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The Duna Cinema in Visegrád

Out on the street, we might simply walk past this old building, which, despite its shabbiness, goes unnoticed. It’s almost as if it were apologising to us, should it happen to catch our eye by chance. And yet it hides a real miracle inside…

For most people today, going to the cinema is synonymous with a three-plus-two-dimensional experience, a two-litre glass of cola, popcorn scraps falling like polystyrene, the shopping centre atmosphere, and, above all, action scenes that reach their peak in intense two-bit spectacle. There are, however, those who visit this institution for other reasons; it is no coincidence that it was once called a ‘film theatre’, even if that term sounds at least as musty these days as the Hammond organ is said to be…
So there are still those who seek catharsis and an artistic experience at the cinema. They are the ones who simply cannot let the experience pass without discussing it after watching a good film. And they are the ones who visit places such as the Duna Mozi in Visegrád out of a love for cinema.
From the mid-2010s, Visegrád’s cinema also became a member of the Art-Mozi Association, and alongside technical advances, the institution’s connection with the artistic side of the cinema world has deepened further; and whilst, for understandable reasons, we cannot expect a small-town cinema to develop into an arthouse cinema, it is impossible not to notice that, week after week, the programme features films from all over the world that are far from being mainstream.

The building itself, which took on a design in keeping with the tastes of the time in 1971, operated under the authority of the Pest County Cinema Operating Company right up until the change of regime, before coming under the control of the local council following a few years of being kept in a state of artificial hibernation. In the meantime, not only did the stage in front of the screen begin to host various performances and indoor events, but numerous underground bands also rehearsed in the cinema’s back rooms for varying lengths of time. (Few people realise and perhaps it would be worth summarising this in a series of articles: there was a time when as many as five or six bands were active simultaneously in Visegrád, which, given the small population of such a village, is probably unprecedented in the country.)

It was completed in 2007 Iván Szkok A work by a painter which, covering almost the entire wall of the 125-seat auditorium, depicts the history of Visegrád from the artist’s perspective through his characteristic grandiose painted relief. Taking a seat in one of the theatre chairs from the Jászai Mari Theatre in Tatabánya, it is a marvellous experience to lose oneself completely in the minute details of the artwork.

In the autumn of 2016, the cinema reopened with new equipment following a brief hiatus: a quiet projector was installed in the screening room, and a state-of-the-art sound processor was also brought into service, now delivering Dolby Digital sound instead of the previous Dolby Stereo system.

The Duna Mozi’s monthly film programme is published every month in the pages of Visegrádi Hírek, both in print and online at the visitvisegrad.hu in the programme calendar as well. A quick glance at the programme is enough to see straight away that this is genuine art-house cinema, which, whilst striving to provide an appealing line-up for families week in, week out, its core objectives include an unshakeable belief in the art of cinema.