"Kárhozat" or "Damnation" is a Hungarian Hungarian-language film from 1988, so this one has its 35th anniversary this year already, but I don't think this was really the reason why they showed this film again on the big screen. It simply happened at a movie theater linked to film history in general and they are often showing films away from the mainstream. The room was also not empty at all, approximately a quantity I expected, but also not super full. The main attraction here was the name Béla Tarr as writer and director. He was in his early 30s at that point, so still in the widest sense on the newcomer side, even if he had directed full feature films before and was already part of the film industry for a decade if we also count his early short films. This movie here was also the first occasion on which he collaborated with his co-writer László Krasznahorkai, who is 1.5 years older than Tarr or I should maybe say that Krasznahorkai often the novels wrote the novels too that Tarr's films were based on, but they also worked on the screenplay together and this includes "Werckmeister harmóniák" as well, the film that is maybe Tarr's most known and might stay this way. But they even collaborated on a 2011 film then, so their cooperation lasted for many decades. Since then, Krasznahorkai seems retired though and has not worked on anything new. You could say the he deserves the rest with the reception of all those movies that the two worked on together. I mean critics loved them and they have really high ratings on imdb and any other film side you may be looking at. The fact that you maybe will not find one of these in the highest-rated list is only because not enough people have seen and rated the movies. So it is nice that here and there they return to the big screen even and also not only in Hungary itself, but here in Germany for example too the other day where I got to watch this film.
Sounds all good and promising, doesn't it? Well, sadly I cannot keep going like that because with this film here, just like with everything else I have seen from Tarr I realized again that I just cannot find a connection to his approach. Which is extremely slow, in black-and-white and absolute not plot-focused in the sense of stuff happening. This may sound superficial, but I need more and better story. I mean if you look at Haneke's "Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte" /"The White Ribbon", that is a film I really adore and it is also super-slow, very long and in black-and-white, but with Tarr I just cannot find any appeal really. I am a bit sad it is like this because I know many really adore him, but for me he falls in the category where there is also Tarkovsky for example. Praise by critics, but does almost nothing for me. The runtime is not helping either. This one here goes on for roughly two hours or slightly shorter, which means that it is not even among Tarr's longest works and yet it felt to me as if you could fit the story into 30 or 40 minutes perhaps if we are only talking the segments that are linked to the plot and are something different than style over substance. The one thing you always find in Tarr's film's is slow camera movements throughout the entire room or also outside of course while we are watching what happens. Or if something happens at all. One example would be the football match on television that we are quickly getting away from and of course no goal happens this very short moment. These movements are frequently accompanied by music, which makes clear that Tarr's films here and there have lengthy segments without dialogues at all or where really little is spoken. I am still hesitant to call this a non-dialogue-driven approach as you can probably find more in the talking between characters here than in the non-verbal interactions between them. Said music can be pretty beautiful at times I will not deny it, but honestly I would have liked it more I think when listening to it simply on a record instead of having it accompany a film. The whale scene from Tarr's aforementioned most favorite film will always stay in my mind, there the music was downright breathtaking. For this one here, we do not have a similar moment or scene.
The lead actor is Miklós Székely B. Whatever the B. May mean and I see he is still alive. Good for him. I really cannot say anything about the cast here as I don't remember the actors from anything else, so I will leave that to the Hungarian film buffs. The female lead is played by Vali Kerekes (finally somebody without accents!) and I thought she was fairly attractive in here. I can see why the male protagonist fell for her, even if the stalking component right at the very start may be a bit much and in general it was difficult to really root for the protagonist here. But he was toyed with anyway by the female protagonist here and there as she rejects him initially, but eventually still gives in to his attempts and they have sex at least once. Problem is she is married and her husband will be back soon and the possibility of her leaving her man wo be with the protagonist was never an option here at all I must say. But it was different times anyway, especially in Eastern European countries. Divorce was still a critical issue, even if there was no love left between the two spouses. And we do not even know if this is the case here anyway. How the female protagonist really sees the male protagonist and what she feels or doesn't feel for him. There was one scene when the man is confronted by another and I assume that was her husband? At least he tells her to stay away from his girl and I suppose the man did not approach any other female in here, especially as he is really just crazy for Kerekes' character. One thing you will never find in Tarr's film is comedy of any kind. I don't think I have laughed or smiled once while watching one of his works and this film here is no difference. That does not need to be a negative thing either though, at least it is better than try-hard comedy that is not working, but of course the film still needs to deliver in other areas. There weren't many scenes here that stayed in the mind though. One is maybe when one supporting character tells the male protagonist that this woman is no good for him. But this was the exception. Tarr's works being mostly (more than merely) a bit on the depressing side is not an issue for me either as I do love some films that take this approach. A they let me really feel something, which is honestly the most important thing about a film I would say. No matter if it is joy, despair or regret or whatever else. Anything is better than indifference, but I did not really feel anything with this one.
I often do when there's animals involved in movies, but the (whale from another film and) the dog from this film that was out there in the rainy cold fighting for survival every day did not have as much of an impact on me as I would have liked it t have. I guess it was also meant as some kind of build-up to the final scene in which the main character is depicted as some kind of equivalent to the stray dog and they are growling at each other and he also howls like a dog a little earlier, so yeah he is depicted there really at the bottom as low as it gets when the chance at further romantic interest coming his way from the female lead has passed. That's how I would interpret it at least, so you can say that, even if it is on a low scale overall, Tarr ended the film on one of its highest notes in terms of how memorable the scene was. I am sure people who appreciate Tarr and his works more than I do will see a lot more/different in this scene and also in many other scenes throughout the movie. A lot of it may be linked to the amount of water you often see in Tarr's films and with the heavy rain here on many occasions, especially towards the end where it is pouring in a really loud fashion in terms of sound effects, this is certainly also the case for this film we have here. There is also the brief depiction of a river or pond towards the end. But these inclusions also could not turn this film into something I enjoyed watching. No chance for a positive recommendation from my side for this film that is probably not among Tarr's most or least famous works. Somewhere in the middle. I give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead or I assume you can decide this very well for yourself then too as you have probably seen another film from him already (or more than one) when you get here to decide if you should see this one too. If you (dis)like one, you will probably (dis)like all. The style is just so similar every time. For me, it is a no though and I am pretty convinced that I will not watch this one ever again, more likely one or several of the Tarr films I have not given a chance yet. Not looking particularly forward though. That is all.
