Budapest Soundtrack: a Short Compilation of Music Videos filmed in Budapest

Budapest’s use as a location for feature films is well established, but it is lesser known as a backdrop for music videos. It has, however, hosted some A-list acts, all of whom have made use of the city’s moodiness and grandeur to compliment their songs. In fact, the first time a western MTV video was shot in Budapest was during the Socialist rule way back in 1985. Dire Strait’s clip for Money for Nothing was – at the time – groundbreaking in its use of computer animation. Equally striking are the shots in the Budapest Castle district, where a Hungarian model was employed to walk her derriere away from the camera. Have a look here: we know you can spot the model, but how abut the cityscape of Budapest in the background?

Later, after the Iron Curtain fell, and only pop ruled supreme, Michael Jackson dropped by Heroes Square to shoot scenes for the 1995 video trailer for his album History. That Western consumerist culture was invading is made abundantly clear in this bizarrely over-the-top aggrandizement of Jackson. During his stay in Budapest, Jackson also made a tour of the city’s children’s hospital, after which he ‘sent an organization around the world’ in search of a liver for a sick boy named Farkas. We will forgive Michael for his persistent mispronunciation of the boy’s name, because, according to the video, an appropriate liver was found and Farkas’s life was saved.

More recently, several princesses of pop have shot Budapest-based videos. Gwen Stefani’s Early Winter captures the longing feeling of the Nyugati Train Station, and Kate Perry’s Firework (with an astounding 215,000,000 You Tube views) features the courtyard in the Castle and the Chain Bridge (and, taking a cue from Jackson, a sick child), but the best use of the city is undoubtedly Selena Gomez’s Round and Round, in which locations from all points on the map are captured, from sweeping panoramas of the city to a shot of the much under-appreciated Electronics Museum in District VII. Have a look here as Gomez plays agent-provocateur in this spy-themed clip.

Though we will present more on videos from local pop and folks stars later, we found one of the most satisfying uses of Budapest as a mood setter in The Unbending Tree’s video for You are a Lover, in which the singer takes a cab ride around the city next to a pair of snogging youngsters, making the city feel at once romantic and sorrowful, the perfect accompaniment for muses and music alike.

PPM Film Services is a Budapest-based film company offering an inspiring and creative work atmosphere for its host of clients from around the world. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we’re charged to create, we do it with no compromise. To sign up for the PPM Hungary newsletter, have a look here.

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Tihany Confidential!

News broke not long ago in Hungary that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have rented a villa in the village of Tihany on Lake Balaton to spend some family time before Pitt starts shooting the adaptation of Max Brook’s epic zombie novel, War Z. The Riviera, Tihany is not. They won’t be brushing elbows with Prince, or Prince Charles, for that matter. But that is probably why they chose this sleepy peninsula on Europe’s largest lake. It is a quiet, picturesque berg, and while it can be called a national tourist destination, it can hardly be called a tourist trap.

Tihany is famous for more than its two summering stars. For starters, the Benedictine Abbey, built in 1055, contains within its charter the oldest existing example of written Hungarian. The area is also renown for its white wines, due to the soil which is rich in volcanic ash and the sunny micro-climate of the entire Badacsony region. In fact, there are three inactive volcanoes in the hills that surround the village. Brad, I recommend the Szatmári Vulcanus, a very dry, mineral white that perfectly displays the region’s terrior. It is difficult to find, but I am sure they will save a bottle for you.

Preservation – of cultural heritage and natural environment, has always been important in Tihany, and this is one reason why its beauty is so striking. And the town is not without its own unique, romantic mise-en-scene. From the hilltops, tourists thrill to the echo you get when shouting towards Lake Balaton.  Few, however, know the legend behind the echo. According to the story, there was a princess who owned golden-fleeced goats, but was punished by the king for her aloofness and stubbornness: her goats were drown in Lake Balaton – only the sharp edges of their hooves washed ashore (which, in reality, were the edges of pre-historic clam shells). The princess was sentenced to answer the greeting of every passer-by, hence the echo.

Tihany is filled with a secret history as well. It is claimed that the fortress (now in ruins) on Tihany has never been taken by any army. Perhaps the zombies will come up against similar spirited resistance in War Z – or maybe they will just kick back with a glass of Vulcanus and enjoy what the Pitt-Jolies already know.

PPM Film Services is a Budapest-based film company offering an inspiring and creative work atmosphere for its host of clients from around the world. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we’re charged to create, we do it with no compromise. To sign up for the PPM Hungary newsletter, have a look here.

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