Transart26 - Sátántangó

Sátántangó (1994) is the masterpiece of Hungarian director Béla Tarr, based on the novel of the same name by László Krasznahorkai. The film follows the final days of a forgotten community, suspended between poverty, stagnation, and hopes destined to be shattered. On the Hungarian plain, lashed by wind and rain, time seems to have come to a standstill. When Irimiás and Petrina, two enigmatic figures believed to be dead, return to the village, the inhabitants cling to the promise of a new beginning – one that soon reveals itself as yet another illusion. Across twelve chapters and long black-and-white sequence shots, Tarr transforms duration into a physical dimension that envelops the viewer. Sátántangó is a hypnotic and all-encompassing experience: a journey into solitude, failure, and the imperfections of the human condition.

Original version in Hungarian with Italian subtitles.