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zedz wrote: Also, this might be the right place to dispel the impression that it's all doom and gloom - overall it's rather black, but it can also be funny, absurdist and extremely beautiful.

Agreed! The first time I saw the film I found it great but unremittingly bleak. The humor comes out much more clearly in Krasznahorkai's novel, which will be published in the U.S. in English translation on February 21st.

And part of the absurdist delight comes from the extremity of Tarr's technique. When I saw the film for the first time I couldn't help grinning during the second(?) chapter when I realised that I was essentially watching a feature film that was all about a morbidly obese old man going to buy a bottle of plum brandy. And a really great feature film, at that.

For god's sake zedz, tell us what you thought of The Turin Horse and where you'd place it compared to his other films; you're teasing us all in these Tarr threads.

I've actually read a few reviews on The Turin Horse, and while all of them generally positive, I haven't seen one that acknowledges its place among his other work.

Is he going out with a bang or a whimper?

Definitely a bang. It's as good as anything else he's done. I might call it his best but that could just be because it's the most fresh in my mind. Favorite moment:

Spoiler

Loooooong take where they pack up to leave, disappear from the horizon, and then gradually return.

zedz wrote:I couldn't help grinning during the second(?) chapter when I realised that I was essentially watching a feature film that was all about a morbidly obese old man going to buy a bottle of plum brandy.

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!

Cold Bishop wrote:

zedz wrote:I couldn't help grinning during the second(?) chapter when I realised that I was essentially watching a feature film that was all about a morbidly obese old man going to buy a bottle of plum brandy.

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!

Ah, but I didn't say whether or not he managed to get the brandy. . .

Peacock wrote:For god's sake zedz, tell us what you thought of The Turin Horse and where you'd place it compared to his other films; you're teasing us all in these Tarr threads.

I talked about it a bit in the 'Best of 2011' thread. It's up there with Satantango and Werckmeister Harmonies, and it's one of the greatest films of the century. I don't know if I could bring myself to describe Tarr 'going out with a bang' with this film with a straight face, however. (Swo will know what I mean.)

Century and decade don't have that much a difference in this case though.

There isn't much of a difference between anything when the world is over.

Oh shit someone just blew my mind

Have another potato. It's going to be okay.

R. Emmet Sweeney's interview with Tarr.

John Cope wrote:R. Emmet Sweeney's interview with Tarr.

I'm sorry, but there are several points in this interview where I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Damnation not influenced by American film noir? Yeah right! If Tarr wasn't thinking of it (and I am almost certain he was) then Krasznahorkai certainly had it in mind. And this fairytale about Tarr discovering Lars Rudoph when he was a street musician? Rudolph had been in a fairly successful band, yes, but he had also been in numerous other films, including a Hal Hartley and international blockbuster Run Lola Run.
I'm looking forward to The Turin Horse, but I think Tarr could turn down the self-aggrandization a little.

Michael do you know if its true that he is returing after the current film he's just finnished?

He hasn't said anything different since his announcement before the premiere back in February last year.

Tarr and three amigos at Midnight Sun Film Festival(Sodankylä,Finland)

http://www.msfilmfestival.fi/galleria20 ... large.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Guests also included Harriet Andersson and some younger talents.

Has anyone here heard of Music and Literature Magazine? Their next issue will focus on Béla Tarr and László Krasznahorkai.

Edit: Max Neumann, who has collaborated with Krasznahorkai before, is the third featured artist on the issue.

Just wrote to the editor of Music & Literature: the Tarr/Krasznahorkai/Neumann issue comes out in April and includes a new essay on Satantango by Jonathan Rosenbaum and another new essay on The Man from London by Sergio Chejfec. Plus a portfolio of photographs taken by Gabor Medvigy taken on-set while shooting Satantango. You can pre-order it through their website or Amazon.

English translation of a longish (90 page) monograph on Tarr called Bela Tarr, The Time After is coming out. Read about it here.

There are 35mm showings of Sátántangó forthcoming in the UK, from A nos amours and Scalarama:

Saturday 6 September, ICA, London
Sunday 14 September, Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow
Sunday 21 September, Hyde Park Picturehouse, Leeds
Saturday 27 September, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle

All showings start at 11am.

Fantastic, Tyneside is my local independent, great to see them taking a punt on this.

My Master's Voice: Béla Tarr Interviewed by J R Robinson of the band Wrekmeister Harmonies.

Oh how I wished the article said that Criterion will be releasing Werckmeister Harmonies. Sigh.

I was reading an article about bagpipes in rock and roll, and came across this quote:

“Listening to music,” observes the French theorist Jacques Attali, “is listening to all noise, realizing that its appropriation and control is a reflection of power, that it is essentially political.”

Which made me think of Werckmeister Harmonies ...