Werckmeister Harmonies
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Movie Reviews of Werckmeister Harmonies
Movie Review: The Most Beautiful Movie I Have Ever Seen
Summary: 5 Stars
I have seen this Bela Tarr masterpiece 3 times and it is by far the best and most beautiful film I have ever seen. Watching this movie is not really watching a movie, it's a magical experience, I guarantee you will never see anything else like it in your whole life. Trying to describe it is really useless, its pure magic. Buy this! It changed my life to realize it something this beautiful exists in the world. I'm serious. It is based on the Hungarian book the Melancholy of Resistance, which I am going to read as soon as possible. Tarr was one of the late Susan Sontag's favorite directors; her favorite of his were Santantango and Damnation. The only other Tarr film I have seen is Almanac of Fall and it is surreal and beautiful. But this film is both of those taken to amazing heights of sublimity. Sit back and enjoy!Movie Review: The banality of evil
Summary: 4 Stars
The main character of this film, Janos, is a young man whose purpose, leading a solitary life, is to serve as the connector for the isolated village in which he and the rest of the cast live. In this context, "connector" means the one who insures there is constant communication among all the various inhabitants.
I think it helps to view this film from the perspective of communication. Janos' function is essentially destroyed when a "circus" comes to the village, which consists of a huge dead whale, entombed in an equally huge trailer-truck, an impresario whose sole focus is making money, a "barker" who does nothing but collect money to see the whale, and the "Prince" which appears to be an obvious metaphor for the Devil (Prince of Darkness), with the whale representing the Devil's works, as it were--that is, the expression or manifestation of evil.
Evil does ensue as, shortly after the appearance of the "circus", villagers go on a rampage, smashing up stuff in the local hospital and pulling the patients out of their beds and beating them. The last patient they encounter, a naked frail old man, stems the tide and they shuffle off, returning to their previous lives.
Janos' communication function is shown almost right from the start as he arranges a few drunks in the local tavern in a human equivalent of part of the solar system--earth, moon, sun--moon revolving around earth, earth around sun. What is the purpose of this? Viewed in the context of the film, the only purpose can be, again, to demonstrate Janos' obsessive need to communicate.
The title of the film derives from the mouthings of another character, Estzer, an older highly educated composer whose bitterness comes from, among other things, divorce from his wife Tunde. His essentially meaningless metaphysical spoutings allude to the composer Werckmeister who composed music based on a set of 12 harmonic tones, or some such. The obvious irony of the title in the context of the primary event of the film, the march on the hospital, is heightened even further by the strikingly downbeat ending which will not be revealed here, but which definitely leaves the chin on the sidewalk.
The potential buyer of this DVD should note that there is an entire sequence in this film, in which Tunde is speaking with Janos, where the subtitles--in white text--are superimposed over a white tablecloth. This is absolutely infuriating; the subtitles are virtually impossible to read. A question put regarding this problem to the DVD distributor, Facets Video, resulted in no answer at all. This sequence goes on for about four minutes and is, needless to say, extremely frustrating. There is another shorter sequence in which Estzer speaks with Janos where the white subtitles are also superimposed over a white background. This is a serious caveat that should be addressed by the DVD's distributor; the obvious solution to this issue is to release a new edition with yellow subtitles instead of white, or to put the subtitles in the lower black space under a widescreen image.
If it were not for these two instances of impossible-to-read subtitles (unless you speak Hungarian, you will be, I am sure, as frustrated as I was), I would have given this five stars.
The film is in black-and-white, and is a startlingly powerful piece of cinema. The sight of the hordes of villagers (how big is this village anyway? Or are these men--and they are all men--from more than one village?) marching, row upon row, down the village streets, is more chilling than any big budget Hollywood horror movie. The irony of the film's title is shown here as well; the hordes march in a completely uniform pattern, echoing the "harmonies" in the title. Equally chilling is the vision of these same villagers, prior to their march, out in the village "square" as the camera moves, as Janos does, from one clump of them to another. In these scenes, Janos is hard put to know how to perform his primary function of communicator because it's obvious that these men, by this time, are way past the ability to communicate.
