Sátántangó (1994)

As timely as ever in its grim poeticisation of demagogues and doom, helplessness and hope. If music be the food of death, play on.

“A monumental cinematic achievement, Sátántangó bears testimony to the purity of the director’s artistic vision and the perfection of his craft. On a canvas that is both dark and deep, Béla Tarr paints with light, movement and the palpable passage of time to create a portrait of Hungary at a crucial historical inflection point. Sátántangó is as transfixing a film as any that has ever been.” Saibal Chatterjee

“The mud of relentless rain grounds us deep in a world that’s winding down. A last gust of weighty, old-world beauty, transmitted into our hyper-consumerist, disposable present.” Carmen Gray

“The passage of time as the main character of a film, it haunts and hypnotises us across a wasteland of human melancholy.” Michel Lipkes

1994 Hungary, Germany, Switzerland
Directed by
Béla Tarr
Produced by
György Fehér, Joachim von Vietinghoff, Ruth Waldburger
Written by
László Krasznahorkai, Béla Tarr
Featuring
Mihály Ráday, Mihály Víg, Putyi Horváth
Running time
430 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Sátántangó

Critics

Mohammed Hashem Abdel-Salam
Egypt
Alejandro G Calvo
Spain
Saibal Chatterjee
India
Renata Clark
Czech Republic
José Manuel Costa
Portugal
Glyn Davis
UK
John Ewing
USA
Arman Fatić
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Carmen Gray
New Zealand/Germany
Ulrich Gregor
Germany
Antoine Guillot
France
Roman Gutek
Poland
Adam Hyman
USA
Miklós Kiss
Netherlands
Michal Kriz
Czech Republic
Esin Küçüktepepınar
Turkey
Jan Langlo
Norway
Dong-jin Lee
South Korea
Michel Lipkes
Mexico
Ewa Mazierska
Poland/UK
Daniela Michel
Mexico
Raymond Phathanavirangoon
Hong Kong/Thailand
Richard Propes
USA
Jonathan Romney
UK
Jonathan Rosenbaum
USA
Baptiste Roux
France
Ronald Rovers
Netherlands
Tobias Rydén Sjöstrand
Sweden
Cristian Saldía
Chile
Srikanth Srinivasan
India
Mira Staleva
Bulgaria
Gerwin Tamsma
Netherlands
Chalida Uabumrungjit
Thailand
Tanja Vrvilo
Croatia
Missouri Williams
UK

Directors

Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Thailand
Emily Atef
Germany/France
Ifa Isfansyah
Indonesia
Barry Jenkins
USA
Rainer Kohlberger
Germany/Austria
Gabriel Mascaro
Brazil
Tadhg O'Sullivan
Ireland
Farid Rodríguez Rivero
Peru
Peter Strickland
UK
Nobuhiro Yamashita
Japan
Heng Yang
China

Articles related to Sátántangó

Load more