100
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Werckmeister Harmonies may be Tarr’s masterpiece.
Werckmeister Harmonies (Werckmeister harmóniák)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Hungary
- 2000
- · 139m
Director
Béla Tarr
Cast
Lars Rudolph,
Peter Fitz,
Hanna Schygulla,
Alfréd Járai,
Gyula Pauer,
János Derzsi,
Mihály Kormos,
Putyi Horváth,
Éva Almássy Albert,
Péter Dobai
Genre
Drama
Set during the communist era in Hungary, the film tells the story of János and his uncle György, and the mysterious circus that comes to their town. Consisting of a giant stuffed whale and a sinister demagogue called “the Prince,” the circus exerts a malevolent influence over the townspeople.
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What are critics saying?
100
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
While Tarr's newest epic, Werckmeister Harmonies, isn't intended for the shopping-mall crowd, it is more viewer-friendly and will please adventurous moviegoers.
100
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
An indelible statement on loneliness and spiritual thirst.
100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
This is as challenging as movies come, alluding to everything from philosopher Thomas Hobbes to the history of Western music.
90
The New York Times by Lawrence Van Gelder
Mysterious, poetic and allusive, The Werckmeister Harmonies beckons filmgoers who complain of the vapidity of Hollywood movie making and yearn for a film to ponder and debate.
90
New Times (L.A.) by Andy Klein
The pacing is slow, but the film is entrancing and earns a permanent place in the viewer's mind.
90
Variety by Derek Elley
A stunning feature -- another hypnotic meditation on popular demagogy and mental manipulation.
80
TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox
The film could easily be reduced to a parable of post-Communist Eastern Europe, but the allegory digs deeper into the very order of things, exemplified by 17th-century musicologist Andreas Werckmeister's arbitrary imposition of a "tempered" tonal system over naturally occurring tunings.
80
Village Voice by J. Hoberman
A work of bravura filmmaking.
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