As a matter of fact the people to whom I am deeply thankful for their helping me writing this book are the same people this book is about: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, László Krasznahorkai, Mihály Víg, Gyula Pauer and Gábor Medvigy. Over the past twenty years or so they have shared every detail of their work related to the films of Béla Tarr that was of interest to me. Some of them I hadn’t seen for many years, but when we met they were as open and helpful as when we were in close collaboration.
It is needless to say that my close friendship with Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky gave me a perspective on their work I wouldn’t have otherwise. Their friendship and support has been an invaluable contribution to this book. However, never did they give any indication as to what they expected me to say or to write. They always respected my opinion, even when we disagreed.
Tarr and Hranitzky were the only ones I showed the manuscript of this book. They both read it and meticulously corrected factual errors and commented on my statements. Sometimes disapprovingly. There was an issue, however, they could not get past. We argued a lot over it, and finally they said, ‘This is your book, write what you think’. Out of respect for their point of view, I summarised this controversy in the last chapter.
I have always felt that I owed this book to them, and I can only hope that it will be worthy of their huge work.