tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post1461424808706909435..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL '11: THE TURIN HORSE (TARR BÉLA, HUNGARY)Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-3024404955064621702012-09-06T14:00:10.587-05:002012-09-06T14:00:10.587-05:00We'll have to agree to disagree on the quality...We'll have to agree to disagree on the quality of the DVDs, I fear. I haven't seen all of them, admittedly, and I'll concede that <i>Damnation</i> looks fine for a print that's probably not in great shape to begin with, but I thought that <i>Werckmeister</i> looked VHS quality. It is, in truth, good that we have them on DVD at all, but it's a dead certainty that the later ones, at least, could look better.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-24196605649317248992012-09-06T00:06:11.934-05:002012-09-06T00:06:11.934-05:00They're all now available on US DVD, even his ...They're all now available on US DVD, even his pre-Damnation films. You can even get them from netflix, which is how I got into them. The Turin horse blu ray is so phenomenally good that it does hurt to go back to dvd quality... of course that doesn't stop me from owning them just the same<br /><br />The Facets DVDs are just fine, really. The only irritating thing is that funky Hungarian aspect ratio he used to use, which sadly means they're window boxed. The quality is good though.David Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03666205737413060006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-53990661051425103222012-09-05T23:58:10.647-05:002012-09-05T23:58:10.647-05:00I suspect that the shortest Tarr retro I would eve...I suspect that the shortest Tarr retro I would ever do would be a once-a-week pattern. Because they are not films to be run through; and watching them too close together wouldn't just be bad for me, it would be bad for the movies, I think, because they'd tend to bleed together.<br /><br />That said, if they ever come out in a tolerable form on home video, I'd be tempted to carefully, and slowly, write them up, <i>Satantango</i> and <i>Werckmeister Harmonies</i> especially. Shockingly, the Blu-Ray of <i>The Turin Horse</i> does not seem to have kicked off a run of Tarr in hi-def.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-56307730942157629672012-09-05T17:30:53.843-05:002012-09-05T17:30:53.843-05:00I'd love a Tarr retrospective, but I wouldn...I'd love a Tarr retrospective, but I wouldn't dare you to sit through all of his stuff in a short period of time. You'd go mad.<br /><br />I've loved his work since Damnation, though I've never been able to get through more than about five hours of Satantango. I found it unbearably cynical, and at times it felt like Tarr was intentionally annoying the audience to no greater effect (One scene involving a crazy man rambling repetitively in a bar, for example). The style was solid, but I think 2.5 hours of Tarr is the perfect dose.<br /><br />Still... Satantango had possibly the greatest opening shot I've ever seen, and I'm grateful for that.David Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03666205737413060006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-29311437511803143822012-02-19T01:34:24.606-06:002012-02-19T01:34:24.606-06:00Finally saw this today. Right after leaving the ve...Finally saw this today. Right after leaving the venue, I tweeted, "Jesus, this made CRIES AND WHISPERS look like CAROUSEL."<br /><br />I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I'm definitely more in the "That's what art should feel like" camp, rather than the "Boooooring" camp.The Caustic Ignostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08573539801150336099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-22214726375383760202011-10-23T20:35:51.848-05:002011-10-23T20:35:51.848-05:00Thank you for one heckuva thoughtful comment! It&#...Thank <i>you</i> for one heckuva thoughtful comment! It's especially useful to me since I don't have very strong knowledge of Tarr's early work - I have never seen <i>Damnation</i>, for one - and it's surely enlightening to hear that <i>Turin Horse</i> fits so neatly in as the capstone of his career.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-4001128779168358302011-10-22T09:52:53.072-05:002011-10-22T09:52:53.072-05:00I agree Werkmeister is probably the best place to ...I agree Werkmeister is probably the best place to start if you have never seen a Tarr film but I have to say that this film has grown more and more on me since I saw it at the Chicago Film Festival and arguably may be his best film.<br /><br />It is fitting (though sad) that this is to be his last film. Though its hard to imagine where he could go from here. The final image kind of brings together the essence of the film cycle that started with Damnation. Unless he radically changes stylistically it would seem to disrupt the perfect ending.<br /><br />One could argue that the repitition of shots (though from different perspectives) could echo Nietzsche's theme of eternal recurrence but thats only speculative.<br /><br />The film, imo is really about that question, "What happened to the horse?" And moreover how we all in some way, ARE that horse.<br /><br />I dont want to give anything away (because so little happens from a narrative standoint) so will just generalize but I think the film can be summed up in 3 shots. The opening shot of the horse straining to pull the wagon (where the harness was clearly designed for two and begs the question where is the other horse)<br /><br />The devastating shot of the last time we see the horse... It's a completely non action filled revelation, painterly perfect and one that is incredibly moving. It is then when you will completely underdstand why he is acting the way he is and give you a portent for the future.<br /><br />The final shot/scene of the film with the daughters' change in temperment and the last line uttered by the father.<br /><br />While comparisons could be made to Bresson's Au Hazard Balthazar with the animal as protagonist this is pure Tarr.<br /><br />You are correct when you say Tarr is a love it or hate it. Most will hate it, though if you are one of the lucky ones that can assimilate with it, it is an amazing and haunting experience that will stick with you forever. <br /><br />Again, my own my own selfishness would love to see another Tarr film but I also think it would ruin what is perfect closure to what started with Damnation that of the slow and agonizing move towards stasis.<br /><br />Thanks for the reviewGhostdoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17142691301928434804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-22218615946227289612011-10-22T01:18:39.929-05:002011-10-22T01:18:39.929-05:00If you just hover over those points, they pop up w...If you just hover over those points, they pop up with footnotes. For some reason, Blogger decides in the middle of publishing to turn them into links to the "edit post" function, and I haven't figured out how to turn that off.<br /><br />Also, <i>Werckmeister</i> is definitely the best place I can name to start with Tarr.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-7583364700196105142011-10-21T17:15:59.203-05:002011-10-21T17:15:59.203-05:00I have yet to see a Bela Tarr movie, but I think I...I have yet to see a Bela Tarr movie, but I think I'm going to have to get around to it one of these days. I think I'll start with Werckmeister Harmonies, though, because my local library has it and it seems to have something of an actual story to it. Maybe.<br /><br />One thing I have to ask: In so many of your reviews, you have little red asterisks that seem to be links to some further comment or joke that I would like to read. But whenever I click on them, they just say I don't have access to that page, and nothing I do lets me see it. Why is this? Is it just me? Or do I need to click in some particular way to make it work? Or are these asterisks not really public links and I should leave them alone?StephenMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16588260639227694557noreply@blogger.com