Romance plays a significant role in Hungarian cinema and reflects the national character. It is rare to find a Hungarian film that does not include a romantic element. While romantic comedies are quite popular, genres like social dramas, historical epics and experimental films often incorporate romantic elements. A film that beautifully illustrates the role of romance in Hungarian cinema is the indie romantic drama Az első kettő (‘The First Two’, Balázs Szövényi-Lux, 2023).
Starring Barnabás Bergendi and Hannah Saxby in lead roles, The First Two depicts the end of an international relationship between the Hungarian Boldizsár and the American Sasha. The movie is presented in black and white, except for some dream sequences that allude to the biblical story of Adam and Eve.
Overall, romance in Hungarian cinema is instrumental in shaping the Hungarian national character, which is often a quite idealised and (quite fittingly) romanticised portrayal mixed with kitchen-sink levels of realism.
The first element that shows this, is how romantic relationships are portrayed. In Hungarian romantic comedies the relationships often conform to romantic movie tropes that an American romantic comedy would have, but they are mixed with an element of realism. One notable example is the film Just Sex and Nothing Else (2005, Krisztina Goda), with many moments of goofy humour and characters, but the use of rawness and restraint in its tone and dialogue paints a way more realistic image of a romantic relationship. Even its story, which concerns a woman struggling to find a man to have a child with, without marriage, would not be what you’d see in an average American romantic comedy. In the case of The First Two, while not a romantic comedy, it does do a similar approach, with a conventional relationship but it focuses on the ending of it.
Furthermore, The First Two, uses black and white colours, a restrained, quiet tone and acting, a lot of natural sound, limited use of diegetic music and realistic dialogue. It is a portrayal that rings true of a relationship happening between two twenty-somethings at the crossroads of their lives. The film’s narrative is told in parts, almost as if it had a chapter-like structure, contrasting the realism, as if it was fully realistic it would be told in real-time. In contrast, in an American romantic comedy, there are no realistic edges to the characters and the visuals are often overblown and clean. All these illustrate the first element that shows how romance is used to portray a mix of realism and idealism in the Hungarian national character, as the romantic relationship conforms to known idealist tropes whilst taking a realistic tone. This approach could very much come from Hungarian culture, as Hungarians are known for their no-nonsense worldview and emphasis on believability and authenticity, so it can be seen that universal genres are given a cultural spin.
The characterisations of men and women are also important to look at. The mixture is once again present, best shown by social dramas. Almost all of them have a romance element to them, but deal with social issues, have a realistic tone and have layered, three-dimensional female characters. This applies to The First Two as well. Every female character is given a restrained, realistic take, with one notable exception being Boldizsár’s grandmother, who has one major scene where she gives a very sentimental, spiritual and cryptic monologue. This is probably the one major element where the film becomes stylised by indulging in the spiritually sensitive grandmother trope. The standout female character, however, is Sasha played by Hannah Saxby. Sasha has to go back to the States, effectively ending her relationship with Boldizsár and in addition struggles with the cultural differences in their relationship, shown by a scene where they have an argument in a restaurant park. Instead of just simply wanting love, like most romance films, her struggles are more personal, realistic and specific. An interesting thing to note is that despite Saxby being British in real life, not only does she have an amazing American accent, but even sounds like an American trying to speak Hungarian. Also, the character’s American heritage isn’t exploited, as she is not portrayed as a stereotypical all-American sweetheart or a regional caricature; her character feels well-layered, developed and realistic. The idealism is mostly just from her being a romantic character. Overall, the representation of women shows once again the romanticised idealism but with a more identifiable, relatable and realistic approach.
This observation can be said about the male characters as well. In The First Two, Boldizsár exemplifies your average Hungarian young twenty-something, with him dealing with coming to terms with his adult life in Hungary. Both due to Barnabas’s solid performance and the writing, the film shows a refreshingly updated portrayal of masculinity whilst still conforming to the idea of him being the romantic lead – whether dramatic or comedic. Masculinity in Hungarian cinema, more often than not, is often characterised by this hybrid of realism and idealism, especially through romance. Dénes Orosz’s Seveled (2019) has a similar character, who is a womaniser but deals with anxiety issues and by the end finds love and learns to accept himself. Boldizsár is portrayed as a flawed individual, similar to Sash, especially in the aforementioned argument scene where Boldizsár’s insecurities come out. The approach to masculinity further shows how romance builds a Hungarian national identity as both realistic and idealistic.
Much like with relationships, in regards to the portrayal of gender, the mixed approach stems from culture, as Hungary is characterised by conservative and traditional gender roles, but with a layered sense of humanity.
Another thing to note is how romance forms the national character when it comes to faith. Barnabas comes from a devout religious family, shown by a dinner scene where his family prays, and with the sequences in colour and the title being an allusion to the story of Adam and Eve, the main romance can be considered biblical, and once again shows the idealism, as it paints that Sasha and Boldizsár are meant to be. Hungarian films are known for spiritual themes, as faith has been a huge part of Hungarian culture, mostly since the foundation of Hungary as a kingdom in 1000. Hungary’s population is mostly catholic, and elements of faith can be found in everyday life and in the Hungarian language. Another example of faith portrayed is the film Heights and Lows (Sándor Csoma,2022), a film about Hilda Sterczer, the widow of Hungary’s greatest mountain climber Zsolt Erőss, which explores grief in a person of faith, following the loss of her husband, and how that impacts not only her but her young daughter. Faith as an integral part of Hungarian national identity that is conveyed with romance, which is a reflection of Hungary’s real-life relationship with faith.
With the mention of national character, politically, romance represents a patriotic, some would even say a nationalist and conservative view of being Hungarian. National identity is strongly felt in Hungarian culture, be it with pride or cynicism. Historical films portray this usually by featuring a romance at its centre like Children of Glory (Krisztina Goda, 2006) or Now or Never (Balázs Lóth, 2024), both about revolutions that focus on a couple. In The First Two Sasha and Boldizsár’s relationship illustrates this in the aforementioned argument scene, especially when Barnabás in a moment of insecurity paints them as “conservative Hungarian” and the “liberal American”. Romance here also illustrates the political ideology of the Hungarian national character.
Romance in Hungarian cinema serves as a building block of the Hungarian national character, which is characterised by a mix of romanticised idealism and realism, applied to every aspect of character and worldbuilding.
Words by Balázs Kökényesy
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