A walk through Budapest following the life of Jimmy Zámbó
Critics love it, shown on the RTL+ streaming platform, About Jimmy Zambo his solo series – including ours – as it turned out, you can tell about it with humor, but also mockery, sensitively grasping the drama and the tragedy, and also showing how depressing, funny and absurd life was in Hungary around the time of the regime change. Fortunately, it even received the budget and attention that the subject deserves: not only did they not skimp on the actors, but also on the filming itself. They filmed in 134 locations with a crew of at least a hundred, including Jimmy’s house in Csepel, and with the objects left untouched that could be used as props – there are very few examples of this in film history.
Ervin Nagy does not simply carry a file with him to the performances (with the gun and business cards) like the one used by the King, but specifically that file – and he even received some of his stage clothes from the family.
Chief director Dániel Richárd Kovács revealed all of this during a walk through the capital, processing Jimmy’s life; yes, we now have one, for the creators of the series and Hosszúléps.járunk, which specializes in thematic walks? his team. The Royal Pilgrimage is not an organized program, i.e. there is no need to register and pay, to start: on the interactive program, QR codes await passers-by at locations related to Jimmy’s life, which can be scanned to learn about the history of corners, buildings, presses, bars, churches (and a cemetery). ), and you can see relevant videos from the series.
Of course, this has a drawback: since there is no insider guide, we can only get to know the life of Jimmy Zámbó on the street, and we can only ask for the locations. of course, don’t hold anyone back: we will look at three points with the actors and the Jimmy historians of Hosszúlépés, and we can honestly say that this is not an empty PR campaign, but an imaginative and informative urban image project that can fulfill anyone who is a little I am also interested in what happened in Budapest in the last 40 years. We will also show you what we found out.
Gábor Baross Elementary School
As can be seen from the series, this school on Hernád Street was the site of tough wrestling matches. The Zámbó brothers all went here, and during the breaks, the older ones often had to protect the younger ones from being teased by the other children. In the 1960s, Jimmy’s long hair was surprising and unusual, but he defended himself in every conflict, and when needed, his brothers and sisters also rushed to his aid. One of the perpats left a lasting mark on Jimmy’s body: during a fight, he hit his head on a stone gate, and this left a small spot on his scalp, where no hair grew, for the rest of his schoolboy’s life.
Although school was supposed to be about learning, Jimmy wasn’t particularly interested in that. As he later recalled: “I can’t be proud, although I have nothing to be ashamed of about your academic results. I wasn’t the worst student, just somehow I wasn’t always well-behaved.”
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Even then, his thoughts revolved around music, he told about it like this: “Except for one thing, it is no different from the bad bones of my age, and it was nothing but a kind of, almost no longer normal, I could even say, downright aberrant attraction, fascination for everything that has to do with music.” He got his first tango monica when he was nine years old, he learned to play on it, and he didn’t call anyone, because he turned his hand to the correct hand position. He founded his first band with his classmates, which, however, was more of an annoyance than a joy to the people living in the area. None of them had musical training, and although Jimmy’s talent was evident from the first moment based on the memories, it is true that his companions could only make noise.
István Street 20.
Imre Zámbó was born here on January 20, 1958. He was the fourth of five siblings, and was brought up together with his sister Marietta, his brothers György and Tihamér, and his younger brother Árpád. The family lived in the largest Art Nouveau apartment building in the area, on the István Street wing of the huge, three-courtyard Hernád Court, on the 4th floor. They spent their weekdays in some of the surrounding streets, went to school here, from where they usually went to the nearby Városliget to play football. Or rather: the school was a minute and a half’s walk away, yet they often ended up here. Their parents from Hajdúdorog were first-generation Budapest residents, similar to countless families living here. The parents, György Sr. and Anna, worked hard to ensure that their children did not lack anything. The head of the family also took on two jobs: he worked as an iron turner at the Láng Machine Factory in Angyalföld from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., then he moved to the Amusement Park in Városliget, where he was a carousel mechanic. Jimmy Zámbó lived here until he moved in with his first wife, Krisztián’s mother.
