Hamvas Béla út 11. exemplifying Paul Schrader’s theory

Hamvas Béla út 11. (dir. János Kis) occupies a singular position within the tradition of transcendental cinema, exemplifying Paul Schrader’s theory of the “withholding” function through extreme durational shots, formal austerity, and perceptual discipline. Shot nearly a decade ago but only completed in 2025 to coincide with Béla Tarr’s seventieth birthday, the film was realized when Kis, who spent the last twenty years primarily in Cambodia, temporarily relocated to Budapest during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing on-location natural light and ambient sound, and produced entirely on a zero budget, the film captures the material and temporal textures of a decaying socialist panel housing estate with remarkable immediacy.

The narrative unfolds across eight long, static shots, each lasting roughly seven minutes, immersing the viewer in domestic gestures while subordinating conventional plot. 

Richárd Borbás former scholarship recipient at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Central European University (CEU) inhabits the protagonist with quiet intensity, conveying intellectual depth, patience, and resilience, rendering the minutiae of daily life profoundly expressive.

The film opens with the upper floors of a prefabricated panel block, balloons on the top-floor balcony, and neighboring windows slightly ajar. Ambient street noise, distant conversation, and the creaks of the aging lift establish a sonic environment that extends beyond the frame. Inside the apartment, the protagonist performs a series of ritualized domestic gestures: boiling water, setting the table, preparing instant noodles, and waiting for the steaming, spicy meal to become ready. He alternates between contemplation and listening to a pre-set radio tuned to classical music and jazz, framing both the act of consumption and attention.

He steps onto the balcony, gazing outward across the panel estate toward the distant Statue of Liberty atop the Citadel, the massive housing complex unfolding like a forest of anonymous yet inhabited spaces. This visual field emphasizes both the isolation and embeddedness of human life within collective architecture, echoing Schrader’s notion of “everydayness” and “disparity.” The protagonist then descends to dispose of trash in the chute, locking both the apartment and chute doors with deliberate care bordering on paranoia, gestures that mark the precariousness of dwelling. Returning to the apartment, he reads in bed, while off-screen sounds the flushing of a toilet, muffled sink activity suggest a cohabiting roommate never visually represented.

The film’s attention to extended, minimal domestic actions recalls Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, yet Kis further evacuates narrative motivation, allowing routine to unfold as pure temporal endurance. The closing image of the panel estate at night presents apartment windows as cages containing a diverse cross-section of society workers, artists, teachers, students, and multiple ethnicities each inhabiting a precarious existence. The soaring rental costs and uncertain housing market render life tenuous, yet human perseverance, dignity, and attentiveness remain evident.

Through Borbás’s semi-controlled performance, zero-budget aesthetics, natural lighting, and diegetic sound, Hamvas Béla út 11. enacts Schrader’s concept of stasis: transcendence is neither depicted nor narrated, but realized through sustained observation of duration, silence, and repetition, transforming the banal and quotidian into a site of contemplative, ethical, and perceptually rigorous cinema.

The film is currently available through the Octopus Marquee Independent Film Festival until the end of January 2026. 

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