With its rain–sodden landscapes, beautifully framed long takes, and direct–from–Central–Europe casting of drunks and dreamers, Losses to Be Expected could be Bela Tarr's dream documentary. Two villages on the Austrian–Czech border are only two miles apart, but seemingly exist in different centuries: luxury, kitsch, and electricity on one side; poverty, dirt, and darkness on the other. Love blooms even in the gaps, though, and an elderly Austrian widower has his binoculars trained on a Czech woman. As their relationship blossoms-or tries to-under slate–gray skies (and the watchful or drunken gazes of their neighbors), Losses to Be Expected takes a turn from insightful examination of the East/West gap to a more universal story of loneliness and unfulfilled longing. Seidl's camera infiltrates his protagonists' lives and living rooms, reveling in the everyday tasks and minutiae of their world, where even one faltering attempt at love shines like a long–awaited sun.

Losses to Be Expected is repeated on Saturday, November 9.