It's not hard to draw all kinds of symbolist interpretations of the film. My admittedly glib interpretation above of the Devil and evil is certainly one, but others may include the intrusion of the chaos of the 21st century into a backwards, timelocked culture, for example. Viewers will no doubt have a field day with the potential plethora of interpretive perspectives. Regardless, this is a brilliant film that should not be missed. If you can somehow overlook or bypass or get around the two sequences with the unreadable subtitles, you will find something unique, breathtaking, and seriously disturbing.
Parallels to Fellini are justified, but Tarr is like the negative image of Fellini. The few moments of sensuousness in Werckmeister Harmonies are quickly supplanted by the overriding bleakness of atmosphere that dominates the film. Very highly recommended. It will be interesting to see what Tarr does with his unique voice applied to a novel by Georges Simenon, The Man From London--his next film.
Movie Review: Metaphysical Weightlessness
Summary: 4 Stars
This film actually reminds me of La Dolca Vita (which also has a scene with a mysterious sea creature) and other Fellini films which ponder man's mostly fruitless quest for meaning. Actually one could sum up many European films in this way. Whats maybe a little bit different about this film is that it ponders man's quest for meaning, his failure to find any, and his resultant frustration in a very cold and barren central European setting (which is going to lead many active minded interpreters to read the landscape as symbolic of spiritual emptiness/despair as well as political emptiness/despair etc...). We have everything in this film that we find in La Dolca Vita except that civilization's discontents are not the very rich in Rome but the very poor in a bombed out and forsaken (so forsaken it is left nameless) Central Europe. As in La Dolca Vita we have extended meditations on why thought/philosophy/religion/art are no longer the refuges they once were but simply places where man self-consciously entertains himself with grand illusions and in the absence of any spiritual weight comforts himself with a sort of austere formalism that gives him the illusion that he has metaphysical weight when in fact he has none at all. There is, however, a nice plot twist in this film which recalls Bergman's Persona. When we first see the elderly artist/thinker he appears to be nearing the end of his life but by films end he seems to be re-invigorated (saved from his own internal paralysis by something external perhaps) by the cathartic activity that has swept through the village. On the other hand the youngish (and perhaps naive) helper who began the film in such a vital state experiences a reverse trajectory and, after exposure to the towns capacity for sudden, extreme, and inexplicable fits of violence, ends the film in a state of psychic paralysis.
Best scene of the film: When we hear the unseen Prince's voice and see the shadow of the Prince's talking head cast on the wall by lamplight. Though the film purposely resists the idea that there is any one explanation for anything, one of the likely explanations for the town's sudden violence is the ability of the Prince to incite riots. We never really know what kinds of things the Prince says to the crowds that come to see him but we gather that he is a kind of Mabusian (as in Lang's Dr. Mabuse) hypnotist/nihilist/anarchist who enjoys exploiting the crowds metaphysical nausea and giving them momentary targets on which to focus their rage. Though we never see the Prince this brief glimpse of his shadow comes at the perfect moment (and perhaps suggests that all men are just as attracted to dark forces and destruction as they are to light and creation). Many of the scenes in this film are long and many are virtually silent and need to be to convey the great emptiness at the heart of existence--this films essential theme. This Mabusian touch is maybe a nod to film history as well as a kind of acknowledgement that film has an immense capacity to entertain. Theres nothing like a live villain to relieve the endlessness of metaphysical ennui (I think the mob waiting in the cold for God or the devil would agree). If this scene is some kind of concession, its a welcome one. The film would work without it (and some might argue be better without it) but I found it to be the most enjoyable/frightening/amusing thing in the film.
Very curious to see more of this directors work.
