Haute Cuisine's Happy Return: Two More Michelin Stars for Budapest

via the Salt Facebook page

Before the lockdown, Budapest was on a roll when it came to Michelin-starred restaurants. No other former Soviet Bloc country had achieved five stars in total, with four eateries getting a star each. A sixth restaurant actually received a star as well, but closed not long after. But with the re-opening of the city, with seemingly little time to dust off silverware, and some diners still opting to stay away from eating out, the city has heroically bounced back, earning two more stars, bringing the total up to seven.

via the Salt Facebook page

The restaurants awarded new stars this year are Salt and Essencia. They join Babel, Borkonyha (Winekitchen), Costes, Costes Downtown, and Stand, all of which previously won stars. Salt’s concept is both rustic and progressive, as described on their web site: “Salt Budapest was created on the foundations of the traditional Hungarian cuisine, where Chef Szilárd Tóth’s kitchen herbs and wild plants play an important role. Majority of these is collected by the chef himself in the countryside, the rest is produced by farmers. Everything in the dishes is freshly pickled and fermented.”

According to the Michelin site: “This sophisticated restaurant sits within a boutique hotel and the open kitchen forms an integral part of the stylishly lit room. Chef-owner Szilárd Tóth serves intricate, exquisitely constructed dishes, many of which are updated versions of classic Hungarian recipes.”

That’s some rich, delicious praise.

via the Salt Facebook page

For its part, Essencia is no less concept based, fusing Portuguese and Hungarian to reflect the nationalities of the chefs. According to the Michelin site: “Essência is run by Tiago & Éva. Chef Tiago is Portuguese, while his wife Éva is Hungarian, and the menus at this stylish and warmly run restaurant are a joyful celebration of both their nationalities. Dishes are assured and balanced, service is attentive – and if you sit in the front section, you can watch the chefs in action in the open kitchen.”

via the Essencia Facebook page

It’s worth noting that there were six new restaurants given Michelin Plate honors: Hoppa! Bistro, Felix, Stand25 Bisztro, Spago by Wolfgang Puck, Rumour, and Pasztell. Many of these are new restaurants, and all contenders for future stars.

According to Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides: “Both these restaurants are wonderful examples of Budapest’s dynamic restaurant scene. They not only offer fantastic food and are doing something a little different, but they also do so while paying respect to Hungary’s culinary traditions”. This is huge and encouraging news in a sector that was badly hit by closures. But stars are by design, meant to shine.

via the Essencia Facebook page

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Unicum, the Ultimate Hungaricum

Every country has a drink they are famous for. France has champagne, Scotland has scotch whisky, and Mexico has tequila. Hungary of course is no exception, offering visitors a chance to taste the strange herbal aperitif known as Unicum.

The purple/brown digestive has been a mainstay of Hungarian bars and liqueur cabinets since its invention in the 17th century by the Zwack family. And with the cold weather approaching in these parts, revellers are increasingly turning to the warming spirit to keep a fire lit in the belly.

Like most national treasures, there is a bit of lore surrounding Unicum. Its medicinal qualities are touted heavily by imbibers, as the aperitif is believed to resolve digestion problems.  It is claimed the drink got its name when Emperor Josef II tasted it and proclaimed: “Das ist ein UNIKUM”, or “That is unique!”  Non-Hungarian natives have other words for it. I quote from Time Out Magazine: Unicum is “bitter as cold winter’s night”, or “Like licking the blade of a lawn-mower.”  This grassy bitterness can be put down to the almost 40 herbs used in the recipe. Which herbs they are is a well-guarded trade secret. Once the Zwack family fled Hungary (and the Communist regime) the government, missing the drink, attempted to replicate it, marketing the results of educated guess-work under the Unicum brand name. Only after the regime fell did the Zwacks return to Hungary to reclaim the brand and begin producing Unicum according to the exacting standards under which it was created.

One quality of Unicum which makes foreigners resist Unicum as an import is its lack of mixability. What could possibly go well with Unicum? Unlike pálinka (a Hungarian fruit brandy) it does not play well with others, and we have yet to taste a reasonable cocktail made with the spirit. It is true though that there are experts who recommend substituting Fernet with Unicum for similar results in Fernet-based cocktails, which may be coffee based or have other ingredients like Rye. But why would you want to dilute such a powerful, unique flavor? To some of us, it tastes like Hungary itself, and as we all know, Hungary is able to stand on its own.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Budapest: Black Widow

Screen shot of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow at Keleti Station

Post lockdown box office began with a bang with the theatrical and streaming release of Scarlett Johansson in Marvel’s adrenaline-pumped superhero film Black Widow. But who is that moody co-star? It only takes a passing glance at the trailer to see that the film was—at least in part—shot in Budapest. The film makes amazing use of distinctly Central European architecture on many downtown streets, including Alkotmány, and Széchenyi.

It was over twenty years ago that Johansson first shot a film in Budapest. That was the loving, if under-appreciated ode to writer Éva Gárdos’ family heritage, An American Rhapsody, where Johansson played an American teen discovering her Hungarian roots over one summer abroad.

