Werckmeister Harmonies

Werckmeister Harmonies
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
Based onThe Melancholy of Resistance
by László Krasznahorkai
Produced byBéla Tarr
Starring
Cinematography
  • Milós Gurbán
  • Erwin Lanzensberger
  • Gábor Medvigy
  • Emil Novák
  • Patrick de Ranter
  • Rob Tregenza
  • Jörg Widmer
Edited byÁgnes Hranitzky
Music byMihály Vig
Release date
  • 12 July 2000 (2000-07-12) (Belgium)
Running time
145 minutes[1]
CountryHungary
LanguageHungarian
Budget$1.6 million
Box office$73,404[2][3]

Werckmeister Harmonies (pronounced [verkˈmaɪ̯stɐ]; Hungarian: Werckmeister harmóniák) is a 2000 Hungarian drama film[4] directed by Béla Tarr and co-directed by Ágnes Hranitzky, based on the 1989 novel The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai. Shot in black-and-white and composed of thirty-nine languidly paced shots, the film portrays the life of János and his uncle György during the communist era in Hungary. It also recounts their journey among helpless citizens as a sinister visiting circus casts a shadow over everyone's lives.

The title refers to the 17th century Baroque musical theorist Andreas Werckmeister. György Eszter, a major character in the film, delivers a monologue asserting that Werckmeister's harmonic principles are responsible for aesthetic and philosophical problems in all subsequent music, and should be replaced by a new theory of tuning and harmony.

Werckmeister Harmonies opened to wide acclaim from critics, and has come to be regarded by many as one of the best films of the 21st century. In the 2012 British Film Institute's decennial Sight & Sound poll, Werckmeister Harmonies ranks 171st in the critics' poll and 132nd in the directors' poll.[5]

  1. ^ "Werckmeister Harmonies (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 30 January 2003. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Werckmeister Harmonies (2023)". The Numbers. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  3. ^ "Werckmeister Harmonies (2023)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ebert-greatmovies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).