István Szabó

This intoxicating combination of wicked comedy and smart drama stars Annette Bening as Julia Lambert, a beautiful and beguiling actress in 1930's London. (Sony Pictures Classics)

The film follows a Jewish family living in Hungary through three generations, rising from humble beginnings to positions of wealth and power in the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire. The patriarch becomes a prominent judge but is torn when his government sanctions anti-Jewish persecutions. His son converts to Christianity to advance his career as a champion fencer and Olympic hero, but is caught up in the Holocaust. Finally, the grandson, after surviving war, revolution, loss and betrayal, realizes that his ultimate allegiance must be to himself and his heritage. (imdb)

A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic... (imdb)

A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance... (imdb)

A man's story parallels Hitler's rise. Austrian Klaus Schneider, wounded in World War I, recovers in the care of Dr. Emil Bettleheim. Bettleheim discovers that Schneider possesses powers of empathy and of clairvoyance, such that could aid suicidal patients. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen and goes to Berlin, as a hypnotist and clairvoyant performing in halls and theaters... (imdb)

Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl (Brandauer), an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception. (imdb)

A story of two young people in Hungary, Jancsi and Kata. First they are good friends, later lovers. Soon after the 56-Revolution Kata leaves Hungary, Jancsi stays there. After about 10 years Jancsi is allowed to visit Kata in France, their love is reborn, but after a short, very happy period Jancsi has to return to Hungary and their love fades as years have gone by. (imdb)

Janos and Kata are thrown together during the war forced to pose as husband and wife to hide from the Nazis. As they grow closer, the intensity and suffocating intimacy of their new relationship and the circumstances in which they find themselves, forces them to confront past prejudices and assumptions and challenge what they truly believe.

Tenants of a building prepare for its destruction during World War II.

Director Istvan Szabo delivers a knockout punch in this heart-warming drama about a young man, Tako (Dani Erdélyi), who explains his father's (Miklós Gábor) death away by imagining that he was a freedom fighter in war-torn Hungary. But as Tako (played later by András Bálint) grows older, the imaginative stories he used to tell himself now fail to satisfy, and he embarks on a noble quest to uncover the truth. (Netflix)

A deliciously biting satire about both the world of Grand Opera and the current 'United Europe'. A Hungarian conductor (Arestrup) attempts to mount a bold new production of TANNHAUSER while navigating the snares and pitfalls of 'artistic' egos, rampant nationalism, internal company and union politics, and precarious funding. (imdb)

The Hungarian Age of Illusions was the first feature-film effort by writer/director István Szabó. Andras Balint plays an electrical engineer who hops from bed to bed, never making any lasting commitment with any one woman. All this changes when he falls in love with a local celebrity whom he sees on television (Ilona Beres). Trouble is, he's never met her; like her other fans, he can assess her only by what he witnesses on the small screen... (cinematurkey.com)

The story revolves around two women, Budapest-based teachers of Russian who find their skills useless in a post-Communist society and adopt English as their speciality, practising consonants and staying only one step ahead of their students. (timeout.com)

Following some great catastrophic onslaught - its exact nature unknown - a number of individuals emerge from hiding and discover a dilapidated old trolley car awash on a river bank. (imdb)

This is a story of a special relationship between two women, a writer and her maid. (imdb)

Beautiful fantasy short movie about sound, image and poetical imagination.

It has practically no plot, because it is nothing but an act of love for Cecília Esztergályos, who was then Szabo's girlfriend. Sure enough, the title translation is "You". (KG)

A young priest visits a barber's shop to get shaved. When he leans back and closes his eyes, the barbers decide to play a prank on him. Instead of a male barber they let a female hairdresser take care of the shaving. (imdb)