Dismissed from the railroads in 1863 for his union activities, Etienne Lantier found a job at the Voreux coal mine. But work was hard, wages were low and safety left much to be desired. Lantier tried to organize the miners into a union. When mine manager Hennebeau refused to negotiate, the workers launched a general strike, which ended with the intervention of the troops.
When the actress he loves seems to be infatuated with a frivolous count, an actor disguises himself as the count's real interest, a wealthy Spanish woman whom the count has never seen before but wants to hoodwink into marrying him.
A Hungarian doctor, Dr. Hajnal, who always considered himself out of politics, falls in love with the Soviet intelligence agent, the radio operator Alba, operating in the occupied Wehrmacht of Hungary. By accident, the radio operator is hiding in the doctor’s house. Hainal is drawn into a life-threatening confrontation with the Germans. A difficult question arises before him: to remain neutral when people die around and Alba is threatened with death, or to remain an honest person — to make his personal choice and take part in this struggle.
In a village on the Hungarian border, two young brothers grow up during war time with their cruel grandmother and must learn every trick of evil to survive in the absurd world of adults.
Narcisus and Psyche is based on a novel by Sandor Weores which was adapted by Vilmos Csaplar and director Gabor Body for a feature-length film. Borrowing the character of Psyche from mythology and placing her in Europe in the 19th century, the authors give her a "modern" life. She is an attractive young woman - and remains so throughout the film, in spite of one hardship after another. Psyche is libidinous, and her prurient interests shock her staid contemporaries.
A young woman on board of a bus notices that her watch has been stolen. The ticket collector keeps everybody on board, and upon the advice of a traffic police, they drive directly to the nearest police station.
"Budapest Tales" is about a group of people (consisting of Szabo regular Andras Balint along with Ildiko Bansagi and Karoly Kovacs) who find a broken down tram while trying to go to the city. The people band together and try to get the tram back on the train tracks and head towards the city. Along this journey the passengers encounter many people who join them on the tram. What started out as only a handful of people has now turned into a small village. As the people travel on to the city each person takes on certain roles and through the course of time these roles will change. Some people fall in love, others out of love, and a few even die. But life goes on. The people keep the tram going hoping to reach Budapest.
A documentary chronicling the adolescent years of Elie Wiesel and the history of his sufferings. Eliezer was fifteen when Fascism brutally altered his life forever. Fifty years later, he returns to Sighetu Marmatiei, the town where he was born, to walk the painful road of remembrance - but is it possible to speak of the unspeakable? Or does Auschwitz lie beyond the capacity of any human language - the place where words and stories run out?
Klári, the dancer of the ice revue, is pursued by a mysterious admirer and his roses. Her husband, Rezső, is about to lose his wits with jealousy.
Daddy Kárász, the stakhanovist worker, complains in a television interview about the fact that his family, consisting of many members, cannot get a home on their own. Kéri, the chairman of the local authority, promises to help him on the condition that if he does not, they may move in to his villa at elegant Pasarét. Nothing happens, therefore the Kárász family takes Kéri by his word. From this time on, tumultuous scenes and frequent quarrels take place in the villa between the two families.
The story of the film with a touch of journalistic atmosphere takes place in the autumn 1919 after the fall of the proletarian dictatorship. The main figure is Zilahy Kálmán, a high-school teacher, very much attracted to Ady's ideology. He is, at the same time, a rational minded sober character keeping a certain distance from the chaotic events. During the first months of the terror of the Whites, he takes a stand for his persecuted colleague, and with his wife's help, he hides Pálos, a Communist commissar in his flat.
When middle-aged Kata realises that her life will only be complete if she has a baby of her own, her longstanding-but-married boyfriend Joska refuses to comply. But by developing an unlikely friendship with the angst-ridden teenage orphan Anna, who is also involved in a controversial relationship, Kata discovers aspects of herself, and her role as a woman, that have gone unexamined throughout her entire, lonely life.
Cabinet crisis threatens in Futbólia, due to a series of lost matches. The head of state charges admiral Duca with the task, as a last chance, to get hold of the football star of the Hungarian team presently playing in Switzerland.
Kölyök, this lovely, ham-handed young woman, has caused many a trouble already in the Dunaújváros Iron Works. Fortunately, however, the manager does not want to give her up, what is more, Kölyök found a second father even at the police.
Csepel, 1945. The Csűrös family, in addition to their three children, give accommodation to the orphaned Jóska, although they themselves struggle with difficult circumstances. The boy lends a helping hand in the factory during the days.
Life is on in the old house of Vizváros. Kids play on the ground. The adopted son of the janitor, Matyi, is hopelessly in love with Juli. He would like to emigrate to America with her. She prefers Janó, the driver, a great womaniser.
In 1960s Hungary, an introverted teenager’s life is turned upside down by a few days in the company of his coat hanger salesman uncle: a roguish charmer with a zest for life and a weakness for horse racing and women.
