Hungarian A Béla Tarr, known to Bay Area audiences from the highly lauded 7-hour screening of Sátántangó at last year’s S F International Film Fest, is one of the world’s most distinctive filmmakers. The Cinematheque, Hungarian Film Union and Roxie Cinema present a rare retrospective of four of Tarr’s six features: Satantango (1994), an exquisitely paced psycho-social portrait of post-communist malaise and a biting commentary on freedom, hope, delusion, and the need for charismatic leaders; Damnation (1987), another devastating social critique, this time from the period marking the impending fall of communism; and The Prefab People (1982) and Almanac of Fall (1984) which mark previous periods of Tarr’s oeuvre, the former a gritty cinema verité style portrait of a frustrated working class couple, the latter a stunningly choreographed examination of the tensions of five people forced to share an apartment.

Damnation, Fri at 7 & 9:30; Wed at 2, 4:30, 7, & 9:30
Satantango, Sat & Sun at 2:00
The Prefab People, Mon, 7 & 9:30
Almanac of Fall, Tues, 7 & 9:30.