criterionforum.org

And fingers crossed 'Elektra' is a substantial advance on the Facets edition.

They have some vids up there.

When have these discs not been great? What a label!

They're not always anamorphic and they're not always 100% English-friendly, although I certainly agree that the average standard is way above the norm for a Hungarian label.

Do you know which ones are non-anamorphic? I don't think any of my purchases that I have watched have been.

I could do with making another lira.hu order. They are such bargains.

I'm on the Eurostar at the moment so can't answer this till next week, but I certainly recall more than one letterboxed transfer, and quite a few with unsubtitled extras (which I'd normally expect, but at their best they're unusually generous in this respect).

L.A. wrote:Latest releases from MaNDA:

Emberek a havason / Men in the Alps (István Szőts, 1941)
Szerelmem, Elektra / Electra, My Love (Miklós Jancsó, 1974)

Both have unique extras, especially Szőts István és Csoóri Sándor beszélgetése 1988-ból, 64’ on Emberek a havason caught my attention.

Thanks, this is excellent news! I will order these right away.

Emberek a havason / Men in the Alps (István Szőts, 1941) is a magnificent film, absolutely worth a blind purchase. In some ways it seems like a precursor to Italian neorealism. The lead actor later went on to play the role of the pathetic old informer in The Round Up. Facets released poor DVD, but the film has beautiful cinematography.

My latest Hungarian package has arrived, and I've just had a very pleasant surprise with the revamped version of Péter Bacsó's classic anti-Stalinist comedy The Witness (A tanu).

I already owned the old DVD, so I ummed and aahed about whether it was worth a double-dip - I assumed (though wasn't certain) that the new disc would at least be anamorphically enhanced, and it was very cheap at the current exchange rate, so I thought "what the hell, why not?".

Anyway, I'm delighted that I did, because not only is it a noticeable visual improvement on the old DVD, but they've also subtitled Bacsó's commentary in English - which I didn't expect at all!

MichaelB wrote:My latest Hungarian package has arrived, and I've just had a very pleasant surprise with the revamped version of Péter Bacsó's classic anti-Stalinist comedy The Witness (A tanu).

I already owned the old DVD, so I ummed and aahed about whether it was worth a double-dip - I assumed (though wasn't certain) that the new disc would at least be anamorphically enhanced, and it was very cheap at the current exchange rate, so I thought "what the hell, why not?".

Anyway, I'm delighted that I did, because not only is it a noticeable visual improvement on the old DVD, but they've also subtitled Bacsó's commentary in English - which I didn't expect at all!

Did you order the updated DVD of A tanu from lira.hu? I can only find the old disc and would love to be able to watch Bacsó's commentary.

twicebilled wrote:

MichaelB wrote:My latest Hungarian package has arrived, and I've just had a very pleasant surprise with the revamped version of Péter Bacsó's classic anti-Stalinist comedy The Witness (A tanu).

I already owned the old DVD, so I ummed and aahed about whether it was worth a double-dip - I assumed (though wasn't certain) that the new disc would at least be anamorphically enhanced, and it was very cheap at the current exchange rate, so I thought "what the hell, why not?".

Anyway, I'm delighted that I did, because not only is it a noticeable visual improvement on the old DVD, but they've also subtitled Bacsó's commentary in English - which I didn't expect at all!

Did you order the updated DVD of A tanu from lira.hu? I can only find the old disc and would love to be able to watch Bacsó's commentary.

http://www.lira.hu/hu/film/magyar-film/tanu-dvd-2

I presume this is the one that MichaelB is talking about. Unless there has been yet another edition, although I doubt it.

These Hungarian discs are such great value. I need to do another order soon.

Yes, that's the one - the MaNDA logo at the top is the giveaway.

Thank you all for helping this Magyar find his connection with the fatherland without the Ebay scalpers.

So refreshing to see real prices on http://www.lira.hu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; as opposed to the $20-30 on Ebay.

Not sure if posted yet, but the Hungarian Academy has published a list of the 53 most important films in Hungarian cinema:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075085919/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here in Hungarian (translate in Google Chrome):

http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/53_magyar_film" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was slightly baffled by the ordering of the IMDB list until the penny dropped that it was in alphabetical order (by Hungarian title).

I'm very, very interested in picking up Az én XX. századom . I saw the listing for the aspect ratio on the DVD was at 1:33.1, but apparently this was confirmed earlier in the thread that that's the correct presentation (is that correct MichaelB?)

I wanted to ask though, the listing on lira.hu has two results with different prices:

http://www.lira.hu/hu/reszletes_kereso? ... 2=&x=0&y=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Does anyone know why this is and if it matters (outside of price) which one I order?

The DVD is indeed 1.33:1, and a quick spin through it suggests that this is correct - those compositions look distinctly Academy-like to me.

(I'd very much hope that an archival label would get this right, especially with a film as important as this!)

And any guess on the 2 identical listings? I don't know which one to actually put in.

I've run into duplicate listings several times on lira.hu. Judging from the orders I've placed, there's no difference between the actual discs.

Thanks so much, gentlemen. I put in for the cheaper listing. Guess we'll see what happens.

A tizedes meg a többiek / The Corporal and Others (1965) listed as an upcoming MaNDA release.

I know it sounds a bit whimsical and pseudish, but the internet can still be an almost magical thing to those of us who grew up before it existed. A few clicks, a few days' wait, and this morning my first batch of classic Hungarian film and animation DVDs turns up from the efficient lira.hu online shop in Budapest.

(I know downloads and stuff are even more of a high-tech miracle, but I'm old-school, and prefer the actual physical objects ...)

I just took the plunge and, mainly inspired by recents comments here, ordered 7 films more or less at random (as well as 3 animation sets that I'd read about).

Delivery was a hefty-ish £14 ($20), but with 10 DVDs for a paltry £27.50 ($40), it's still astonishingly-good value - especially when some of them look as enchanting as 'Emberek a havason' promises to be ...

http://mandarchiv.hu/cikk/3288/Emberek_a_havason

Napló gyermekeimnek / Diary for My Children (1984) coming from MaNDA on May 20th.

Man, they've released so many discs since last time I ordered. I'll definitely have to drop another before the end of the year.

I order about once a year in order to keep postage costs down, but I always end up with at least fifteen discs.

Can anyone clarify any details on what THIS is?

http://mandarchiv.hu/cikk/2343/Ismeri_a_szandi_mandit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The visuals, the fact that it's a comedy, and that it's woman directed have me very interested, but the google translation of the description page is gibberish and I can't very much determine what it even is (IMDB has nothing either).

Wrocław 2009 programme note. Annoyingly, it was one of the only films in an enthralling 1960s/70s Hungarian retrospective that I had to miss.