Werckmeister Harmonies (2001)
95%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 2 nominations
Bela Tarr’s “Werckmeister Harmonies” is a cinematic masterpiece that demands the viewer’s full attention and patience. With its slow pace and bleak sequences, the film may seem wearisome at times, but it is a uniquely emotional and thought-provoking experience that is worth the effort. Tarr’s intense and respectful observation of his characters, combined with his dense symbolism and allusions to philosophy and music, creates a hypnotic meditation on popular demagogy and mental manipulation. The film’s standout moments are searing and artistically unique, making it an overwhelmingly powerful eulogy to the waning days of artistic beauty and free speech. Despite its challenging nature, “Werckmeister Harmonies” is an extraordinarily pleasurable experience that should not be missed by any serious cinephile.
Werckmeister Harmonies” is like a slow-cooked meal that takes time to savor and appreciate. While some may find the pace a bit sluggish, the film’s unique style and powerful symbolism make it a cinematic feast for the senses. Bela Tarr’s direction is masterful, and the performances are hauntingly beautiful. It’s not a film for everyone, but for those willing to take the journey, it’s a fantastical and mesmerizing experience that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll. Plus, who doesn’t love a good symbolic cetacean?
Production Company(ies)
13 Productions, ARTE Fondazione Montecinemaverita
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Baja, Hungary
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):Hungarian, Slovak
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Feb 28, 2006
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Werckmeister Harmonies, drama, unknown language, directed by Béla Tarr, produced by Miklos Szita and Franz Goess, written by Béla Tarr and Laszlo Krasnahorkai, Lars Rudolph starring, Peter Fitz starring, Hanna Schygulla starring, Janos Derzi starring, Djoko Rossich starring, box office gross of $25.5K, reviewed by Kevin Thomas, Derek Elley, Roger Ebert, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Noel Murray, Geoff Andrew, Sarah Brinks, Josh Larsen, David Parkinson, David Sterritt, Michael Fox, Tim Brayton, 98% Tomatometer, 91% audience score, mysterious circus, Hungarian town, rebellion, popular demagogy, mental manipulation, hypnotic meditation, artistically unique, overwhelmingly powerful, mesmerizingly lovely, thought-provoking, indelible achievement, thematically rich, emotionally charged, slow-paced, challenging, symbolic, philosophical, searing, intense, unsettling, weird, witty, dense, allusive, pleasurable experience
Worldwide gross: $25,461
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $42,909
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,090
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 4,679
US/Canada gross: $25,461
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $42,909
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,764
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,852
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $8,177
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,743
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): FRF 10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Peter Fitz – György Eszter
Hanna Schygulla – Tünde Eszter
Janos Derzi – Man In The Broad-Cloth Coat
Djoko Rossich – Man In Western Boots
Béla Tarr – Director
Director(s)
Béla Tarr
Writer(s)
Béla Tarr, Laszlo Krasnahorkai
Producer(s)
Miklos Szita, Franz Goess
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (41) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (1)
As wearying as the film becomes in its long, bleak sequences, its uniquely cinematic and emotion-charged experience makes the effort worthwhile.
May 21, 2014
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
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.
October 5, 2007
Derek Elley
Variety
TOP CRITIC
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.
September 14, 2007 | Rating: 4/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
A chilling, mesmerizing, intense account of ethnic cleansing (in spirit if not in letter) from Hungarian master Bela Tarr.
September 14, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Over two hours and 20 minutes, not much actually happens, and Tarr creates a mood so lulling that even the rare scenes of dialogue can be hard to follow. But Werckmeister’s standout moments are searing like few others in film history.
March 11, 2006 | Rating: B+
Noel Murray
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Weird, wonderful, witty and unsettling.
January 26, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
I will admit the pace of the film was a little slow for me but overall I liked the story and the slow evolution of the unrest in the city…
April 1, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
“Fantasztikus!”
March 18, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
Densely symbolic, yet never inaccessible, this is artistically unique and overwhelmingly powerful.
May 21, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Radio Times
This is as challenging as movies come, alluding to everything from philosopher Thomas Hobbes to the history of Western music. But compared with Tarr’s legendary Stantngo… it’s almost a quickie.
May 21, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
A mesmerizing eulogy to the waning days of artistic beauty and free speech, and not to be missed.
May 21, 2014
Michael Fox
SF Weekly
The thing is, and this is easy to lose sight of in conversations about tracking shots and pointedly empty acting and symbolic cetaceans, [this] is an extraordinarily pleasurable experience to watch.
March 31, 2014 | Rating: 10/10
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy…
Plot
A mysterious circus act fails to perform, leading to a rebellion in a small Hungarian town in Werckmeister Harmonies.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Hanna Schygulla, who plays Tünde Eszter in the film, is a German actress and singer who has appeared in over 100 films.
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