Giles

I have read positive reviews of Werckmeister Harmonies and didn't realize that this film was just released last month in the UK:

Werckmeister Harmonies

Has anyone seen this film?

FilmFanSea

I received the AE set about 3 weeks ago. These films were my first experience with Hungarian director Béla Tarr, so it was a blind buy on my part. As I'm sure you've read from the reviews, the photography of both films (in B&W) is brilliant, with imagery that has stayed with me. Tarr's style is slow and deliberate, with long camera takes. Both films are image and mood driven (as opposed to being plot- or dialogue-heavy). They are sober, stark, and without any significant humor or moral uplift.

I suspect that the "average" moviegoer would find both films a tough slog. I tend to be fairly adventurous with arthouse fare, and I enjoyed both (and look forward to revisiting each). In my own personal rating system, I rated Damnation 3.5/5, and Werckmeister Harmonies 4/5. AE has done a decent job with the transfer (although the final bit of dialogue from Werckmeister is mistakenly left untranslated). The interview with Tarr on the second disc finds him to be fairly elusive.

For patient, arthouse-film fans, I'd strongly recommend this release (hard to imagine we'll ever see a US DVD release, but you never know).

FilmFanSea

For the benefit of others, here are links to reviews:

DVD Beaver
DVD Times

Masters of Cinema offers an English translation of the last dialogue from Werckmeister Harmonies

Short analysis of Werckmeister Harmonies from Senses of Cinema
Pascal Acquarello's brief analyses of Damnation from his Strictly Film School website