In the oeuvre of Bela Tarr ugliness is elevated to art. In this respect "Damnation" is a good example because there is a lot of ugliness in it.
Ugli landscapes. In the opening scene we see, for minutes and minutes, an industrial conveyor belt. We shall see it again and again.
Unsympathetic people. The film is about three men in love with the same woman. The woman tries to use the men to enhance her career. The men fight each other in sneaky ways.
Bad weather. In "Damnation" it rains all the time. Even in interior scenes there is water leaking from the ceiling. In this respect Tarr resembles Andrei Tarkovski, who also has the "inside shower" as a trademark.
Bela Tarr is renowned for his long takes with a slow moving, nearly static camera. When combined with monotonous music these scenes sometimes become nearly hypnotic. In "Damnation" there are two of these scenes. The first is the performance of the female singer in the nightclub "Titanik", the second one is the local dance evening.
Apart from the three men and the woman, there is also an old lady in the movie that warns the lead character multiple times. Her function in the story was not entirely clear to me.
Very clear however is the symbolism with streetdogs, who populate the streets for most of the film. They evidently feel very much at home in this ugly environment. At the end of the film the lead character even has a (temporary) transformation to (the level of) a streetdog.
Ugli landscapes. In the opening scene we see, for minutes and minutes, an industrial conveyor belt. We shall see it again and again.
Unsympathetic people. The film is about three men in love with the same woman. The woman tries to use the men to enhance her career. The men fight each other in sneaky ways.
Bad weather. In "Damnation" it rains all the time. Even in interior scenes there is water leaking from the ceiling. In this respect Tarr resembles Andrei Tarkovski, who also has the "inside shower" as a trademark.
Bela Tarr is renowned for his long takes with a slow moving, nearly static camera. When combined with monotonous music these scenes sometimes become nearly hypnotic. In "Damnation" there are two of these scenes. The first is the performance of the female singer in the nightclub "Titanik", the second one is the local dance evening.
Apart from the three men and the woman, there is also an old lady in the movie that warns the lead character multiple times. Her function in the story was not entirely clear to me.
Very clear however is the symbolism with streetdogs, who populate the streets for most of the film. They evidently feel very much at home in this ugly environment. At the end of the film the lead character even has a (temporary) transformation to (the level of) a streetdog.