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“Béla Tarr’s 1988 film Damnation is utterly miserable, but that doesn’t prevent it from being remarkable.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Damnation (1988) not only marks the Hungarian director Bela Tarr’s departure from realist dramas, but also his entry into the ranks of the best European directors.
In Damnation, Karrer (Miklós B. Székely from Sátántangó) is consumed by longing for the alluring but cruel cabaret singer (Vali Kerekes). His attempts to displace her brutish husband (György Cserhalmi) unravel disastrously, plunging everything into chaos. The film marked a pivotal moment in Tarr’s evolution, offering a macabre and visually captivating portrayal of desolation and betrayal in a small Hungarian town. The story traces a cruel love triangle involving a reclusive loner, a nightclub singer, and her smuggler husband. It was the first of five collaborations with novelist László Krasznahorkai and the film’s decaying factories, grim bars, and bleak landscapes introduced a melancholic, rain-soaked world that would become Tarr’s signature.
Directed by Béla Tarr, Hungary, 1988, DCP, 116 mins.
In Hungarian with English subtitles.
FACETS and Béla Tarr: A Legacy of Championing His Work
FACETS was instrumental and a critical role that established his reputation in the United States, as his influence was affected due in part to a lack of distribution. Facets Video sought to reverse this trend by releasing nearly all his features on DVD, having been long-time champions of Tarr’s work, by holding retrospectives (including screenings of his masterwork, Sátántangó, on more than one occasion) and also welcomed Bela Tarr for a symposium on his work, in 2007. We are showing Damnation, that has been beautifully restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative, carried out by the National Film Institute Hungary- Film Archive.
For esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, Damnation was the film that made him a devoted follower of Tarr’s work, as he saw it in 1989, shortly before discovering Almanac of Fall (1984), and quickly became an acolyte rather than just a fan. As Tarr himself has noted, his films are not just about storytelling but also about exploring the world that surrounds it. In Damnation, the narrative takes a back seat to the atmosphere, marking Tarr’s departure from conventional storytelling, shifting toward a cinema where atmosphere, rather than language, is the defining force. “The near miracle is that something so compulsively watchable can be made out of a setting and society that seem so depressive and petrified.” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).
Festivals, Awards, & Nominations
Winner – France Culture Award (Béla Tarr), Cannes Film Festival 2005
Winner – Bronze Rosa Camuna, Bergamo Film Meeting 1988
Nominee – Best Young Film, European Film Awards 1988
FILM CRITIC
We are proud to welcome Jonathan Rosenbaum, legendary Chicago film critic and author whose books include “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: A Jonathan Rosenbaum Reader” (2024), “Movies as Politics,” “Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Movies We Can See,” “Abbas Kiarostami” (co-authored with Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa), “Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia,” and the two-volume collection “Cinematic Encounters.” He was the film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 to 2008.
5 FILMS/5 DECADES/5 CRITICS
Damnation screens as a part of the new FACETS 50th Anniversary series curated by Charles Coleman and hosted by local film critics, “5 Films/5 Decades/5 Critics” digs through our 50-year history to present bold arthouse and independent gems that we’ve discovered and championed over the years. View full series here.