Screenshot from Black Widow trailer

Black Widow is an entirely different animal. Budgeted at a reported 200 million dollars, since its release a month ago, it has ensnared almost twice that in sales and streaming revenue, making it one of the year’s top blockbusters.

In the tangled web of the Marvel universe, Budapest Film Reporter summarised Black Widow’s place as such: “Scarlett Johansson will be reprising her role as the titular hero (aka Natasha Romanoff) who was first seen in 2010’s “Iron Man 2” and last seen in “Avengers: Endgame”. Her new film will take place between the events of “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War”, finding the trained spy getting back to her roots with her history of family and enemies.”

Why Budapest, aside from the obvious reasons of a beneficial tax rebate and amazing locations? Well, it also played a part in previous Avengers films, and Black Widow’s past, as Johansson explains in the press release: “When we first started talking about locations—back when everything was possible—we all agreed that we had to find out what happened in Budapest. I think Natasha is haunted. She has this huge sense of doom. There’s unfinished business and a sense of guilt that follows her around, and it all stems from what happened in Budapest. The film is not about what happened in Budapest, but it helps us understand the heaviness that Natasha walks around with and what her burden is. It gave us a great jumping-off point for a lot that goes on in the film.”

If there is one thing Black Widow proves, it’s that filmgoers aren’t tired of big budget superhero films, and that Budapest—no matter how many films are shot here—always looks fresh and cinematic as a backdrop. And that Johansson, no matter where she is in town (in one of Budapest’s un-renovated, proletariat apartments or Keleti Raialway Station) is a star that shines only brighter for the lustrous Hungarian locations.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Budapest: Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest

Ah, nostalgia. How easy it is to look back to simpler times, though they may not have seemed so then. But in Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest, the ever-dynamic Freddie Mercury makes it look easy. In the trailer for the film of Queen’s 1986 concert at Budapest’s Népstadion (now the Puskás Ferenc Stadium) in front of 70,000 people we accompany him for a taste of some of the great things the Hungarian capital has to offer.

Beginning with a pleasure cruise down the Danube, the ramparts lined with adoring fans, Freddie Mercury shows a generosity and hugeness of spirit, waving and basking in attention and the Hungarian sun. Later, we find him antiques shopping (though apparently he wasn’t sated by Zsolnay porcelain, as he inquires as to the price of the Hungarian Parliament.) A shot of Hungarian fruit brandy is part of any local welcome wagon, and Freddie too is indulged, calling it' ‘delicious and strong.’ Perhaps the most touching scene is when the British pop star practices singing in Hungarian against a night-time cityscape.

The Budapest stop was part of the last tour where Mercury was lead singer of Queen (he would die a mere five years later). It is hard to overstate the importance of the event: few bands were permitted to perform behind the Iron Curtain. But, apparently Queen had fans in high places, as the band was treated like visiting royalty (excuse the pun), and filmed for what would be a 1988 Laserdisc release in the UK and limited worldwide theatrical release in 2012.

Enjoy this snippet from the movie, which the film-makers culled from hundreds of hours of filming.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Legendary Budapest Restaurant Gundel to Re-Open in Autumn 2021

via Wikipedia Commons

In its 150-plus history, the internationally famous Budapest restaurant Gundel has experienced enough triumphs and tragedies to merit a book, or at least a documentary. Of course, it has already spawned cookbooks, but its history has yet to be preserved in bound form. To be sure, it has seen many heydays, and endured enormous challenges. Many of its most difficult periods came in the past decade, which saw the passing of its owner, the restaurant impresario George Lang, followed not long after by the pandemic that shuttered so many restaurants around the world.

The establishment that would become Gundel opened in the Budapest City Park (Városliget) way back in 1866. This was before air travel, car travel, and even before food bloggers. That’s not to say writers didn’t frequent the Gundel of old. Originally called the Wampetics, it was a hotspot for writers, politicians, and artists. It was in 1910 when Károly Gundel took control of the establishment and renamed it Gundel. The forward-thinking restauranteur modernised the menu, and brought service up to international standards, making it Budapest’s chicest eatery.

Gundel survived World War I undamaged, with the kitchen continuing to innovate and add French influences to offer a more sophisticated experience once the war ended. In 1939, Gundel became the official restaurant of the Hungarian pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. Of the experience, the New York Times wrote: “The Gundel Restaurant is a bigger, better publicity from Budapest than a boatload of tourist brochures.”

via the Gundel Facebook page

Hard times came when Károly Gundel died, and post-WWII businesses were nationalised. The quality of the cuisine plummeted and the restaurant saw intermittent closures. It wasn’t until the post-Soviet late 80s that the restaurant made a concerted effort at returning to form. But it was really the involvement of Lang in the early 1990s that allowed it to once again take its place as the grande dame of Budapest eateries. In 2006, Condé Nast Traveller named Gundel “one of the world’s 10 best restaurants.”

