"A chilling, mesmerizing, intense account of ethnic cleansing (in spirit if not in letter) from Hungarian master Tarr." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
"Tarr's style seems to be an attempt to regard his characters with great intensity and respect, to observe them without jostling them, to follow unobtrusively as they move through their worlds, which look so ordinary and are so awesome, like ours." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
One of the major achievements of 21st-century cinema thus far, this mesmeric parable of societal collapse is an enigma of transcendent visual, philosophical, and mystical resonance. Adapted from a novel by the celebrated writer and frequent Tarr collaborator László Krasznahorkai, WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES unfolds in an unknown era 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, which builds inexorably toward violence and destruction. In 39 of his signature long takes, engraved in ghostly black and white, Tarr conjures an apocalyptic vision of dreamlike dread and fathomless beauty. (Janus) Film Center exclusive.
Awards & Nominations
Winner - László B. Nagy Award, Hungarian Film Critics Awards
Winner - Best Actor (Lars Rudolph), Hungarian Film Critics Awards
Nominee - C.I.C.A.E. Award, Cannes Film Festival
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu