SIFF Movie Club: Damnation
December 7, 2026
SIFF Movie Club
4K restoration. 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).
Intro by Cinema Worker Adam Plesser.
4K restoration. 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).
Intro by Cinema Worker Adam Plesser.
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. Damnation has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative by the Hungarian National Film Institute – Film Archive under the supervision of Béla Tarr.
- Original Language Title: Kárhozat
- Director: Béla Tarr
- Principal Cast: György Cserhalmi, Miklós B. Székely, Vali Kerekes, Gyula Pauer, Hédi Temessy
- Country: Hungary
- Year: 1988
- Running Time: 116 min.
- Screenplay: Béla Tarr, László Krasznahorkai
- Cinematographers: Gábor Medvigy
- Editors: Ágnes Hranitzky
- Music: Mihály Vig
- Language: Hungarian with English Subtitles
- Has Subtitles: Yes