Now part of the organisation that owns the Danubius hotels chain, the restaurant is undergoing a renovation and will reopen under the guidance of chef Zsolt Litauszki. We have high hopes this great culinary establishment will return with style, class, and a lot of good food.

via gundel.hu

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Hungarian Cinematographer Nominated for Emmy

From the series Euphoria

While Hungarians have historically been well represented at the Academy Awards, the Emmys — which honors television in the USA and beyond — have been more difficult to crack. One notable exception was in the 2019 Emmy’s when Hungarian Actress Marina Gera won an award for her role in the WWII drama Eternal Winter.

This year may see another Emmy coming back to Hungary — in spirit at least — when Marcell Rév learns if he won in the category in which he was nominated: Outstanding Cinematography, for the HBO series Euphoria. It is a big year for Rév, who also worked on famed director Ildikó Enyedi’s most recent film Story of My Wife, which just debuted at Cannes. Moreover, Malcolm & Marie, a film he worked on with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, was released in January on Netflix.

Wikipedia offers the following synopsis of Euphoria: “Euphoria is an American teen drama television series created and written by Sam Levinson for HBO. It is loosely based on the Israeli television miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. It follows a group of high school students through their experiences of sex, drugs, friendships, love, identity, and trauma”. The know-it-all site goes on to praise Rév, citing positive reviews from critics for the cinematography.

Deadline.com, in an interview with Rév, called his work on Euphoria, a “gorgeously stylized aesthetic”. Rév went on to describe the show’s basic visual aesthetic: “It has to be colorful in a way, I think, to feel that elevation. But we didn’t want it to go like rainbow colors, or with no real system in it. So, most of the time, we’re using primary colors, and I’m relying a lot on the orange-blue color contrast, which is a really basic one,” the cinematographer says. “We use that in night scenes, as well as in day scenes.”

Rév, a graduate of increasingly famous Hungarian film school SzFE, the University of Theatre & Film Arts, has a history of working on prestigious Hungarian film projects, like director Kornél Mundruczó’s films White God and Jupiter’s Moon, not to mention winning numerous awards including Film Treat’s Best Indie Cinematographer Award in 2019.

Here’s hoping September’s Emmy’s presentation will see another Hungarian win. Until then, enjoy a trailer from the show, found below.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

The New Bauhaus: Doc Reassesses the Career of Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was as great an artist as Picasso, and as much a visionary as Buckminster Fuller. At least this is what the film-makers behind The New Bauhaus want you to believe. The recently released documentary makes an attempt at not just casting Hungarian-born Moholy-Nagy as a great artist (this, is already widely acknowledged) but as one of the primary influencers of the art and design of the 20th Century.

It’s not entirely a controversial premise. His influence on fine art and industrial design are indisputable. But the film-makers argue that his greatest impact was in his process, not in his results. As the founder of a school: The New Bauhaus school in Chicago, USA, Moholy-Nagy was as much a purveyor of thought and ideas as he was a fine artist.

Born László Weisz in 1895 in the Hungarian town of Bácsborsód, Moholy-Nagy was of Jewish decent. He would later take the family name of his uncle, Nagy, and add the name Moholy to honour the town of Mohol (in present day Serbia) where he spent childhood summers. A soldier who dabbled in drawing, Moholy-Nagy moved first to Vienna, then to Berlin to expand his horizons beyond Hungary. He found quick success, and before long was teaching at the famous Bauhaus School in the Weimar Republic. During this fecund period, he became proficient at photography, typography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, film-making, and industrial design.

But his true genius was revealed when he was brought to Chicago in 1937 to head the New Bauhaus School. Though short-lived, his work there and at subsequent art schools in the States would leave an indelible mark on industrial design. For instance, we can credit the iconic bear-shaped honey jar to Moholy-Nagy’s schools, and the trademark shape of a bar of Dove soap. All the while, his photograms and other artistic works were widely shown and sought after by collectors.

Buried in Chicago, Moholy-Nagy died young, succumbing to leukemia in 1945. As Art News sums up the The New Bauhaus’ premise: “Yet as The New Bauhaus argues, the less visible aspects of Moholy-Nagy’s influence—the people he touched and the artists he fostered—are what make him important. He would have likely agreed with this documentary’s stance. As he once said, “I do not believe in art so much as mankind. Man reveals himself. Much of it is art.”

The New Bauhaus is available on various streaming sites, but the trailer is available here:

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Zsa Zsa Gabor Returns to Rest in Budapest

Zsa Zsa Gabor via Wikipedia Commons

The late, great, Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Hungarian bombshell who became a Hollywood icon, has finally returned to Budapest, after her ashes were flown from the Untied States. Gabor (Gábor, in Hungarian), was known for her larger-than-life persona, seductive Hungarian accent, nine marriages, and sassy one-liners. Now buried at the Kerepesi Cemetery, in the section reserved for famous actors and actresses, Gabor, despite living much of her life in Los Angeles, insisted upon Budapest as her final resting place. “She was first class, she had her own seat and she had her passport, everything there. It was her last trip, she always used to go first class, she had her champagne, caviar….,” her final husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, told Reuters, of her journey. “And then we arrived in Budapest. That’s what she wanted and that’s what she had in her last will. She definitely wanted to be in Budapest because her father is buried here too.”

