Damnation

Hungary | 1988 | 115’ | Béla Tarr | Hungarian with English subtitles | Miklós Székely B, Vali Kerekes, György Cserhalmi

In a dank local bar named Titanik, a dour loner, Karrer, is in love with a lounge singer, who’s still attached to her debt-addled husband. In order to split them up, Karrer entices him into a smuggling scheme that will force him to leave town, but these well-laid plans soon go awry. An atmospheric tale of obsession, this was the first film to launch Béla Tarr’s distinctive, claustrophobic style onto the international stage.