Damnation

1988 1h 56m HU

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 158

DramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Karrer plods his way through life in quiet desperation. His environment is drab and rainy and muddy. Eaten up with solitude, his hopelessness would be incurable but for the existence of the Titanik Bar and its beautiful, haunting singer. But the lady is married and Karrer is determined to keep her husband away...

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Székely B. Miklós
Karrer
György Cserhalmi
Sebestyén
Vali Kerekes
The Singer
Gyula Pauer
Willarsky
Hédi Temessy
Cloakroom Attendant
Gábor Balogh
János Balogh
Péter Breznyik Berg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Béla Tarr
Writers: László Krasznahorkai, Béla Tarr
Languages: Hungarian
Countries: Hungary

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Béla Tarr, shot by József Mezö. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mihály Víg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ágnes Hranitzky shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Székely B. Miklós and György Cserhalmi and Vali Kerekes carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0095475 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Béla Tarr directs. József Mezö behind the camera. Mihály Víg scores. Ágnes Hranitzky cuts. Produced in Hungary. Dialogue in Hungarian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

138 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Béla Tarr, shot by József Mezö. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Mihály Víg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Ágnes Hranitzky shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Székely B. Miklós and György Cserhalmi and Vali Kerekes carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0095475 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 9 themes, including "dancing", "rain", "fog", "surreal".

The technical file

Cinematography: József Mezö
Original score: Mihály Víg
Editing: Ágnes Hranitzky
Costume design: Gyula Pauer
Makeup / hair: Edit Basilides
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Status: Released
Original language: HU
IMDB: Damnation (1988)

Also by

Béla Tarr

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-08-17
★ 7/10
In a town that is quite possibly the wettest place on Earth, the permanently raincoat-clad "Karrer" (Miklós Székely B) goes through the motions with a life that is little more animated than his dreich surroundings. What sustains him through the grand ennui of his existence is his love for the married singer in the gloomy "Titanik" bar (Vali Kerekes) for whom he declares, repeatedly, his undying love and for whose husband "Willarsky" (Gyula Pauer) he has little but contempt. Luckily for him, though, the guy is in almost permanent debt so is away frequently enough for the two to indulge their relationship, infatuation, addiction now and again. That's about the height of it. Can this ever decreasing circle ever change? What's quite intriguing about this cinematic festival of monochrome melancholia is that the story is almost irrelevant to what Béla Tarr seems to be offering us here. The photography is dank and dreary, the constant tracking shots, panning shots, lingering close ups of the rain dripping from branches or the faces of the customers in the bar - none of those actually do anything to support the plot, but they add a delicious richness to the whole allure of this film. There's a song - almost as depressing as the weather, completed by a gentle saxophonist that I felt rather summed up the whole ambiance of this glacially paced exercise in bleakness. I'm no film critic and am not in a position to write some extensive exposition on what motivated the director or how original his techniques at story telling are, I can only judge what was put before me for two hours and though, yes, at times it is downright dull, at other times it was a bit like wandering through an art gallery where the light (or shade) brought something out of the blandness of the scenario. It won't be for everyone as there really isn't that much actually happening, the dialogue is pretty sparse and the repetitive nature of the plot development might be risky for an audience required to focus for a couple of hours where the sight and sound of constant rain might just start to feel like a drip on your head. I'm not sure I'd ever watch it again - but as an exercise in epitomising the depressiveness of the routine, the hopeless and the pedestrianism of daily life, it's worth a watch. You probably ought to watch it in a cinema, though - at home on a television it will lose much of it's photographic distinction and you might just be tempted to hit fast-forward now and again.

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