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Werckmeister Harmonies is based on The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), a novel by László Krasznahorkai, the most recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Krasznahorkai also co-wrote the screenplay. The film follows a young man whose quiet life is disrupted when a travelling circus arrives in his remote village, bringing with it a giant whale and a mysterious figure known as “The Prince”. What unfolds is a haunting reflection on collective unrest and the fragility of order.
Directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, this cinematic landmark is a meditative parable on authoritarianism, rendered in striking black and white. Shown in a new 4K restoration, Werckmeister Harmonies remains as resonant today as at its premiere in 2000.