DAMNATION / THE MAN FROM LONDON

ABOUT THE FILMS:

DAMNATION, 1988, Béla Tarr, 116 Minutes, Arbelos, Hungary

In Hungarian with English subtitles

A mid-career masterwork by legendary Hungarian art house auteur Béla Tarr and the first of his internationally acclaimed trilogy of films written in collaboration with author László Krasznahorkai (including the legendary SÁTÁNTANGÓ), DAMNATION (Kárhozat) chronicles the doomed affair between bar Titanik regular Karrer (Sátántangó’s Miklós B. Székely) and the cruel cabaret singer (Vali Kerekes) he pines for while scheming to displace her brutish husband (György Cserhalmi). A poignant Communism allegory that solidified Tarr’s unique aesthetic, DAMNATION is photographed in an exquisitely black & white palette underscored by the mesmerizing long takes that would come to be his trademark.

The 4K digital restoration using the the original image negatives and  original magnetic tape sounds were carried out by the National Film Institute Hungary- Film Archive and Film Lab in 2019, in the frame of the “Long-term restoration programme of the Hungarian film heritage”.

FORMAT: DCP

THE MAN FROM LONDON, 2007, Béla Tarr, 139 Minutes, Janus Films, Hungary

In English and French with English subtitles

Lonely railway worker Maloin (Miroslav Krobot) leads a simple, humdrum life with his teenage daughter (Erika Bók) and high-strung wife (Tilda Swinton) at the edge of an infinite sea. He barely notices the world around him and has already accepted its slow and inevitable deterioration. His inner life is suddenly thrown into chaos after he stumbles upon a deadly business transaction that leaves him with a money-stuffed suitcase and a guilty conscious for a crime he didn’t commit. An existential dazzler from one of cinema’s most stunning and austere filmmakers, Bela Tarr’s THE MAN FROM LONDON is a breathtaking exploration of humanity’s indestructible desire for freedom and happiness.

FORMAT: 35mm