A monumental achievement that more than justifies its exalted reputation, Bela Tarr’s seven-hour-plus epic was recently voted one of the greatest films of all time in Sight & Sound’s decennial poll. The story, based on the 1985 novel by László Krasznahorkai, chronicles a group of failed collective farmers, disillusioned and dissolute, who are offered hope by the fabled return of Irimiás, a charismatic, near-mythical figure. Tarr has noted that, like the source novel, his formally audacious film borrows the structure of the titular dance, with six steps forward, and six steps back. In this overlapping manner, the collective’s individual fates are revealed in a series of mesmeric, elemental, immaculately composed, and brilliantly photographed sequences.

Screening will include two intermissions.

Contains scenes of animal torture that some viewers may find upsetting.

Notes by David O’Mahony