Sounds all good and promising, doesn't it? Well, sadly I cannot keep going like that because with this film here, just like with everything else I have seen from Tarr I realized again that I just cannot find a connection to his approach. Which is extremely slow, in black-and-white and absolute not plot-focused in the sense of stuff happening. This may sound superficial, but I need more and better story. I mean if you look at Haneke's "Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte" /"The White Ribbon", that is a film I really adore and it is also super-slow, very long and in black-and-white, but with Tarr I just cannot find any appeal really. I am a bit sad it is like this because I know many really adore him, but for me he falls in the category where there is also Tarkovsky for example. Praise by critics, but does almost nothing for me. The runtime is not helping either. This one here goes on for roughly two hours or slightly shorter, which means that it is not even among Tarr's longest works and yet it felt to me as if you could fit the story into 30 or 40 minutes perhaps if we are only talking the segments that are linked to the plot and are something different than style over substance. The one thing you always find in Tarr's film's is slow camera movements throughout the entire room or also outside of course while we are watching what happens. Or if something happens at all. One example would be the football match on television that we are quickly getting away from and of course no goal happens this very short moment. These movements are frequently accompanied by music, which makes clear that Tarr's films here and there have lengthy segments without dialogues at all or where really little is spoken. I am still hesitant to call this a non-dialogue-driven approach as you can probably find more in the talking between characters here than in the non-verbal interactions between them. Said music can be pretty beautiful at times I will not deny it, but honestly I would have liked it more I think when listening to it simply on a record instead of having it accompany a film. The whale scene from Tarr's aforementioned most favorite film will always stay in my mind, there the music was downright breathtaking. For this one here, we do not have a similar moment or scene.
The lead actor is Miklós Székely B. Whatever the B. May mean and I see he is still alive. Good for him. I really cannot say anything about the cast here as I don't remember the actors from anything else, so I will leave that to the Hungarian film buffs. The female lead is played by Vali Kerekes (finally somebody without accents!) and I thought she was fairly attractive in here. I can see why the male protagonist fell for her, even if the stalking component right at the very start may be a bit much and in general it was difficult to really root for the protagonist here. But he was toyed with anyway by the female protagonist here and there as she rejects him initially, but eventually still gives in to his attempts and they have sex at least once. Problem is she is married and her husband will be back soon and the possibility of her leaving her man wo be with the protagonist was never an option here at all I must say. But it was different times anyway, especially in Eastern European countries. Divorce was still a critical issue, even if there was no love left between the two spouses. And we do not even know if this is the case here anyway. How the female protagonist really sees the male protagonist and what she feels or doesn't feel for him. There was one scene when the man is confronted by another and I assume that was her husband? At least he tells her to stay away from his girl and I suppose the man did not approach any other female in here, especially as he is really just crazy for Kerekes' character. One thing you will never find in Tarr's film is comedy of any kind. I don't think I have laughed or smiled once while watching one of his works and this film here is no difference. That does not need to be a negative thing either though, at least it is better than try-hard comedy that is not working, but of course the film still needs to deliver in other areas. There weren't many scenes here that stayed in the mind though. One is maybe when one supporting character tells the male protagonist that this woman is no good for him. But this was the exception. Tarr's works being mostly (more than merely) a bit on the depressing side is not an issue for me either as I do love some films that take this approach. A they let me really feel something, which is honestly the most important thing about a film I would say. No matter if it is joy, despair or regret or whatever else. Anything is better than indifference, but I did not really feel anything with this one.
I often do when there's animals involved in movies, but the (whale from another film and) the dog from this film that was out there in the rainy cold fighting for survival every day did not have as much of an impact on me as I would have liked it t have. I guess it was also meant as some kind of build-up to the final scene in which the main character is depicted as some kind of equivalent to the stray dog and they are growling at each other and he also howls like a dog a little earlier, so yeah he is depicted there really at the bottom as low as it gets when the chance at further romantic interest coming his way from the female lead has passed. That's how I would interpret it at least, so you can say that, even if it is on a low scale overall, Tarr ended the film on one of its highest notes in terms of how memorable the scene was. I am sure people who appreciate Tarr and his works more than I do will see a lot more/different in this scene and also in many other scenes throughout the movie. A lot of it may be linked to the amount of water you often see in Tarr's films and with the heavy rain here on many occasions, especially towards the end where it is pouring in a really loud fashion in terms of sound effects, this is certainly also the case for this film we have here. There is also the brief depiction of a river or pond towards the end. But these inclusions also could not turn this film into something I enjoyed watching. No chance for a positive recommendation from my side for this film that is probably not among Tarr's most or least famous works. Somewhere in the middle. I give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead or I assume you can decide this very well for yourself then too as you have probably seen another film from him already (or more than one) when you get here to decide if you should see this one too. If you (dis)like one, you will probably (dis)like all. The style is just so similar every time. For me, it is a no though and I am pretty convinced that I will not watch this one ever again, more likely one or several of the Tarr films I have not given a chance yet. Not looking particularly forward though. That is all.