Budapest Noir

Don't listen to some of the "professional" reviewers, this is a great film to watch. There is suspense, romance, humour and lots of atmosphere in this movie. Very nice images of 1930s Budapest and the interiors are great as well. Add to this excellent music, great acting, a not- too-complicated story, and there you have a start for a great evening with your spouse.

This is a well-written, and well-acted movie that is beautifully shot. The plot, set in Budapest right before WWII, is an intriguing crime story that unfolds over the course of the movie and keeps you engaged. I loved seeing the re-enactment of Budapest in the 1930's.

1936 Budapest, with anti-Semitism on the rise. A woman is found dead on the streets in the district of whores. The body has no ID, only a Jewish prayer book, and appears to be dressed above the typical street whore. Intrigued, a newspaper crime reporter chases down leads by whatever means necessary, using contacts, thefts, and blackmail. He travels between high society and the rough streets, fighting off elements who want him to stop.

The "Noir" atmosphere is well rendered, and the portrait of a city with rising anti-Semitism seems realistic. The almost-final link seems to stretch believability (which is why I didn't score it higher), though the journey itself is enjoyable. I saw this at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and so was more sensitive to the Jewish background.

For starters, the book upon which the film iss based is creating atmosphere, historical authenticity, character building and suspenseful storytelling, all of which are, surprisingly, missing in the movie. Moreover, the actors play horribly, as if they'd lost forgotten metier, the cinematographer ditto. Hungary used to be driving on the left-hand side - the scenes in the underground are set accordingly but all the cars in the movie have wheels on the left - probably the rental of appropriate cars would've been to expensive. The noir aspect is depicted with tons of smoking and blighted courtyards and nothing else. The former issue may be correct in terms of authenticity, but the inner city of Budapest in the 1930s was still shiny and rather brand-vnew as it was mostly constructed 30 to 40 years upon. All the direct facade and ruined courtyards are the products of the neglect during the socialist period. As to the storyline, the movie is as suspenseful as a dead fish. All in all, it is a missed opportunity, the book, as well as other books in the series, is brilliant, and the movie is simply bad, despite the talented artists and actors, and the huge pile of money spent on it.

And this really isn't have english subtitle and audio on Netfilx??? What a madness. I don't really like hungarian films, because lot of them is very silly and lowbudget feeling like old czech films but badder because of they are very forced. So if somebody can tell you the truth listen to me, it's deserve to watch (if somewhere you can get the subtitle, i dont searched for, i just watched it on teh Netflix where it doesen't have). This and "The Whiskey Bandit (2017)" is the greatest hungarian films since "The Stationmaster Meets His Match (1980)" and the old blacknwhite hungarian films what had high quality of entertainment.