Junk Movie
In the extensive restoration program of Hungarian film heritage led by the National Film Institute of Hungary (NFI), the films of these two filmmakers stand out for their uniqueness. After a few formidable offerings inspired by cinéma vérité, the former turned to a type of cinema influenced by American westerns, to the point of becoming the leader of a subgenre: the Goulash Western. The latter made a handful of magnificent experimental films and a masterpiece: Sinbad.
Budapest, 8th district, Szigony Street. A closed world with its own rules and unusual heroes. On the margin. The centre of this universe is the Gólya pub. This is a place where people gather to drink, fight and then they go home. Someone gets a knife in the stomach, someone else is stabbed in the back. Attractive Gizi persuades Kapa to live with her but her dismissed tenant attacks the apartment. Battles on all fronts and in all rented apartments. It’s life as usual. (National Film Institute Hungary)
György Szomjas
György Szomjas was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 20 films from 1965 to 2021. His 1983 film Light Physical Injuries was entered into the Berlin International Film Festival. He is the father of the Hungarian Ostern, the Goulash Western. In the 1970s, he directed two osterns about Hungarian rascals, The Wind Blows Under Your Feet (1976), and Wrong-Doers (1979).
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