Movie Review: Tarr, God and science
Summary: 3 Stars
Seldom do filmmakers come along who have such a unique vision you get the sense they really don't care what the audience thinks of their work. They make films merely for themselves. They want to see their vision on-screen. If you don't like it, too bad, if you do, great. But in the end, it really doesn't matter. Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr is one of those directors and "Werckmeister harmoniak" is one of those type of films.
Tarr is one of, if not the most, uncompromising director to come out of Eastern Europe. I know recently it seems to be the trend for critics and the public alike to assert that Spanish filmmakers are doing the most exciting things in cinema right now, but I have to disagree. I think Eastern Europe has always been a bit more ahead of the times. Directors from countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia...ect have been doing the most interesting and experimental things in editing, story structure, and cinematography.
To be honest I'm not really sure what "Werckmeister harmoniak" is really all about. Some people suggest it is a parable about life in Eastern Europe after communism. Tarr however says this is not true. The film is not political. Many times, as odd as this may sound, authors are not the best judges of their work, but in Tarr's case I'm willing to agree. I didn't find the film political either. I feel the film is more existential. From the film's opening scene a character describes the way the earth revolves around the sun. In short he is giving a scientific answer to what makes the world go round. And much of the film's dialogue is based on scientific notions. If you want to be cruel (or funny) you could say the film is one big Hungarian science project.
When dealing with a film such as this it is hard to describe it. Nothing really matters in the film. It is not important we remember any character's names or their relation to each other. Films such as this are only about their ideas. What is the message of the film. What is it trying to agrue. To a lesser extent, the visuals are important also. How does Tarr get his point across visually? Everything else is Tarr merely working within the conventions of cinema while still trying to break down the walls.
The plot goes something like this; a circus comes to a small town in Hungary, where the main attraction is a giant whale and a freak. The people from the village revolt, except the main character, who find the sight of the whale a sign of God's creative brillance. But outsiders come to the village and find themselves in a trance state of mind. The film tries to blend science and religion.
Is there an audience for a film such as this? I suppose so. Those who admire Tarr's previous films may find elements to enjoy here but for the causal viewer, "Werckmeister harmoniak" will prove to be a challenge to sit through. But for those who have enjoyed "Damnation" or "Satan's Tango" this film takes a similar approach in style. The long takes, use of silence, minimal camera movement...ect.
If I'm a little apprehensive about giving this film more credits it has to do witht he film's lenght, a little over two hours and the fact the film is hard to pin down. I'm all for films challenging the audience, making them think. Several directors such as Tarkovsky, Bergman and Antonioni ranks among my favorites but "Werckmeister harmoniak" simply didn't compell me at the same level. I wasn't involved. Of course you could agrue, Tarr doesn't care (and I'm sure he doesn't), we aren't suppose to be engaged. This is true, but, basic human emotions of wanting to connect stop me from throwing more praise at the film. I admire Tarr's style and appreciate the visuals but remained a bit indifferent to this particular film.
Bottom-line: The kind of film that really doesn't give a damn if you enjoy it or not. That's half the appeal but eventually you lose interest in some elements. Tarr fans will be pleased as it is a continuation of his style but not as pleasing as some of his other works.
Movie Review: what a stinker!
Summary: 1 Stars
This is the kind of pretentious, boring foreign film that gives foreign films such a bad name. There are so many engrossing, life-changing foreign films out there, but I think people shy away from them because they fear getting stuck with something ridiculously self-indulgent like this. This film is as pompous as it is esoteric.
Since it made so many critics' top ten lists for the year in which it was released, I was eager to watch it but couldn't find it for rent. Thank God I finally found it, and didn't buy it: I hated virtually every minute of it.
It consists, so I read, of only 39 black-and-white shots: most of the time we are being treated to the spectacle of circus-related characters monologuing on in the directors attempt to instill a "looming sense of dread" in the viewer. The only dread I felt was that the thing would go on and on.
I have no hesitation admitting that this film is over my head, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's any good.