Born Sari Gabor in Budapest in 1917, she initially lived the life of a socialite, and was named Miss Hungary in 1936, eventually marrying a Turkish diplomat. As WWII approached, though, she abandoned him before she and her Jewish-born sisters Eva and Magda fled Hungary for the United States.

According the the Guardian: “Zsa Zsa Gabor appeared in more than 30 movies, including Moulin Rouge in 1952 and Lili in 1953. By the 1970s she began to reject smaller roles, saying: ‘I may be a character but I do not want to be a character actress.’ “ She was sought after for her good looks both on and off the screen. Magnate and Paris Hilton’s dad, Conrad Hilton was one of her more famous husbands. She once stated, "Men have always liked me and I have always liked men. But I like a mannish man, a man who knows how to talk to and treat a woman—not just a man with muscles."

Zsa Zsa’s sister, Eva, was equally famous, starring in the long running US sitcom Green Acres. Their lesser known sister, Magda, was also an actress. Zsa Zsa survived both sisters (and most of her husbands) by many years, living to near 100.

Gabor led an extraordinary life. Her biographer Gerald Frank summed her up best: “Zsa Zsa is unique. She's a woman from the court of Louis XV who has somehow managed to live in the 20th century, undamaged by the PTA ... She says she wants to be all the Pompadours and Du Barrys of history rolled into one, but she also says, ‘I always goof. I pay all my own bills. ... I want to choose the man. I do not permit men to choose me.’ “

Rest in peace, Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Ildikó Enyedi Returns to Cannes! The Blog Returns to Posting!

Hungarian director and local favorite, Ildikó Enyedi, is no stranger to the Cannes Film Festival. She is a one-time winner of the Golden Camera award for her 1989 feature film debut My 20th Century. Now, after a productive lockdown, Enyedi is in the running for the Palme d’Or with her latest film, The Story Of My Wife, which is set to have its world premiere in competition at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

Enyedi’s previous film, 2017’s On Body And Soul, was an international critical success, winning the coveted Golden Bear, the Berlin International Film Festival’s main prize, and was also a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at that year’s Oscars. The film continues to enjoy a long life on Netflix, and has introduced a new generation of viewers to her work.

Her latest, The Story Of My Wife, is an adaptation of the 1942 novel of the same name by Hungarian writer Milán Füst. Following is the official synopsis from the Cannes press material: Jacob Störr, a sea captain, makes a bet in a café with a friend to marry the first woman who enters the place. And in walks Lizzy.

Enyedi disclosed that the book was one of her childhood favorites.  In a lengthy, recent interview, she told The Hollywood Reporter about her fascination with the book: “The Story of My Wife: The Reminiscences of Captain Storr is a very well-known book. It is quite famous in Hungary and also internationally. It was translated into many languages, but somehow it is not a hit, an easy read.

And it has been quite misunderstood. It’s praised, in my opinion, for the wrong things. It is beautifully written, so everyone praises it for how it is written. Or they just consider the plot of the story – which is very colorful, very lush, very rich and meandering, a One Thousand and One Nights story, and also a passionate love story.

But this writer who was, by the way, a Jewish writer, wrote this book during the Second World War in Budapest when his own life was in danger. The essence of the book, for this guy, sitting in Budapest when the bombs are falling outside as he works on this, is not the love story. It’s about this search of how to live our life, our tiny, very fragile life. And he says, in more than 400 pages, that trying to control our lives, to have control, is the wrong approach. That you have to accept and appreciate that you cannot control life. That life is more elusive, more secretive.”

Up against a diverse selection for the main prize, with Spike Lee as this year’s jury president, nobody can predict how Story of My Wife will fare, but no doubt everybody will agree that a ‘live’ Cannes is something to celebrate, as is Enyedi’s retrun to directing. Below find the English language trailer to Story of My Wife.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

5 Great Hungarian Products

via Wikipedia Commons

Breaking: Hungary doesn’t just make great films. As millions of travellers and tourists know, Hungary also has a lot of goods on offer that are peerless…which is to say, distinctly Hungarian. Have a look below for some of the wonderful things you can buy once you are lucky enough to cross the border into Hungary.

5. Tokaj Aszú: Perhaps the ‘wine of kings’ is virtually unknown in places like America because they have no tradition of royalty, or due to the fact that dessert wines don’t figure into many contemporary menus. Or perhaps it is the price that is prohibitive, a modest 3 puttonyos bottle could set you back close to a hundred dollars at a wine shop. But in Hungary, Tokaj Aszú – made from grapes that have attained a ‘noble rot ‘ on the vine – is available relatively inexpensively by the bottle – or by the glass at any of any upscale bar.

