Satantango (1994)

AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE’S BLEAK WEEK:  CINEMA OF DISPAIR  IS HERE!  AS ONE OF OVER A HUNDRED PARTICIPATING  MOVIE THEATERS AROUND THE WORLD, WE’RE OFFERING UP FIVE DOUBLE FEATURES  (WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES / COME & SEE, IN A YEAR OF 13 MOONS / STROCZEK, CHRISTIANE F. / AU HASARD BALTHAZAR) & THIS CLOSING 7 PLUS HOUR  BELA TAR MONUMENTAL FEATURE!

After an unexpected financial windfall, the members of a rugged agricultural collective leave their village and set out across a barren and unforgiving landscape in the hopes of a better life. As some of the villagers secretly conspire to take off with all the money, a mysterious and messianic character, long thought dead, returns and alters the course of everyone’s lives. One of the greatest achievements in late twentieth century art house cinema and a seminal work of “slow cinema,” Sátántangó has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative.

“Never less than mesmerizing” – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“His magnum opus Tarr’s imaginative universe is entirely his own” – Jonathan Romney, The Guardian

“[Béla Tarr is] one of cinema’s most adventurous artists, and his films, like Sátántangó and The Turin Horse are truly experiences that you absorb, and that keep developing in the mind” – Martin Scorsese

“Devastating, enthralling for every minute of its seven hours. I’d be glad to see it every year for the rest of my life” – Susan Sontag