Zsigmond Gordon
Main character: Zsigmond Gordon
Country of origin: Hungary
Main location: Budapest
Creator: Vilmos Kondor
Born on: 1954
Nationality: Hungarian
Literary series started in: 2008, Budapest Noir
Original language: Hungarian
Publisher: Agave and Libri (Budapest, Hungary)
Number of books (original editions): 9 (7 novels and 2 short story collections)
Latest title published in: 2019, A budapesti gengszter (Eng. transl.: The Gangster from Budapest)
Translations: Translated in more than 10 languages
Film title: Budapest Noir
Film produced in: 2017
Producer: Pioneer Pictures
Director: Éva Gárdos
Script: András Szekér
Transnational distribution: Yes
Case study rationale:
In the first novel of the series, published in 2008 and set in 1936, Zsigmond Gordon is a crime reporter working for Az Est, the most widely read Hungarian newspaper of the time. The author, Vilmos Kondor, a novelist whose real identity is unknown, was the first to introduce the hard-boiled novel on the Hungarian literary scene. Paying tribute to the genre by situating his novels in the 1930s and 1940s, he adapts the narrative, aesthetic and thematic conventions of the noir genre to the socio-historical context of the country. This explains why Gordon is a journalist and not a policeman or a private detective. However, he is characterized by all the attributes of a typical American private eye, an impression reinforced by the fact that Zsigmond has lived with his father in the United States in the Twenties. Like many private investigators, Zsigmond Gordon is characterized by strength (he practiced boxing and is often involved in physical struggles), political neutrality and, first of all, a straight sense of justice, trying to solve cases that do not attract the attention of the police. In his novels, the author gives a meticulous reconstruction of the everyday life in Budapest at some crucial moments of the history of Hungary (the Second World War, the revolution of 1956). In this way, Vilmos Kondor’s historical hard-boiled novels give the readers the opportunity to acquire an intimate experience of still controversial historical events.
Online research resources
Watch
The official U. S. trailer of the film:
The official U. S. trailer of the film:
Interview with Krisztián Kolovratnik on his character Zsigmond Gordon in Budapest Noir [in Hungarian]:
Interview with Krisztián Kolovratnik on his character Zsigmond Gordon in Budapest Noir [in Hungarian]:
Four staff members at Agave Books talk about what it’s like to work with Vilmos Kondor [in Hungarian]:
Four staff members at Agave Books talk about what it’s like to work with Vilmos Kondor [in Hungarian]:
Explore
Map and graphics showing Crime films on “IMDB” in the Atlas section on DETECt Portal
Read
- Kálai, Sándor, Anna Keszeg, Péter Mészáros and Dorottya Molnár Kovács. “Locating Budapest in contemporary Hungarian crime fiction. Location marketing and cultural tourism”. Ed. Bengesser, Cathrin, Kim Toft Hansen, Lynge Stegger Gemzøe. DETECt Research Report 4.1 (2020): 33-39
- Kálai, Sándor, and Anna Keszeg, “A hard-boiled krimi lehetőségei Magyarországon”. Apertúra, 2019.
- Stern, Michael. “Central European Crime Wave Sweeps Publishing”. Publishing Perspectives. February 16, 2012.
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