4. Tisza Trainers: Retro-hip has never been cooler in Budapest, especially to a generation that is discovering kitsch and didn’t have to endure the repression of the Soviet-imposed socialist regime. This re-fangled brand of shoe updates the omnipresent state-owned Tisza trainer, to fantastic results. It is only a matter of time before Millennial shoe fetishists catch on.

3. Szatmári plumb jam. As we posted before, this distinctly Hungarian delicacy, made from Hungarian ‘Nemtudom’ or, ‘I Don’t Know’ plumbs, is so dense and packed with bitter sweetness it could pass as chocolate. Hungarians are rightly proud of this jam, and it turns out, so are the Japanese, who have developed a taste for the product as an import.

2. Mangalica pork: believe the hype. The rescue of this species of wooly pig from near extinction and its ascension as a sought-after gourmet foodstuff is already well documented, so much so that it has become popular to bash the trendy pig. But there is a good reason mangalica it has found its way onto the menus of the world’s most esteemed restaurants: the meat is beautifully marbled and fantastically rich. That’ll do, pig.

1. Le Parfum perfumes: Using scents of derived from such whimsical sources as absinthe and smoky lapsang souchong tea, Zsolt Zólyomi’s perfumes, which he creates for his own line as well as already existing brands, are inventive and exclusive. But expect no Eastern European budget shopping here: prices of his artisan perfumes run close to $ 150 for a 100-ml size bottle. The price of  Le Parfum may make you dizzy, but the scent will make you swoon.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Hungary: 47 Ronin

The Keanu Reeves-starring 47 Ronin, a martial-arts-based epic fantasy released in 2013, was for some, nothing to brag about. It went down as one of Reeves’ rare flops, and didn’t fare well with critics either. All that being said, over the years, Ronin has maintained and grown its fan base, and will now see its sequel produced as a series.

Shot near Budapest, Ronin’s huge production was accommodated by Origo Studios (along with UK’s Pinewood Studios) and their multiple state-of-the-art sound stages and back lots. The 150 million-plus dollar budget allowed for an entire feudal Japanese village to be built on the lot. Whatever snarky sites like Rotten Tomatoes criticised Ronin for, it wasn’t the spectacular sets and production. It more had to do with the difficulty many of the Japanese-speaking actors had with their lines; the convoluted plot, and struggle in making it a star vehicle for Reeves while respecting the ensemble cast that the material called for.

In the vein of Tom Cruise’s Last Samurai, 47 Ronin follows a troupe of Samurai as they venture through a magical, ancient world to avenge their master’s murder and free its people. Viewers complained it lost its thrust as an action film when it delved too deeply into drama, in the director’s attempt to emulate films like Gladiator.

Up-and-coming Director Ron Yuan has been brought on to helm the sequel. He stated this to to Deadline.com “I’m incredibly excited to be working with Universal and the producing team on this genre-blending, martial arts, action, horror and cyber-punk film. This will be a fun, intense, supercharged thrill ride for viewers globally.” Best known as an actor (Mulan) Yuan has directed well released several smaller-budget films like Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin. and Step Up China.

The as-of-yet untitled sequel differs from the original in a few ways. Foremost, it is set in the distant future, rather than the past. Secondly, filming took place in Bangkok, a city that also has its fair share of mystical charm. But this will only bolster 47 Ronin’s continued resurgence in the eyes of fans, and, who knows, possibly critics. You can look to a film like Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a good example of a hugely successful series based on a lackluster film.

Regardless, the success of Ronin in all its forms, reflects well on the quality of film production in Hungary. We wish all the Ronin good luck on their journey. Below find the trailer for the original 47 Ronin. Maligned, or misunderstood, you be the judge.

This post was based on reporting found on the site budapestreporter.com

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Four People Who You Might Not Have Known Love Budapest!

It’s true! Many celebrities come to Budapest for business, but leave a piece of their heart here. It turns out Budapest appeals to a broad range of types, so let’s just have a look at a few famous people who openly love Budapsts.

1) Allen Ginsburg. America’s most famous beatnik poet, and for a long time, America’s most famous poet, spent a goodly amount of time in Budapest before the Iron Curtain fell. His volume Howl is no less famous here in Hungary, where it is known as Üvöltés. He was close friends with local hero Hobo Blues Band singer László Földes. The band honored Ginsburg with a song “Leples Bitang (Allen Ginsburg, the Shrouded Stranger)”. We’ll save you the time of searching for it on Youtube: watch and enjoy below.

2) Bobby Fischer: Bobby Fischer’s extreme views and mental demise made him something of a pariah for many years before his death. But there was a time when he was hailed as a Cold War warrior and US hero on the scale of medal-winning Olympic athletes. Falling afoul of the US authorities over playing a chess match in Serbia, thereby violating US sanctions, Fischer holed up in Budapest, where he became enamored with the chess scene and took to coaching chess prodigies, the Polgar sisters, in his free time. Says Susan Polgar in the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal, “After Bobby arrived to Budapest, I often drove him and his companions around, showing him my beautiful hometown. We often had lunch or dinner at our place, and went out to restaurants together, which was one of his favorite things to do. He was especially fond of caviar and Japanese cuisine. Another thing Bobby loved in Budapest was our world-famous mineral baths.” He eventually left Hungary for Iceland, but his legacy in Budapest lives on through those he played with.

via Wikipedia Commons By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-76052-0335 / Kohls, Ulrich

3) Yoko Ono: Like Ginsberg, she discovered Budapest in the 1980s, and traveled here with her then boyfriend Sam Habitoy, an American of Hungarian decent. There was a rumor going around in the late 90s that she was trying to lease or buy the then-abandoned synagogue on Rumbach street. You can hear her singing her late husband’s song “Imagine” in Budapest in the video below (you know it’s Hungary, because she speaks through an interpreter) in 1986. Imagine that!

