“Who is Béla Tarr?” runs the title of an article in an American film magazine. To the initiated, he is a Hungarian film-maker who has built a growing reputation on the festival circuit with a trio of uncompromising films?Kárhozat (Damnation,1989), Sátántangó(Satan’s Tango, 1994) and Werckmeister harmóniák(Werckmeister Harmonies, 2000), which, particularly with the latter, seem set to mark the first genuine international breakthrough by a Hungarian auteur since Miklós Jancsó in the sixties.

Thanks to his opus magnus, Sátántangó, Tarr has long been admired internationally by cineastes. His latest film and a recent retrospective in London have broadened his appeal. Peter Hames examines his career so far.

 

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