gabriella Harmori is a very good actress. I saw her in a comedy which was a smash hit in Hungary called "Stop Mom Theresa (Allitsatok meg Terezanyut)". While that film was not a favorite of mine I did recognize Harmori's talent. She is a very capable actress. So far I've only seen her play the innocent type but I think she can play more than that. I hope she finds great success.

If there is a downside to the film it is techincal. It seems to have been shot with poor camera equipment or I saw a bad transfer. Either way the image is not crisp and some of the camerawork I found uninspired, meaning I didn't like the way certain scenes were shot and found the camera moving for no reason at all.

In the end though "I Love Budapest" is worth seeing for its heartfelt theme and the exceptional performance given by Gabriella Harmori.

p.s. Sandor Csanyi has a small part as one of Moni's friends. He also appeared in "Stop Mom Theresa" with Hamori. He is one of the top leading men in Hungarian cinema.

Bottom-line: Effective film about growing up and self-discovery. Never cheaply sentimental. Strong performance given by Gabriella Hamori.

If you are looking for a Hungarian speaking DVD than this is a good buy. The film itself is not so exciting. I do like that they speak Magyarul. The music is very interesting but the same song is played too much. If you miss Hungary and want to see and hear about Hungarians than you will like this film. If you are looking for a super exciting film than this is not it. I like the Hungarian language spoken and for that reason alone I am glad I bought the film.

As mentioned in other reviews, this type of movie has been done before. What's new to me as someone who hasn't seen hungarian films before is the way it's done. The plot was very simple and the dialogue often felt like you were listening in on a conversation at a cafe. The story is largely carried by the actors who do a great job at being quirky. It's hard to imagine someone better suited that Hamori at playing a spacey, innocent girl. Kovacs(Moni) and Lengyel(Krisztian) and very competent. Watch Kovacs eyes when she's looking at Hamori; it's hillarious. Csanyi(Miki) was funny, too, especially with his eating disorder, but you have to see him in the DVD extra. It's like he's off in his own world. Either the interviewer played a joke on him or he's just intellectually crazy.

Finally, I have to say the music was really cool. It matched the mood of the movie well and it has a style all its own. When you watch this, don't expect something that might win at Cannes, although the ending did make my jaw drop. Just enjoy the quirky actors and mood that it puts you in and you might like it.

I'm half Hungarian, so I am always on the "look-out" for anything that will remind me of Hungary. Therefore, I may tend to be more lenient than others when grading Hungarian movies or books...BUT even I can't save this horribly boring, stupid waste of your time "movie". First, if anyone has been to Hungary or Budapest, you'll see that they clearly don't show any of the places to which trendy Hungarian girls would go to party. I think that probably has to do with budget, i.e., they had to stay away from any recognizable monument/area, to keep the costs down. SO, if you're goal is to visit/re-visit Budapest on film, you won't see any of it here. The actors have silly lines (I felt sorry for them!) and the theme song is played over and over and over until you want to scream! And the end is absolutely ludicrous....I am almost ashamed that this is the kind of stuff that comes across international waters to represent Hungary.

Probably this is one of the most boring movie I have seen for long time. Badly shot and edited... what else can I say!!! You should see it and learn from it... how not to make a movie like this. This is not even an arty movie!!!