4) Alice Cooper. The dark lord of Heavy Metal has gone on record as having a case of the warm fuzzies for Budapest. Quoting his wife, he proclaims it is “more romantic than Paris. There is something about Budapest that is very warm.” We are still looking for the ‘Old Town’ maze he is referring to, but who are we to contradict a man who has been touring the world as a star act for over 40 years? Have a look at the full interview below, where he gushes about his fondness for the classical beauty of the city and its superior gulyás (no surprise, he likes it hot and spicy)!

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Jamie Lee Curtis in Back in Budapest

Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia Commons

While the world continues to be hobbled by current circumstances, Budapest and Hungary remain a location dedicated to safe and efficient working conditions. As such, there continues to be a stream of stars in and out of Budapest; most recently, Ethan Hawke and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, the later known for her parts in the Halloween franchise, A Fish Called Wanda, and True Lies. But Curtis has the distinction of also actually being heretically Hungarian. Curtis is the daughter of Hollywood legend Tony Curtis, whose father was a Hungarian Jew that emigrated to the United States.

As it was Mother’s Day in American on May 1, Curtis wished her paternal grandmother, Helen Schwartz, a happy mother’s day in Hungarian, while looking out over the Danube and the Buda Palace. Curtis is here on business, though. She is currently shooting Borderlands with Kate Blanchett and Kevin Hart. This is an Eli Roth film, and based on the successful video game by the same name. According to Reporter Budapest, “Curtis will play Tannis, based on the character Dr. Patricia Tannis, an archeologist on the planet of Pandora, whose expertise could help lead to a mysterious vault filled with ancient alien technology.”

This isn’t Curtis’s first time in Budapest, and it’s worth noting that her father had a hand in the renovation of one of Budapest’s—and the world’s—most stunning pieces of architecture: the Great Synagogue on Dohány street in downtown Pest. Jamie Lee Curtis also reportedly continues to support the landmark’s development.

So, as we hit our stride as summer—and a more open country—approaches, let’s hope the success that brings actors like Curtis to Budapest and Hungary to film, continues.

via Jamie Lee Curtis’s Instagram account

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Pogácsa: The Hungarian Miracle Scone

By Burrows - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/

This post is based on the article Megtaláltuk a legfoszlósabb pogácsa módszerét by Ács Bori published in Telex.

In the origin story of the humble Hungarian scone called the pogácsa, a young man who set out on a long journey was given a bag of unleavened biscuits, baked in ash, by his mother to keep him from hunger and to offer to strangers who could help him. As such, the pogácsa came to represent nutrition, currency, and luck, and is thus present as a snack at most Hungarian ceremonies, from weddings to house parties.

The bready treat is also featured in many folk traditions. For instance, on the Name Day of Luca, a coin is hidden in a batch of pogácsa, and the one who discovers it is said to experience good luck for the year. Conversely, feathers, and the speed in which they burn down in a baking pogácsa, were once said to determine who was at risk of dying.

In reality, pogácsa shares lineage with flatbreads like focaccia (similar in sound), and are among the world’s oldest recorded bread recipes. It is surmised that the founding conquerers of the Carpathian Basin and Hungary sustained themselves on breads such as these: unleavened, baked in ash.

But just as Hungary has evolved, so has the pogácsa. What we call pogácsa today stands in stark contrast to the scones of our ancestors. No longer a flatbread, it rises in the oven, and is made with more decadent ingredients like butter and lard, not to mention eggs. The dough in modern pogácsa ferments and rises with yeast. In the days of yore, cheese pogácsa were not an option, while they are now a standard. Modern recipes are in fact quite diverse, and can include sour cream, skim milk, etc. Unlike early pogácsa found in Transylvania, which might be sweetened with honey or sweet poppy, the pogácsa we know in Budapest is always savoury, and innovations come in the form of adding cracklings, cottage cheese, and other tasty delicacies.

If you are reading from abroad, and wondering why the pogácsa is not known to you—why this compact little scone with so much flavor and history is not world famous—the answer is simple: the pogácsa does not lend itself to industrial production. Most pogácsa in Hungary are baked—with love—at home, or in corner bakeries. Like with most simple, but perfect foods, it is the sum of its ingredients: great butter and cheese, folded by hand. A pogácsa is as particular as a personality. What’s good for one, is not good for all.

