Hamvas Béla út 11. (Janos KIS)

Hamvas Béla út 11. (YouTube) 55'36"
(Kis ZenFilms) 15 Jan 2026

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Hamvas Béla út 11. / Hamvas Béla street 11. (2025/Janos KIS/Hungary)

a review by Benoit Rouilly

Living the weight of an hour, a man takes us through the mundanity of unfettered existence. How much does an hour of human life weigh? Eight moments, eight plans-séquence tell the tale of a daily routine. The slightest gesture is well-rehearsed by life-long habits, not even conscious or calculated. A prosaic choreography of solitude takes place before our eyes. Not a single word is uttered as the unnamed protagonist undertakes repetitive chores. This individual is all of us when nobody’s watching. The muscle memory of his alienation draws lonely circles throughout his apartment. It is as much a chronicle of his life than it is a document of his living space. A modest home on the 13th floor in a Budapest social project from the 60ies. A socialist-era prefab apartment block.

The washed-out facade is a vertiginous pile of concrete balconies. A yellow beaten up elevator climbs slowly to the roof. The kitchenette cramped between off-white walls witnesses the boiling water. A balcony overlooking a barrage of uniformly lined up towers and cranes deep into the cityscape. The same kitchenette where instant ramen is eaten. The striped-floor landing outside the apartment. A bed where he reads a book. And a view of the opposite facade at dusk when the windows light up one by one, reflecting the traffic. 8 shots, 54 minutes, an ASL of 6’45” (longer than even Béla Tarr’s own The Man From London, 2007). 

Such an existential portrait of humanity recalls of course the methodical framing of Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) not only this film (because the title is also an address) of a single mother’s interior, but the empty corridors of the Monterey Hotel (1973) as well. Another Avant-Garde experiment by the Chinese woman director Liu Jiayin installs a similar device inside her exiguous apartment in Oxhide I (2005) & II (2009): Close ups and medium shots of family members living their daily rituals, one static shot after another, unified by a place and a time. This documentarian accumulation of stoic shots is characteristic of Nikolaus Geyrhalter or Bence Fliegauf. But Abbas Kiarostami also constructed one of his films with 5 long static plans-séquence : Five dedicated to Ozu (2003).

Janos Kis’ film exemplifies the 5 precepts of Contemplative Cinema : Exteriority, Hyperrealism, Extensive tableaux, Quietude & Patience. The still camera remains exterior to the protagonist, and we are not privy to his inner thoughts since he’s devoid of a voice. There is no effort to alter the environment of this non-actor (played by Richárd Borbás), bathed in natural light and fed with direct sound. Each shot is a prolonged tableau where the pressure of time is palpable. No dialogue, no commentary, no voice over, no extra-diegetic score, the film is quiet. And finally the unfolding of events in real-time has the spectator longing for action in vain.  

This film is a homage to the Hungarian philosopher Béla HAMVAS, and dedicated to the untimely passing of genius of Contemplative Cinema, Béla TARR (1955-2026). His funeral will take place on February 6th 2026 in Budapest. And this film, Hamvas Béla út 11. is now freely available for viewing online on YouTube.

See also at Unspoken Cinema :

• On a Dirt Road (contemplative video) another film by Janos KIS