Werckmeister Harmonies
Werckmeister Harmonies • 2h 26m
Directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky • 2000 • Hungary
Starring Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla
This mesmeric parable of societal collapse is an enigma of transcendent visual, philosophical, and mystical resonance. Adapted from a novel by László Krasznahorkai, WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES unfolds in an unknown time in an unnamed village, where, one day, a mysterious circus—complete with an enormous stuffed whale and a shadowy, demagogue-like figure known as the Prince—arrives and appears to awaken a kind of madness in the citizens that builds inexorably toward violence. In thirty-nine hypnotic long takes engraved in ghostly black and white, auteur Béla Tarr and codirector-editor Ágnes Hranitzky conjure an apocalyptic vision of dreamlike dread and fathomless beauty.
Up Next in Werckmeister Harmonies
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Béla Tarr on WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES
In this 2023 interview by film critic Scott Foundas, director Béla Tarr discusses beginning his career in the face of government resistance, the evolution of his work, and his decision to leave feature filmmaking behind.
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Family Nest
Directed by Béla Tarr • 1979 • Hungary
Starring Irén Szajki, László Horváth, Gábor KunReleased in 1979, when Béla Tarr was only twenty-four, FAMILY NEST is the director’s first feature. Inspired by true stories and featuring nonprofessional actors, the film depicts the challenges faced by a you...
