Movies and TV shows with Hungarian-speaking characters – VIDEOS

As we reported earlier, Hollywood has more connections to Hungary than most people are aware of. Apart from some of the founders of Hollywood coming from Hungary, several famous actor families also have Hungarian ancestry. It is no wonder, then, that the unique Hungarian language makes its way into the movies and TV shows themselves, too. Here are some examples of movies that you can hear Hungarian lines in.

1. Chuck

Chuck is an action-comedy/spy drama series that was on between 2007 and 2012. The title character, Chuck, is a normal, geeky guy working in an electronics chain store. That is, until he gets an encrypted email from an old friend that turns him into one of the greatest spies of all time. He knows every confidential information and martial arts moves that he could previously never even dream of doing. He gets to go on missions, creating lots of funny situations. In the fifth and final season, Sarah, Chuck’s love interest, revisits her past in Budapest which naturally leads to some scenes involving the Hungarian language.

2. Supergirl

A recent US hit TV show, Supergirl also had an episode with Hungarian-speaking characters. The show centres around Supergirl, Superman’s cousin, who was forced to remain in disguise for a long time but, finally, is allowed to embrace her powers and help humanity. In the 2nd season of the show, in episode 10, Supergirl is after an escaped prisoner. In one of the scenes, two characters, M’gaan and J’onn have a sinister and rather angry conversation in Hungarian.

3. Blade Runner 2049

The 2017 sequel to the 1982 Blade Runner movie received several positive reviews about its cinematography, the visual effects, the acting, even the music. It stars Harrison Ford, from the original cast, and Ryan Gosling, a young blade runner who discovers a secret that could threaten the future and the peace between humans and replicants. Hungarian lines appeared in the original movie as well, since Cityspeak, a mixture of Japanese, German, Hungarian, Chinese and French, is spoken by many of the residents, and was part of the sequel, too. It turns out that Edward James Olmos, the actor who played the character of Gaff, has a rich ethnic background and some Hungarian ancestors, influencing Cityspeak to a great effect.

4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) is a Cold War-era spy movie based on the novel by John Le Carré. It is about the British secret service’s search for a Soviet double agent in the 1970s, with a star-studded cast including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch. Some of the scenes – the ones set in Czechoslovakia according to the book – were filmed in Budapest. There are some great shots of Budapest in the movie, for example, the Parliament, and some Hungarian lines here as well.

5. The English Patient

This classic, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, centres around Count László de Almásy who suffers from wounds from a plane crash and is looked after by a young nurse. His past and a past love affair are revealed through flashbacks. The hero of the movie is a Hungarian cartographer – the name is very telling for Hungarians – and there is a Hungarian song, as well as some Hungarian words, featured in one of the scenes.