Damnation (film)

Damnation
Directed by	Béla Tarr
Written by	Béla Tarr László Krasznahorkai
Edited by	Ágnes Hranitzky
Music by	Mihály Vig
Release date	1988 (1988)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	Hungary
Language	Hungarian

Damnation (Hungarian: Kárhozat) is a 1988 black-and-white Hungarian film directed by Béla Tarr, written by Tarr and László Krasznahorkai, and edited by Ágnes Hranitzky Tarr's directorial collaborator.

Plot

Karrer, a depressed man, is in love with a married torch singer from a local bar, the Titanik. The singer breaks off their affair, because she dreams of becoming famous. Karrer is offered smuggling work by Willarsky, a local bartender. Karrer offers the job to the singer's husband, Sebestyén. This gets him out of the way, but things do not go as Karrer plans. Betrayals follow. Karrer despairs.

Production

Damnation marked a major stage in the long collaboration between Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky. Hranitzky edited the film and is listed in András Bálint Kovács's filmography as co-director. The film also brought together several of the recurring collaborators associated with Tarr and Hranitzky's later work, including Nobel Prize-winning writer László Krasznahorkai, composer Mihály Víg, cinematographer Gábor Medvigy, and set and costume designer Gyula Pauer.

Reception

Damnation is generally acclaimed by film critics, and many rank it one of Tarr's finest works. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. Michael Atkinson of Village Voice called the film "a serotonin-depleted ordeal, and yet seemingly a sketchbook of vibes and ideas to come, with some of the most magnificent black-and-white images shot anywhere in the world." Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote in the Chicago Reader, "The near miracle is that something so compulsively watchable can be made out of a setting and society that seem so depressive and petrified." Writing for Slant Magazine, Jeremiah Kipp argued, "In terms of creating a strong cinematic world, Tarr has few equals." A review compared the film to the works of Andrei Tarkovsky and Michelangelo Antonioni.

External links

• Damnation at IMDb 
• Damnation at Rotten Tomatoes