This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.
Werckmeister harmóniák (Werckmeister Harmonies)
I somehow knew before ever seeing a Béla Tarr movie that I would love them. I'd read about his history, a few rare words from him, descriptions of his stories. Even heard him referred to as the Kubrick of Eastern Europe.
To try to explain this movie would be an enormous task, and probably futile. According to Netflix there are only 39 shots in this film which lasts 145 minutes. The pacing is right. So is the camera work. And the black and white composition is some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen. Scenes of people just walking for several minutes or long storage trucks slowly driving by are works of visual art. To live with this movie is beautiful and ponderous.
I'm sure there's a whole lot that has to do with Hungarian culture and political situations that I am totally oblivious to. Perhaps there is a lot more to get, but if there is I am not sad. I am glad that this nation has such a fantastic filmmaker to speak to them or through them. It makes it so much more enjoyable to me as I feel like I am having such a much more authentic experience of a certain time and place whether or not it is entirely realistic or in some ways very surreal.
Rating: 9/10