The Films of Béla Tarr

Béla Tarr’s Contemplative Cinema

Jan 6, 2026. Béla Tarr’s camera has stopped. No more pans, no more movements. Tarr announced his retirement from filmmaking after the release of The Turin Horse (2011) but I foolishly held on to the hope that he was secretly working on another film. The news of his death puts that hope to rest.

As a means of remembering the great Béla Tarr, I am gathering notes on his 9 feature films and even attempting a ranking.

Note: I haven’t seen his 1982 TV movie Hamlet which would have made this a Top 10 list.

These 9 features can be split into two distinct stylistic and thematic phases:

Béla Tarr 1.0: Social commentary, documentary style realistic depiction of characters / events

Films in this phase include Family Nest (1979), The Outsider (1981), The Prefab People (1982), Almanac of Fall (1984).

Béla Tarr 2.0: Controlled Camera movements, long takes, minimal dialogue

Films in this phase include Damnation (1988), Satantango (1994), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), The Man From London (2007), The Turin Horse (2011).

All 5 films in this phase include Tarr’s collaboration with László Krasznahorkai. Tarr adapted 2 of Krasznahorkai’s novels (Satantango, Werckmeister Harmonies) and Krasznahorkai wrote the screenplay for 3 of Tarr’s features (The Man from London, The Turin Horse and Damnation).

Ranking Béla Tarr’s films in order of preference:

1. Sátántangó (1994)

Béla Tarr’s almost 7.5 hour Sátántangó is a cinematic wonder. The film is hypnotic and an immersive experience which showcases the best elements of Tarr’s cinema: long takes, sweeping camera movements, harsh realism, artistic compositions and unforgettable sounds (howling winds, relentless rain).

2. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000, Béla Tarr / Agnes Hranitzky)

Werckmeister Harmonies: Criterion

The 2^nd of Béla Tarr’s collaboration with novelist László Krasznahorkai’s haunts with music and stunning visuals.

A town's beautiful harmonical balance is disturbed when a mysterious circus arrives in town -- the presence of a giant whale and a character called "the prince" causes unrest and anxiety in the town. An evil force takes over and ordinary people riot causing havoc. The army is called in and special "lists" are made to capture certain people.

The gorgeous rich black and white visuals combined with long takes makes for an absorbing foray into a bizarre world crafted by Béla Tarr. Plenty of political under-tones can be found in this film which presents a look at how people can take advantages of certain situations and assume power. But are the ones in power the crazy ones or the people causing the riots? In that sense, the film's ending has shades of the Czech film Lunacy which raised an interesting question about whether the insane people are not the ones in the hospital but the ones in charge of running the asylum.

The beautiful music is over. Discord tunes fill the air waves. And once again, after a long period of peace, chaos returns.

3. Damnation (1988)

Damnation: Arbelos Films

This remarkable film is the first of Tarr’s collaboration of László Krasznahorkai and is the closest Tarr came to a film-noir. There is an affair between a lonely man and a femme fatale, but the film has elements associated with Tarr’s cinema: stunning black and white visuals, long takes, thoughtful camera movements, limited dialogue, plenty of rain. And plenty of dogs. Dogs don’t feature in Tarr’s other films as much as in this hypnotic film.

4. The Prefab People (1982)

The Prefab People starts with infectious gypsy band music and depicts a husband walking out on his wife and kid. She is upset at him wanting to leave just like that. As it is, he does no work around the house and just wants to spend time with his friends, read the paper, watch tv and drink. Eventually, the two of them patch up and go on. And then a job opportunity in Romania comes up. That coupled with his unhappiness is enough reason for the husband to leave again.

Although Béla Tarr's The Prefab People is about a couple's relationship problems, it features the concept of leaving one's home to earn a living abroad. In the movie, the husband wants to work on a two-year contract in Romania because he will earn more money. The wife does not want him to leave because she needs him to help with their two children. But the husband points out that if he does not leave, then they won't be able to afford the basic luxuries of life (car, washing machine). The husband assures his wife that he will only go for two years and will return back.

5. The Turin Horse (2011, Béla Tarr / Ágnes Hranitzky)

Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky craft their unique end of the world scenario with a few bare essentials: an old man, obedient daughter, rebel horse, untrustworthy visitors, an angry wind, potato, bucket, well, table, chair and a window. The film features an array of reverse and sideway shots that manage to open up space in a confined house setting.

6. Family Nest (1979)

Tarr’s debut feature is a realistic depiction of a couple’s struggles to make ends meet including their efforts to get housing. The film’s style is a stark contrast to Tarr’s later films. There are plenty of close-ups and dialogue as the film feels like a documentary instead of scripted cinema.

7. The Man From London (2007)

Béla Tarr's The Man from London is a stylish black and white film with a touch of noirish elements. The film is too gorgeous to remove one eye's from even for a minute and the leisurely moving camera ensures we soak up every element within the frame. The unfolding of events in this film are in contrast to those in Werckmeister Harmonies where the tension keeps mounting throughout the film until a chaotic climax. However, the clock starts ticking down very early in The Man from London towards an expected climax after a man recovers a mysterious brief case of money.

8. The Outsider (1981)

Isolation can occur for various reasons -- society can ignore certain members because of religion, race or whatever reason they can come up with. Sometimes, a simple reason such a person's attitude is cause enough for isolation. András (András Szabó), the lead character in Tarr's The Outsider, finds himself at odds with his local Hungarian society. András is a 20 something youngster who loves music, drifts from job to job, does not want to be committed in a relationship. What's wrong with that? Everything! Especially if society wants people to work for the common national good, then one person's indifference won't be tolerated. In Tarr's Budapest, men meet in cafes after a long day's hard work and discuss politics. If people in a factory are too efficient, they are asked to adhere to the normal working pace so that everyone gets paid the same. That is equivalent to asking a fast soccer player to slow down to keep in sync with his team's slow passes. Such a system can work for some people but for others, it is a problem. The only positive in András' life is the love for his music which keeps him happy.

9. Almanac of Fall (Autumn Almanac, 1984)

This film focuses on the lives of tenants in an apartment building and in contrast to Tarr’s other films, this is the only one shot in colour. This was Tarr’s 4^th feature and is stylistically different from his next 5 features which contained controlled camera movements, long takes and minimal dialogue.