In the poor ghetto of The District, where the opening song/montage/credit sequence reveals that everything is run by the transfer of money, drugs, and sex, a young Gypsy boy falls in love with a young white girl, and in order to self-consciously avoid turning into another Romeo and Juliet narrative, gathers together a group of kids to devise a way of making money (and thus peace???) in the district in order to win her affection and the support of her family. So his friend devises a time machine, and instead of the kids patenting the machine and making a lot of money that way, they go back in time to bury mammoths under where their street will be so that they can dig up the oil later. This action gains the attention of first the parents, then the local authorities, and then the world leaders. Yes, carnage ensues, all speckled with lovely moments of Hungarian rap music videos.The animation is interesting: live action actors' photographs were placed on hand-drawn bodies, with of course the occasional CGI for action sequences. The flat quality of the imagery added with the fact that it's so layered makes it something like a three-dimensional South Park style, which is also a good reference to the style of humor it contains: it's something like a feature-length South Park with a bit more gutter humour and, of course, Eastern European darkness.Overall, it's definitely not what one would call subtle, in reference to some of its themes, but it definitely takes its qualities from such things as video games, anime, and stuff that seems right out of Spike and Mike.--PolarisDiB

this one took me by total surprise! i'll be damned if i can recount (or follow) the plot, but i know that it involves oil, rival gangsters, public surveillance, time travel, terrorism, rebel teenagers, possibly evil horses, and an area in Budapest known as "the district." sharply written and wittily drawn, it also features cameos by a host of international luminaries, from Osama bin Laden to the pope -- George W. too! (spouting lines like: "Our agents were mislead while they were busy misleading.")decidedly un-PC and deliberately "primitive" (particularly in its animation style, recalling everything from The Adventures of Prince Achmed to South Park), this will easily appeal to gamers, hip-hoppers, and fans of Adult Swim, but should also be given a chance by any other regular film-goer/lover.watching this, i was reminded of something Ralph Bakshi said: "The art of cartooning is vulgarity. The only reason for cartooning to exist is to be on the edge. If you only take apart what they allow you to take apart, you're Disney. Cartooning is a low-class, for-the-public art, just like graffiti art and rap music. Vulgar but believable, that's the line I kept walking."my guess is, Bakshi would be plenty impressed by The District.

I watched this movie in it's original language with subtitles at the Fantasy Film Festival in Stuttgart/Germany and I enjoyed it very much indeed! This animated feature is not for the faint of heart or for people who do care about PC things ... so it's not for children either or Bush sympathizer's! But for lovers of great dark comic humor. There are so many gags hidden here, you might not get them all at your first viewing ... But unfortunately you might not get them the second time around. It's not the movies fault, it will be because you don't get all the nuances of the original (you have to speak Hungarian and maybe even have lived there to get some things ... at least that's what I've heard from other viewers, who must know ... Hungarians of course)

Familiar South Park technology set in a Budapest ghetto, to outline a Romeo and Juliet type story between the offspring of two rival gangs. The plot is not the strongest: the main storyline follows how local school kids in the Dangerous Minds mold scheme to make some money, because money gets girls. They bet on oil, find a way to get it and set off a craze to control the revenue. The two rival gangs, local politicians, George Bush, the Pope and even Osama Bin Laden get involved. Even with the sometimes flawed plot, the smart dialog and sharp characterizations carry the movie, although it may be difficult for non-Hungarians to grasp all the references to Budapest urban folklore. There's a bit of singing and rapping, but that really doesn't get in the way. Good fun and a brave film.