{{short description|1985 film}} {{Infobox film | name = Almanac of Fall | image = Almanac of Fall DVD cover.jpg | alt = | caption = DVD cover | director = Béla Tarr | producer = | writer = Béla Tarr | starring = Hédi Temessy, Erika Bodnár, Miklós B. Székely | music = Mihály Vig | cinematography = Buda Gulyás, Sándor Kardos & Ferenc Pap | editing = Ágnes Hranitzky | studio = | distributor = | released = {{Film date|1984|8||Locarno|1985|1|17|Hungary|df=y}} | runtime = 119 minutes | country = Hungary | language = Hungarian | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Almanac of Fall''''' ({{langx|hu|'''Őszi almanach'''}}) is a 1984 Hungarian film directed by Béla Tarr.<ref>{{cite web |last=Barrett |first=Alex |date=31 March 2017 |title=10 great films set in one location |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-set-one-location |accessdate=18 September 2019 |work=BFI}}</ref> The Curzon Artificial Eye edition of this film available in the UK is called '''''Autumn Almanac'''''.<ref name="curzon">{{Cite web |title=Autumn Almanac [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Hédi Temessy, Erika Bodnár, Miklós B. Székely, Bela Tarr, Hédi Temessy, Erika Bodnár: DVD & Blu-ray |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autumn-Almanac-DVD-H%C3%A9di-Temessy/dp/B017M1WOSA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616130349/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autumn-Almanac-DVD-H%C3%A9di-Temessy/dp/B017M1WOSA |archive-date=2023-06-16 |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=www.amazon.co.uk |language=en-gb |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Premise== In a grim, claustrophobic apartment owned by a rich elderly woman, the inhabitants desperately try to relate to each other as they go about their bleak lives revealing their darkest secrets, fears, obsessions and hostilities. They include besides her, her son, her nurse, her nurse's discontented lover, and a new lodger.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087855/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt|title=Almanac of Fall|publisher=IMDB|accessdate=4 July 2015}}</ref>
==Reception== ''Almanac of Fall'' continues to receive positive reviews from critics, mainly for its cinematography. Rotten Tomatoes reports 100% approval among six critics, with an average rating of 8.1/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/almanac_of_fall/ |title=''Almanac of Fall'' (1984) on RT |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=July 15, 2015}}</ref> Jonathan Rosenbaum of the ''Chicago Reader'' lauded the film's "elaborately choreographed mise en scene" and "highly unorthodox angles,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/almanac-of-fall/Film?oid=1072913|title=Fim Search|publisher=Chicago Reader|author=Jonathan Rosenbaum|accessdate=4 July 2015}}</ref> while a review in ''Strictly Film School'' argues, "Tarr [...] uses highly stylized, artificially colored lighting, rigorous (and deliberate) formalism, minimalist setting, and protracted dialogue to create an atmospherically charged and disquieting environment."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmref.com/directors/dirpages/tarr.html|title=Almanac of Fall|publisher=Strictly Film School|accessdate=4 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118040626/http://www.filmref.com/directors/dirpages/tarr.html|archive-date=2012-01-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>
''Almanac of Fall'' has since come to be regarded as a decisive moment in Tarr's filmography, in which he abandoned the documentary-like realism of his early work and adopted a formal style of cinematography. "This is the turning point for Béla Tarr, leaving social realism behind to step into the existential abyss," wrote Jeremiah Kipp reviewing the film for ''Slant'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kipp |first=Jeremiha |date=28 June 2006 |title=Almanac of Fall |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/almanac-of-fall |accessdate=4 July 2015 |publisher=Slant}}</ref> Jeremy Heilman of ''Movie Martyr'' called it "Tarr's first feature that could be described as the work of a formalist" and noted retrospectively that the film "offers a first sign of the hint of supernatural control that would continue to crop up in each of Tarr's subsequent features."<ref>{{cite web |author=Heilman |first=Jeremy |date=17 March 2003 |title=Almanac of Fall (Bela Tarr, 1984) |url=http://www.moviemartyr.com/1984/almanacoffall.htm |accessdate=4 July 2015 |publisher=Movie Martyr}}</ref>
==Cast== *Hédi Temessy as Hédi<ref name="Kovács2013">{{cite book|author=András Bálint Kovács|title=The Cinema of Béla Tarr: The Circle Closes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzgUFvczhTUC&pg=PA178|date=26 March 2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-85037-7|pages=178–}}</ref> *Erika Bodnár as Anna *Miklós B. Székely as Miklós *Pál Hetényi as Tibor *János Derzsi as János, Hédi fia
==Release== The film premiered at the 37th Locarno Film Festival in August 1984.<ref>{{cite book | title=Variety Film Reviews 1983–1984 | publisher=Garland Pub. | date=1986 | isbn=978-0-8352-2798-8 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Variety_Film_Reviews/UXJZAAAAMAAJ |volume=18 | access-date=11 March 2026 | page=}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0087855}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|almanac_of_fall|Almanac of Fall}}
{{Béla Tarr}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almanac of Fall}} Category:1984 films Category:1984 drama films Category:1984 Hungarian films Category:1980s Hungarian-language films Category:Films directed by Béla Tarr Category:Films set in apartment buildings Category:Hungarian drama films Category:Films scored by Mihály Víg Category:Hungarian-language drama films