Damnation (Hungarian: Kárhozat) is a 1988 black-and-white Hungarian film directed by Béla Tarr. The screenplay was co-written by Tarr and his frequent collaborator, László Krasznahorkai.

Plot

Karrer (Miklós B. Székely), a depressed man, is in love with a married torch singer (Vali Kerekes) from a local bar, the Titanik. The singer breaks off their affair, because she dreams of becoming famous. Karrer is offered smuggling work by Willarsky (Gyula Pauer), a local bartender. Karrer offers the job to the singer's husband, Sebestyén (György Cserhalmi). This gets him out of the way, but things do not go as Karrer plans. Betrayals follow. Karrer despairs.

Reception

Damnation is generally acclaimed by film critics, and many rank it one of Tarr's finest works. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 94% approval rating based on 17 reviews. Michael Atkinson of Village Voice called the film "a serotonin-depleted ordeal, and yet seemingly a sketchbook of vibes and ideas to come, with some of the most magnificent black-and-white images shot anywhere in the world."^[1] Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote in the Chicago Reader, "The near miracle is that something so compulsively watchable can be made out of a setting and society that seem so depressive and petrified."^[2] Writing for Slant Magazine, Jeremiah Kipp argued, "In terms of creating a strong cinematic world, Tarr has few equals."^[3] A review compared the film to the works of Andrei Tarkovsky and Michelangelo Antonioni.^[4]