Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
- Original title
- Werckmeister harmóniák
- Directed by
- Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky
- Genre
- drama film
- Country
- Germany, France, Hungary
- Runtime
- 2h 25m
- Rated
- 12
- Rating
- 7.8 of 10 from 384 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
In a small Hungarian town during the communist era, a gentle man named János and his uncle György navigate life as a mysterious circus arrives. The circus brings a giant whale and an unsettling presence that stirs fear and chaos among the townspeople.
slow-burnbleakcerebralhypnoticmelancholicunsettlingphilosophicallanguid
What happens
Werckmeister Harmonies (pronounced [verkˈmaɪ̯stɐ]; Hungarian: Werckmeister harmóniák) is a 2000 Hungarian drama film directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, based on the 1989 novel The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai. Shot in black-and-white and composed of thirty-nine languidly paced shots, the film portrays the life of János and his uncle György during the communist era in Hungary. It also recounts their journey among helpless citizens as a sinister visiting circus casts a shadow over everyone's lives. The title refers to the 17th century Baroque musical theorist Andreas Werckmeister. György Eszter, a major character in the film, delivers a monologue asserting that Werckmeister's harmonic principles are responsible for aesthetic and philosophical problems in all subsequent music, and should be replaced by a new theory of tuning and harmony. The film was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section in 53rd Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Werckmeister Harmonies opened to wide acclaim from critics, and has come to be regarded by many as one of the best films of the 21st century. In the Sight and Sound 2022 decennial critics poll, Werckmeister Harmonies ranks 243rd. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Sátántangó (1994)
Forest (2003)
141 Minutes from the Unfinished Sentence (1975)
Winter Wind (1969)
Ten Thousand Days (1967)
The Witman Boys (1997)
Red Psalm (1972)
Síremlék – Pilinszky János színművének (1990)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.