For starters, the book upon which the film iss based is creating atmosphere, historical authenticity, character building and suspenseful storytelling, all of which are, surprisingly, missing in the movie. Moreover, the actors play horribly, as if they'd lost forgotten metier, the cinematographer ditto. Hungary used to be driving on the left-hand side - the scenes in the underground are set accordingly but all the cars in the movie have wheels on the left - probably the rental of appropriate cars would've been to expensive. The noir aspect is depicted with tons of smoking and blighted courtyards and nothing else. The former issue may be correct in terms of authenticity, but the inner city of Budapest in the 1930s was still shiny and rather brand-vnew as it was mostly constructed 30 to 40 years upon. All the direct facade and ruined courtyards are the products of the neglect during the socialist
period. As to the storyline, the movie is as suspenseful as a dead fish. All in all, it is a missed opportunity, the book, as well as other books in the series, is brilliant, and the movie is simply bad, despite the talented artists and actors, and the huge pile of money spent on it.
Review of Budapest Noir
