Critic’s Choice: Béla Tarr’s ‘The Turin Horse,’ ‘Sátántangó’ are not to be missed

Hungarian master Béla Tarr announced his retirement from filmmaking in 2011, around the time his final narrative work was making its way along the festival circuit. He could hardly have gone out on a more fitting note: Set in a remote, wind-battered house at what feels like the end of the world, “The Turin Horse” is as complete a closing statement as any artist has made, a benediction not only for a great career but also perhaps for humanity itself.

It is also a pure distillation of the techniques that have made Tarr a pioneering figure in cinema: the magisterial long takes, the ritualistic rhythms, the spell that can take hold only within the confines of a movie theater. The American Cinematheque will screen “The Turin Horse” on Oct. 12, followed by two showings (Oct. 13 and Oct. 26) of Tarr’s legendary 7 1/2-hour tour de force, “Sátántangó,” in a new 4K restoration. Neither is to be missed: These are films that demand, and more than repay, your time and attention.

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