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Werckmeister Harmonies

Play trailer Poster for Werckmeister Harmonies 2000 2h 25m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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98% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A mysterious circus excites a small Hungarian town into a rebellion when a promised act doesn't perform.
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Werckmeister Harmonies

Werckmeister Harmonies

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Critics Consensus

Mesmerizingly lovely and thematically thought-provoking, Werckmeister Harmonies adds another indelible achievement to Bela Tarr's fascinating filmography.

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Critics Reviews

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Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 05/21/2014
As wearying as the film becomes in its long, bleak sequences, its uniquely cinematic and emotion-charged experience makes the effort worthwhile. Go to Full Review
Derek Elley Variety 10/05/2007
Six years after the 7-1/2-hour Satan's Tango, Magyar maverick Bela Tarr makes a stunning feature return with "Werckmeister Harmonies," another hypnotic meditation on popular demagogy and mental manipulation that's a snap at 145 minutes. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 09/14/2007
4/4
Bela 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. Go to Full Review
Julian Singleton Cinapse Jul 11
Werckmeister Harmonies has emerged from over a decade of relative unavailability and obscurity to find it’s become less of a warning of what we’re capable of and more of a mirror to what we’ve done to ourselves. Go to Full Review
Lisa Laman Culturess Jan 7
From the very first image of that crackling fire to the closing shot of a whale lingering in a wrecked town square, Werkmeister Harmonies instills an unforgettably chilling atmosphere. Go to Full Review
Joshua Ryan FandomWire 10/01/2024
9/10
Béla Tarr and co-director Ágnes Hranitzky choose to insinuate more than they directly reveal, keeping the mystique constant throughout. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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S R @ScottR Apr 1 Too artistic for its own good, but it still left me curious despite the long shots of not much going on. I saw it since it was on the NYT 1000 movies list. SLC DVD. I also saw it since it was Hungarian and had a good feel to it and the village. See more Jonathan G 08/04/2024 My first film from Bela Tarr; “Werckmeister Harmonies” makes its way to becoming one of my favorite films almost immediately. It’s a thundering masterpiece and what I would consider a perfect film. This is poetic as hell and almost feels hypnotic in a way, it delves itself into the meaning of life in a really great and beautiful way and the way that this was shot… my god. The imagery is captivating, the atmosphere is grim, and the camerawork is flawless. See more Dave S 07/06/2024 In a small Hungarian village, the inhabitants eke out a modest living through the sweat of their labor. However, things change drastically when a pseudo-circus arrives in town, replete with the carcass of a whale and a mysterious leader known as The Prince. Filled with symbolism and rich in themes, Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies is a hypnotic journey into a dream-like world of conformity, control and surrender. The film is a visual feast - the lengthy takes (there are apparently only 39 shots over the 145- minute running time) are riveting and the visuals are stunning throughout. Anyone interesting in getting into the world of ‘slow cinema’ should start with something along the lines of Werckmeister Harmonies. Fans of the Fast and the Furious should be warned – this ain’t going to be your type of movie. See more Yellowfur D 09/11/2023 Breathtaking long-lens scheduling, combined with small-town story writing that uses a small glimpse of the big picture; it opens with the grandeur of the sun, earth and moon, and ends with a whale that never rests in its eyes; it travels through the crowds of people like wax figures, setting off rational riots, and what people do and All that is going to be done is lies and deception. (If I were not afraid of night walks, I really wouldn't want to miss the school's 4k screening; it's a pity that I don't know Hungarian history) See more Devin T 07/14/2023 Extremely boring and very arthouse. I tried so hard to like this...but just couldn't. See more Courtney K @c0urtn3y 05/29/2023 this was so fricken boring; it put me right to sleep, i couldn't do it. i feel kind of bad since it has such great reviews from others, but not my cup of tea i guess. See more Read all reviews
Werckmeister Harmonies

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Movie Info

Synopsis A mysterious circus excites a small Hungarian town into a rebellion when a promised act doesn't perform.
Director
Béla Tarr
Producer
Miklos Szita, Franz Goess
Screenwriter
Béla Tarr, Laszlo Krasnahorkai
Genre
Drama
Original Language
root
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 28, 2006
Box Office (Gross USA)
$44.5K
Runtime
2h 25m
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