Did you know that Esztergom appeared as a filming location for more than 20 series? In our article, we have collected some well-known pieces. Watch the films, discover the locations in Esztergom, and then, once you’ve visited them, live the film experiences!
X Company (2015) – Nazis in the Water City /international/
Let’s start right away with an exciting Canadian-Hungarian co-production, the series X Company (Spies’ Mission), some scenes of which were shot in the Water City. The film follows the World War II activities of a group of highly trained spies who arrive in Europe from a training camp near Lake Ontario and carry out missions behind the front lines. The three-season spy thriller was created by Flashpoint’s Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and was shown between 2015 and 2017. The series also featured Lili Bordán, Attila Müller, Péter Bozsó, Soma Zámbori and József Székhelyi.
Genius series (2018) – Antonio Banderas as Pablo Picasso /international /
The American biographical miniseries consists of two seasons. The first season is focused on the life of Albert Einstein, and the second season focused on Pablo Picasso, represented by Antonio Banderas. The second season debuted in 2018 on National Geographic show in 45 languages, in 171 countries around the world. The miniseries presents the life of Pablo Picasso, who is considered one of the most influential and prolific painters of the 20th century. He spent 80 of his 91 years in art creating , and during this time, according to the assessments, more than 50,000 works came out of his hands. For the series, a short car scene was shot in Pázmány Péter street (between Katona István street and Mindszenty square) in Esztergom.
A Bánk bán opera film (2002) – Bánk sings in the castle chapel /Hungarian/
Bánk Bán’s aria beginning with “My country, my country…” was filmed in the castle chapel in Esztergom. Large part of the work was recorded in original locations, in addition to Esztergom, mostly in Transylvania, Ják, Ócsán, Visegrád, Bélapátfalva and Budapest. The film is a romantic opera, which is evoked with pictorial settings reminiscent of 19th century historical painting, rich costumes and sets. The production features the greatest European and world-famous Hungarian opera singers. Attila Kiss plays Bánk Bán, while Éva Marton plays Gertrude. The opera film based on the work written by József Katona was directed by Csaba Káel. At the Lodz cinematography festival, the film won the award for the best opera adaptation.
In the Land of Blood and Honey (2012) – destruction sets the hotel under construction /international/
Perhaps everyone knows the film written and directed by Angelina Jolie. According to the story, the military romantic film shot in Esztergom takes place in the Balkans during the South Slavic War, in the early 90s. According to the story, during the Bosnian war, Danijel, a soldier fighting for the Serbs, meets again with Ajla, the Bosnian, who is now a prisoner in the camp he oversees. Their once promising relationship becomes ambiguous in the film as their motives change. The Bottyán bridge and at that time yet structurally finished hotel on Prímás Island briefly appear in the creature. In addition, Szenttamás is also one of the scenes of the war, and Esztergom blocks of flats can also be seen shortly.
István, a király (Stephen the King) (1984) – one of the most popular rock operas /Hungarian/
István, a király is one of the most popular Hungarian rock operas, the music of which was composed by Levente Szörényi, and the text of which was written by János Bródy based on Miklós Boldizsár’s play Ezredforduló (Turn of the Millenium), in 1981. Gábor Koltay directed an outdoor performance from the classic one, later followed by film creation. In the musical film, the role of István (Stephen) is played by László Pelsőczy, and Miklós Varga duplicates his voice. Several scenes of the film were shot around the Esztergom Castle. According to the story, after the death of Prince Géza, his son István (Stephen) and Koppány get into a fight for the Hungarian throne. Their fight will decide the fate of Hungary: will it adopt Christianity or remain in paganism? In the end, as we all know, István (Stephen) wins and was crowned king on December 25th of the year 1000.
Street of garden houses (1962) – Esztergom, the oppressive small-town environment /Hungarian/
The interesting thing about the movie Street of Houses is that it was the first Hungarian feature film, in which every single scene was shot on original, external location, so none of any single centimeter was shot in a studio. In the film, among other things, the downtown of Esztergom, the whirlwind of the old Széchenyi tér, the town market, Bartók Béla utca and Aranyhegy are also brought to life with a Sramlizen undertone. At the time, Margit Bara, the actor of Street of Garden Houses, even entered the Cannes festival. The movie was written by István Csurka and directed by Tamás Fejér.
The Golden Head (1964) – a telegram arrives at the Esztergom post office /international/
The American-Hungarian co-production “The Golden Head” is a youth comedy directed by Richard Thorpe with the assistance of James Hill. According to the story, art treasure hunters steal the hermaphrodite of St. László from the Győr Cathedral, and then a chase begins for the thieves, in which the Stevenson family, who arrived in the country, also participates. In the film, the father is a police inspector who gives a lecture at a crime conference in Budapest, but during his speech, his daughter calls him and informs him about the crime. In response, Mr. Stevenson sends a telegram to the post office in Esztergom, while the other half of the family takes part in a cultural trip, so they visit the Christian Museum and the Basilica as an unmissable stop.
+1: what almost everyone watches and knows: Our Little Village (2016) /Hungarian/
The series Our Little Village, starring Imre Csuja, shows the life of a small village, Pajkaszeg. The work is a Hungarian adaptation of the Slovak series Horná Dolná, directed by Iván Kapitány. The difficulty in choosing the location was that, since it was an adaptation, they had to stick to the original version, so they had to meet several predefined criteria. In the end, Pilisszentlélek, which belongs to Esztergom, was chosen, as it carries all the problems of a small Slovak rural settlement, while it offers more as a real phenomenon and an eye-catching location compared to a simple village with one street and a few houses in the desert. The first episode of the series was shown first on RTL in 2017, and it goes on to this day. The work is filmed in Pilisszentlélek at Lake Dédai and in several locations in Esztergom.
Sources used: szeretgom.hu / port.hu / imdb.com / wikipedia.org / ng.24.hu
Cover Photo: Genius series
