Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Damnation

Original title: Kárhozat
  • 19881988
  • 2h
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
6.3K
YOUR RATING
Damnation (1988)
A lonely barfly falls in love with a married bar singer.
Play trailer2:29
1 Video
72 Photos
CrimeDramaRomance
A lonely barfly falls in love with a married bar singer.A lonely barfly falls in love with a married bar singer.A lonely barfly falls in love with a married bar singer.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
6.3K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Béla Tarr
  • Writers
    • László Krasznahorkai
    • Béla Tarr
  • Stars
    • Miklós Székely B.
    • Vali Kerekes
    • Gyula Pauer
  • Director
    • Béla Tarr
  • Writers
    • László Krasznahorkai
    • Béla Tarr
  • Stars
    • Miklós Székely B.
    • Vali Kerekes
    • Gyula Pauer
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 30User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:29
    Watch Trailer

    Photos72

    Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)
    Vali Kerekes in Damnation (1988)
    Vali Kerekes in Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)
    Vali Kerekes and Miklós Székely B. in Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)
    György Cserhalmi, Vali Kerekes, and Miklós Székely B. in Damnation (1988)
    Damnation (1988)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Miklós Székely B.
    Miklós Székely B.
    • Karrer
    Vali Kerekes
    • The Singer
    Gyula Pauer
    • Willarsky…
    György Cserhalmi
    György Cserhalmi
    • Sebestyén…
    Hédi Temessy
    Hédi Temessy
    • Cloakroom woman
    Gábor Balogh
    János Balogh
    Péter Breznyik Berg
    Imre Chmelik
    Zoltán Csorba
    József Dénes
    Zoltán Farkas
    Gáspár Ferdinándy
    Jenõ Gaál
    János 'Dixi' Gémes
      Károly Hunyadi
      Ágnes Kamondy
      Sándor Kaszab
      • Director
        • Béla Tarr
      • Writers
        • László Krasznahorkai
        • Béla Tarr
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      More like this

      Werckmeister Harmonies
      8.0
      Werckmeister Harmonies
      The Man from London
      7.0
      The Man from London
      The Turin Horse
      7.7
      The Turin Horse
      Almanac of Fall
      7.2
      Almanac of Fall
      Family Nest
      7.3
      Family Nest
      Satantango
      8.2
      Satantango
      The Prefab People
      7.1
      The Prefab People
      Szabadgyalog
      6.5
      Szabadgyalog
      Missing People
      7.7
      Missing People
      Macbeth
      6.4
      Macbeth
      Muhamed
      8.2
      Muhamed
      A hiba

      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        With "Kárhozat / Damnation", the first of his collaborations with novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Bela Tarr adopts a formally rigorous style, featuring long takes and slow tracking shots of the bleak landscape that surrounds the characters.
      • Goofs
        In the Dance/Party scene, the band and the music are clearly out of sync.
      • Quotes

        The Singer: I like the rain. I like to watch the water run down the window. It calms me down. I don't think about anything. I just watch the rain.

      • Connections
        Referenced in Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)

      User reviews30

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      8/10
      Life on a dark planet
      Damnation was one of those rare instances when I felt both frustrated and fascinated by the film I was watching. Bela Tarr is SO adept at creating mood that the light sketches of plot began to feel superfluous, and I found myself wanting to brush them away and just float in this surreal sludge without trying to follow a 'story'. Tarr's use of sound design and music to create tension and a dream-like state come closer to David Lynch's than anything else I've seen. The original (I'm assuming) songs in the film also share that distinctive quality of mimicking a certain genre of familiar music, while having something that's a bit off about them - much like Badalamenti's scores. Interesting to note that Blue Velvet was released two years prior. The slowly gliding camera, which seems to have almost it's own agenda aside from the film ads to the purveying sensation of unease, and the exquisite lighting and black and white tones are breathtakingly stark. There are moments in the film when there is so much going on in the scene, and the shot is so lengthy, that the situation itself becomes real and transcends the fiction of the film. This is a very rare phenomenon in film, and was absolutely spellbinding - especially the dance scene. The middle of the film gets heavy with bleak philosophical exchanges, which would be better illustrated than told - especially with Tarr's incredible gift for mis en scene and sound design. Iconographic sequences like the slow pan past the miserable crowds waiting for the rain to stop, or the reoccurring pack of wild dogs speak volumes more of Tarr's theme than the most eloquent words. The characters are like automatons shuffling about in a purgatory from which there is no escape. It is as though the entire world was a flea-bag apartment building, a tattered old bar, and a vast field of mud and debris which one must traverse between the two.
      helpful•19
      5
      • Hindinwood
      • Apr 3, 2008

      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • October 20, 1988 (Hungary)
      • Country of origin
        • Hungary
      • Language
        • Hungarian
      • Also known as
        • Verdammnis
      • Filming locations
        • Hungary
      • Production companies
        • Hungarian Film Institute
        • Hungarian Television
        • Mokép
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Technical specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        2 hours
      • Color
        • Black and White
      • Sound mix
        • Mono
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.66 : 1

      Related news

      Contribute to this page

      Suggest an edit or add missing content
      Damnation (1988)
      Top Gap
      By what name was Damnation (1988) officially released in India in English?
      Answer
      • See more gaps
      • Learn more about contributing
      Edit page

      More to explore

      Recently viewed

      Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
      Get the IMDb App
      Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
      • Get the IMDb App
      • Help
      • Site Index
      • IMDbPro
      • Box Office Mojo
      • IMDb Developer
      • Press Room
      • Advertising
      • Jobs
      • Conditions of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Your Ads Privacy Choices
      IMDb, an Amazon company

      © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.