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The city quarter hidden in the shadow of the Keleti Pályaudvar was referred to by many people, including Jimmy Zámbó, as Csíkágó. At the beginning of the 20th century, this part of the city grew out of the ground at a dizzying pace that had only been seen in America before. The square grid structure of the streets may also be familiar from overseas. Similar to the densely populated parts of North America’s big cities, this neighborhood was mostly populated by immigrants who had recently moved to the city, fleeing poverty in the countryside. They were driven by the ambition to create a better life for their family than the one they themselves grew up in.
Garay square market
There are few experiences more Budapest than when you eat freshly baked pork knuckle, sausage with pickles, mustard and white bread at a market counter. This is one of our most democratic habits: here there is no difference between the helpers struggling on the nearby construction sites, the housewives doing the shopping or the pop star with a huge Mercedes. Jimmy Zámbó regularly went to this market to eat since he was a child, and he kept this habit throughout his life. According to an anecdote, even as a primary school student, he escaped here from what he considered to be a boring class to snack on sausages with his hard-earned pocket money. He already lived in Csepel when he and his mother spent intimate moments here: “The phone rang, get dressed, mom, because we’re going for a walk. In such cases, I got something for myself, heading to the Garay market, where he loved to eat. We stopped by his favorite butcher’s, asked for food, and then we hung out together in the crowd of onlookers. Mother and son. In such cases, the outside world has ceased to exist, there is nothing but being together.”
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Of course, you had to go to the market not only during the day. István Joós, the manager of Magneoton, who joined the press tour, remembers that in the past there were few places waiting for hungry people. They served Jókai bean soup in the Pipacs Bar, and you could also eat it in the Ballet Shoes, but it wasn’t sweet enough if you wanted carbohydrates right away. Fortunately, butchers were open at dawn, i.e. hurka and fried sausage were the gyros of the time, and it was a common sight to see famous artists working at night slathering mustard side by side. Jimmy immediately asked for double mustard on everything.
In any case, Edith, the wife, cooked excellently, at least Hungarian dishes, Jimmy wasn’t really interested in anything else, but he was very critical about it: after the woman’s cooking, nothing exceeded the bar. The trips abroad were increasingly difficult, the Italian pasta was still gone, but the sea herrings were incomprehensible to him, and it was very difficult to serve him. If they went even a little further, the first thought of the entire crew was “Daddy, what is he going to eat?”. Of course, the Garay square market is no longer the same – more precisely, it was demolished and a store was built in its place – but the basement market still reminds of the former atmosphere. And the hurka and sausage – as with any decent butcher – are essentially unchanged.
Locations of the Royal Pilgrimage
Casanova bar – QR code location: District I, Batthyány tér 4. – Right side of the Market Hall, old notice board
Piston house – Háfra Mari’s serial home – QR code location: II. district, Margit körút 15-17. – column next to the zebra
The former headquarters of the National Director’s Office – QR code location: V. district, Vörösmarty tér 7. – Gerbeaud side entrance, Dorottya utca
Garay square market – QR code location: VII. district, Garay tér 20. – fence of the playground in front of the building
The protection of the Mother of God is a Greek Catholic church – QR code location: VII. district, Rózsák tere 10. – column opposite the church
Gábor Baross Primary School – QR code location: VII. district, Hernád utca 42. – wooden bracing stake next to the school entrance
Jimmy Zámbó’s birthplace – QR code location: VII. district, in front of István utca 20. – geranium column in front of István utca 20
Béla Jankai’s studio – QR code location: XIII. district, next to Balzac utca 37. – Hollán Ernő utca – on the corner of Balzac utca, column next to the house wall
Former Budapest Sports Hall – QR code location: XIV. district, corner of Stefánia út Hungária körút – pillar at the entrance to the bus station, next to Stefánia út
Station press – QR code location: XVI. district, opposite Batsányi János utca 2. – pillar next to the road
Holy Spirit Greek Catholic Church in Csepel – QR code location: XXI. district, Rákóczi tér – column opposite the entrance to the church at the Greek Catholic Church bus stop
Csepel cemetery – QR code location: XXI. district, II. Opposite Rákóczi Ferenc út 270 – pillar at the bus stop opposite the cemetery entrance