Have you tried pogácsa? Do you like them big and fluffy, or small and bite-sized?

Below find a pogacsa-baking demonstration in English.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

A Hungarian Abroad: The Spectacular Life of Arthur Koestler

via Wikipedia Commons By Eric Koch / Anefo - Nationaal Archief, CC BY-SA 3.0,

Hungarian writers are widely respected within their own country, but the truth is that only a minority break out beyond these borders into world-wide fame. One author who managed to achieve international recognition – and indeed – become part of the Western canon of literature, is Arthur Koestler (born Kösztler Artur in Budapest in the year 1905).  It would be nice to tout Koestler’s Hungarian upbringing as a huge influence on his body of work, but the writer, in his formative years, was educated mostly in Austria, and Germany. He spent much of his later life in Israel and Western Europe, and finally Great Britain, where he died in 1983.

Like most famous Hungarians, Koestler was adventurous and traveled widely, leaving his homeland behind early on. Just months before graduating from technical university, Koestler burned his school records, grades, test scores and all, making graduation impossible. Not long after this reckless act of youth, he hit the road, eventually landing in the former Palestine, where he was able to make an occasional living as a journalist. Along the way, Koestler became attracted to the Communist cause, and upon return to Europe in 1931, joined the Communist Party of Germany. With a life-long taste for danger and fairness, Koestler traveled to Paris then Spain to fight against Franco’s fascist regime. While working as a correspondent, he was captured, imprisoned, and sentenced to death, making him one of the few literary greats to have experienced death row. Freed under a prisoner swap, Koestler would later write about his experiences awaiting execution in his book Dialogue with Death.

In keeping with his non-traditional route to literary fame, Koestler penned a highly successful ‘sex dictionary’ called The Encyclopedia of Sexual Knowledge. But the sexual hi-jinks were just a cover for Koestler’s real work: it would not be long until he set to work on Darkness at Noon, his scathing look at the atrocities committed by Stalin in the name of Socialism. So inflammatory was the material that the manuscript had to be smuggled out of France, and into England, where it found its first publication. The book was incredibly influential in shaping Western attitudes towards the Soviet Union, and has since been recognized as a classic.

Koestler wrote numerous other books, and continued to be politically active throughout his entire life. Authors like Salmon Rushdie cite him as an influence in their work. Koestler was a life-long believer in Zionism and progressive causes like the banning of the death penalty, and even animal rights. Decisive, fearless, pragmatic: he took his own life when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Koestler died in  England in a double suicide with his wife in 1983. His influence is still felt today, and a statue of him was recently erected on Andrássy Avenue, paying tribute to a native son who found fame abroad.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Olympic Dreams: Bid Video Still Golden

By © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.

Hungary is traditionally a strong competitor in summer Olympic games. For a small country, Hungary excels at multiple sports. Its greatest accomplishments have come in fencing, which enjoys a long tradition in Hungary. For a long time, the country was also dominant in water polo, and routinely offers winning swimmers and canoers. The country even competed in the inaugural 1896 Games and has sent athletes to most Olympics since.

According to Wikipedia, “Hungary has won more Olympic medals than any other existing nation that has never hosted the Games and has the second highest all time number of gold medals per capita of any nation behind only Finland.”

That’s a pretty big accomplishment. While it’s been some time since Budapest learned it didn’t make the final round to host the 2024 Olympics, that’s no reason not to continue to promote the Olympic bid video, which showcases so many great aspects of life and culture in Budapest. The video doesn’t directly promote the sports Hungary is good at, but rather the culture of Budapest, which is active and textured. Here you have street ballerinas, restaurant scenes, and if cafe culture were an Olympic sport, for sure we would win the gold.

So despite not bringing home the 2024 games to Budapest, it’s fair to say the video brings glory to the city. Enjoy below, with a groovy soundtrack by Hungarian pop band Mary PopKids.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Game of Thrones: the Hungarian Connections

Anybody who has an interest in the fantasy genre, or is up on the best series of the past decade, has seen or read Game of Thrones. And if you are new to the books, and have a passing knowledge of Hungarian, you will note a few Hungarian names in the opening chapters, most notably ‘Sándor,’ which is the Hungarian version of Alexander. While there is no evidence author George R.R. Martin had a past with Hungary that he wanted to memorialize, it wouldn’t be the first time a fantasy writer appropriated the mystical atmosphere attributed to Hungary. No other than JK Rowling named a breed of dragon the ‘Hungarian Horntail.’

Though the series wasn’t shot here, because the local film industry has over the years been so successful in attracting foreign productions, many of the stars from Game of Thrones have spent time in Budapest filming other projects. Most prominently Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo, a character with ruthless Attila the Hun-like qualities, was in Budapest more than once in recent years.

Momoa was brought to Budapest for the filming of the remake of Dune, which is scheduled for release in September of this year. The actor was here even during the pandemic, as late as August 2020. While in Budapest, Momoa took advantage of all the city had to offer, and posted many snaps of him and his family in front of touristed sites like the Basilica and Parliament. But Momoa took away a piece of Budapest that few visiting stars can also claim: he got tattooed here.

