Purple Rain (1984)

Purple Rain (1984) One of the most successful American artists of the 1980s and 1990s, Prince's eclectic but innovative oeuvre uniquely blends pop, rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip-hop, disco and psychedelia. All of which is laced with an unvarnished eroticism, ethereal romance and regal pomp. This biographically-inspired film charts the rise of a young black musician who grew up in a ghetto area, his career and rise to fame – with lavish spectacle, dance and music galore. Prince plays a musician-composer with some great moves and a fabulous voice, and the album of the film soundtrack topped the US charts for months on end.

Not only did beat, rock, and rock and roll music arrive in Hungary with a considerable delay, the foreign films related to pop culture were shown in Hungarian cinemas very late in the day. At worst, they never arrived at all. The House of Music Hungary's new series features the cult films that have become available in Hungary, such as A Hard Day's Night, which portrays Beatle-mania; The Song Remains The Same, based on Led Zeppelin's emblematic 1973 New York concert; Let There Be Rock, which documents AC/DC's legendary 1979 Paris performance; or the concert film Hungarian Rhapsody, a Hungarian film of the band Queen performing at the National Stadium in the summer of 1986. Before the screenings, a guest cultural historian will talk briefly about the genesis and pop history significance of these works, followed by a behind-the-scenes look at the productions with the help of a character closely associated with the production concerned.

Language: Hungarian