Episode 111: DAMNATION (1988)

Content warning: Pubes. So much of Béla Tarr’s DAMNATION punishes. It tries to convince its characters (a crushed singer, her husband, her drug-running boyfriend, the hellish bartender at the point of their intersection) that words aren’t worth speaking, that any distance is too far to cross, and that what change you do make to the world will be undone by someone close to you. But in between particularly long long takes, the way it frames communist Hungary is a rebuke of that: words being spoken, people moving together, love being won and lost. 3:29 - We start talking about the movie 8:50 - Jason’s thoughts 10:24 - Cody’s thoughts 13:26 - Harry’s thoughts 17:46 - Aaron’s thoughts 27:14 - Existentialism in DAMNATION 35:25 - The contrast between high scripting and low characters 40:31 - The effect of languid long takes 51:21 - The performances of DAMNATION 56:54 - Focusing on visual textures in a grimy world 1:03:43 - PubeGate 1:07:42 - Cody’s Noteys (Hungary Dungarees) Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Kész az egész (Over and Done)” composed Mihály Víg and performed by Vali Kerekes from the DAMNATION soundtrack.