Momoa and family in front of Parliament via Instagram

Momoa plays a heavy in the series, but it turns out, a group of Hungarian actors working as stand-ins took many of the hits in battle scenes, winning a SAG award for their work. Hungary Today reports: “Stand-ins playing in HBO’s fantasy drama series Game of Thrones have won the US Screen Actors Guild’s prize for their oustanding stunt performance for the fourth time in a row since 2012. Hungarian Domonkos Párdányi and his team are among this year’s winners, and for many of them, this is already the second SAG Award during their career. Mr. Párdányi, who stood in for Brad Pitt in the film Troy, was doubling Christian Bale in Exodus during the shooting of the fourth season, meaning that he is not among those awarded.”

So, while Game of Thrones was not indeed filmed in Hungary, like with many pop culture franchises today, Hungary left its mark.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Natural Light to Shine in Berlin

The Berlin International Film Festival, to be held in early March, will continue its reputation for showcasing challenging European cinema, with the premier of Hungarian Dénes Nagy’s feature Natural Light (Természetes fény). This marks the first full-length narrative film by the writer/director, whose previous shorts include documentaries Harm and Another Hungary. His TV documentary short, Soft Rain, premiered at the Cannes Festival’s 2013 Directors’ Fortnight.

As per the film festival’s website, the summary of Natural Light is as follows: World War II, occupied Soviet Union. István Semetka is a simple Hungarian farmer who serves as a Caporal in a special unit scouting for partisan groups. On their way to a remote village, his company falls under enemy fire. As the commander is killed, Semetka has to overcome his fears and take command of the unit as he is dragged into a chaos that he cannot control.

In his director’s statement (via Daily Variety) Nagy commented: “I wanted to observe a man who is not fully aware of what choices he must face. What are the things that lead him to becoming part of a killing? What choices he didn’t make on the way? This is interesting for me. And there is no clear answer to this. We think that we have acquired a clear judgment about things around us, we believe that we know what’s our task in life. The film wants to question this image of ourselves. It wants to show how fragile this image is.”

Daily Variety calls the trailer for the film ‘shocking’, and in its review of Natural Light, singles out the cinematography for praise: “Tamás Dobos’ majestically composed cinematography elicits detached admiration, its stillness furthering the sense of entrapment.”

All in all, this is an impressive start for the film, which will see a broader release later in the year. Below find the trailer for Natural Light, complete with English language subtitles.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Vanished Budapest: An Animated Look at the Past

Some believe history isn’t static, but a living breathing thing.

It was our luck to stumble upon the two videos below, which feature old shots of Budapest that have been animated by the wizards of Animatiqua, an animation/film/design studio in Budapest. Each video presents structures in Budapest that were either destroyed in war or torn down to make way for something more modern. The animation, which is subtle and elegant, breathes life into the past, and gives the viewer a glimpse into Budapest’s rich architectural history.

According to Daily News Hungary, you will find, “among other things, the old National Theater in all its splendor, as well as the Hungária Nagyszálló on the quay of Pest, the old Elizabeth Bridge, the St. Demeter Church in Döbrentei Square, Kálvin Square and Lloyd Palace, which was the most beautiful classicist-style palace in the capital.”

But it’s one thing to talk about the past, it’s another to experience it. So, with no further delay, enjoy this window on vanished Budapest:

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

The Return of the Undesirable: A Hungarian Classic Found

The history of film in Hungary is almost as long as the history of film itself. This is a nation that prides itself on its record of technical innovations and challenging narrative techniques. The country’s rich cinematic past twines with its technology-savvy present now that the reels of Michael Curtiz’s A Tolonc (The Undesirable) has been restored and digitally remastered at Budapest’s National Digital Archive and Film Institute.

The Undesirable is one of the many lost films of Hungary’s golden age of silent film, and represents one of the first directorial efforts from Michael Curtiz, who went on to achieve international fame as the director of such films as Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, and The Jazz Singer. His hundred-year-old silent film was discovered in the basement of the Hungarian House, a cultural center in New York City. How it got there is still unknown, but great efforts have been made to return the film to its homeland. The undertaking of returning and restoring the film, at a cost of close to 50,000 Euro, was funded by the Hungarian National Film Foundation, and overseen by Terminator and Rambo producer, and HNFF head honcho, the late Andrew Vajna.

Curtiz, born Manó Kaminer Kertész, shot the film in 1914 in the then Hungarian-ruled city of Kolozsvár, (now also known as Cluj-Napoca, Romania). Shooting for the film was completed in the summer before the outbreak of WWI. There is evidence that the film was shown in the United States in the 1920s. This would make it one of Hungary’s first releases into the US market.

Some years back there was a theatrical showing in Budapest to celebrate the film’s 100 year anniversary, offering a fine homecoming for a film that spent so long abroad. These days, you can find scenes from the remastered A Tolonc posted on You Tube. We saved you the trouble of looking that up, and posted one very well-restored scene below.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.