WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES

Hungary 2000 - DCP - 145 minutes, in Hungarian with English subtitles

Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky

Screenplay: Béla Tarr and László Krasznahorkai, based on the novel by László Krasznahorkai

Producers: Franz Goëss, Paul Saadoun, Miklós Szita, Joachim von Vietinghoff

Cast: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla

Print Courtesy: Janus Films

Enormously influential on other filmmakers, enormously revered by critics and cineastes, Béla Tarr, co-directing here with Agnes Hranitszky, remains generally much less known. This mesmeric parable of societal collapse, in a beautiful 4K restoration, is an enigma of transcendent visual, philosophical, and mystical resonance. Adapted from a novel by the celebrated writer and frequent Tarr collaborator László Krasznahorkai, Werckmeister Harmonies unfolds in an unknown era in an unnamed village, where, one day, a mysterious circus—complete with an enormous stuffed whale and a shadowy, demagogue-like figure known as The Prince—arrives and appears to awaken a kind of madness in the citizens, a madness that builds inexorably toward violence and destruction. In 39 of Tarr’s signature long takes, engraved in ghostly black and white, the directors conjure an apocalyptic vision of dreamlike dread and fathomless beauty. —KE

Monday, July 10 7PM | WOH

Wednesday July 12 1PM | WOH

USA 1993 - 35mm - 118 minutes, in English

Director: Brian Gibson

Screenplay: Kate Lanier

Producer: Doug Chapin

Cast: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, RaéVen Kelly, Virginia Capers

Print Courtesy: Walt Disney Pictures

The recent loss of Tina Turner reminds us of the strength of this remarkable woman, both in her personal life, where she was married to a monstrously abusive husband, and her professional life, which had roots in the same toxic relationship. What’s Love Got to Do with It is “driven by an electrifying soundtrack and by two performances of staggering power” –Entertainment Weekly Angela Bassett’s and Lawrence Fishburne’s Oscar-nominated performances as Tina and Ike Turner are the backbone of this film. Tina Turner herself, born Anna Mae Bullock, provides both the autobiography as source material and the actual singing vocals behind Bassett’s portrayal, which is an inspiration. Its 30th anniversary reminds us of this extraordinary singer, and the struggle she faced that is, unfortunately, far from eradicated. —KE Sponsored by Peter and Joan Beckerman