I have a masters in cinematography. My master and teacher was Gábor Medvigy, the same guy who did the cinematography on Sátántangó. He came from photography which is evident in the style and framing of the shots. Béla was very hard to work with...He wanted a salad in the middle of nowhere and the whole filming just stopped because of this. Also i think there was once a time when Bela said that the cinematography was his work or idea, which is completely bulls*it and it really hurt the Camera teams feelings. Knowing Gábor i see his influence in this work, it's woven in it. It's part of the films DNA. This movie is just as much of Gábor's as Béla's which is also true for all the films they did together. People never talk about or even teach about that but it's true.
I have heard Mr. Tarr say numerous times that they are not 'his' movies, because everyone involved in making of them deserves the same amount of credit as he does as he could not have made them without those people. In a recent interview I saw he said "Bela Tarr" is a brand of a group of people making movies together.
@@AlbertKarhuFilms That's great that he thinks that now. But in the past it was quite a bit different and the media's idea of a solitary genius has not changed about him.
@@Petersonstudios Copy-paste from Wikipedia: Tarr has described his collaboration with Víg, as well as that with his wife and editor Ágnes Hranitzky and cinematographer Fred Kelemen, as "collaborative filmmaking", in which each one of their individual works stands as a relevant production of its own. He doesn't mention Medvigy here, though, but the sentiment is there. (Víg is the film's composer who also plays Irimiás.)
@@ximono I know who Víg is, and i know that Tarr later changed his approach. What i was talking about is his work until 2000 with Gábor. And also wikipedia is not always really a good source for info.
Satantango is a slow, boring movie with no plot for the first six hours, but the last hour and 20 minutes has a very clear plot and is very engaging and interesting. I think the 6 hours prior to Irimias' arrival in the village puts the viewer in the correct frame of mind to properly digest the meat of the film. By the time he shows up, we understand the village and have almost become residents. I think that's why Tarr wanted viewers to see it in a single sitting (which is asking a hell of a lot).
Please tell me that "very clear plot ". I just watched the movie yesterday in cinema, it was hell of a journey, liked most part of it. But the plot... man, wasn't so damn clear for me. In fact, I would have liked the whole movie better if it didn't have a "specific" story. Visually it's a breathtaking masterpiece, but I think you can take it in if you know why you're watching it.
I started to watch Satantango so that I could boast to my cinephile friends that I had watched an 8-hour movie. However, as the film progressed, I found myself in those muddy fields and desolated fields; fooled by Irimias' promises. By the end of the film and the contemplating hours that followed, Satantango had a strange effect on me. I don't rewatch it much except for some sequences but the film is inside my psyche now.
@@grogan_ppp It's one of those movies. Like Grave of the Fireflies. You don't want to watch it again, but you will. Think a lot of what makes it compelling is that is more of a feeling, than a story, which is how the end of communism felt for many. There was no grand plan. No big betrayal. Stuff was just bleak and everyone was trying to take advantage over everyone else. It has to be said that the movie and book are NOT about the end of communism, but communism at the end.
I talked to someone who read the book, and they said those 250p felt like what watching an 8hr film would feel like, in the worst way. Talked to someone else who loved the novel, and compared the density to early Pynchon, so :¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@alvaroc6326 I think he very deliberately writes like that because he is trying to evoke the feelings Kafka gives people in some of his work. (The Trial especially comes to my mind) He sort of drains you, to the point where you feel the same existential apathy as the characters in his stories do. And you don't even get the release of some meaning or message at the end, because that is the true horror of life, in the eyes of an existentialist/absurdist - that all this drudgery, all this pain is ultimately happening in a universe that doesn't care about you, and won't give you any meaning. Also, small nitpick, but it's Krasznahorkai, you left out the Z. It's an easy mistake to make, as you wrote it how it's pronounced for an English speaker - the 'sz' in Hungarian is like the English 's'. (while Hungarian 's' is like the English 'sh')
I have seen this movie 5 times and read the book it’s based on, yet I don’t think I can say I understand it fully. But I love the concise rythm and immersive atmosphere, and I find the characters just as amusing as they are tragic.
This is often cited as a movie you "have" to watch if you're "a true lover of film", and that is honestly an attitude I despise. What I love most about film...well it's hard to pinpoint just one thing, but one of the main things I'm looking for is storytelling and the communication of emotion from the creator to the audience. If I sit through this 8 hour movie just so I can say I watched it, that feels more like a chore or a bucket list check-off than an experience of art. You should recommend a movie based on its themes (in the case, nihilism and analogies of latter 20th century Eastern European history), but if someone has no interest in them (such as myself, since I am not a nihilist), why would I watch the whole thing? No, the 10 minute, unedited shot of the cows is not "to chase the impatient philistines out of the theater", it's just an unedited, 10 minute shot of cows that serves no function to the story or themes. To clarify, I reject the notion that a screenplay must constantly advance the story, as that leads to hyperactive film making. But this really did not need to be 8 hours. The White Ribbon managed to tell a story of fascism and societal evils in a rural farming community, while being 2.5 hours, well-shot and well-edited. I could not handle more than 3 total hours of Satantango, yet I have probably watched The White Ribbon 3 or 4 times.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay16331) Most people do not rave about it, as most people don't know it exists, and 2) I'm aware it's my opinion, as I'm the one who typed it. I'm sick of how much of online film discourse is people arguing about whose movie taste is more "normie" vs avant garde, as if a work of art being inaccessible to the general public is some sort of bragging right.
@@blaisetelfer8499 brooo, chill. if it's not your thang, then it's totally fine! you don't have to like it. but the stuff in your comment comes across as super anti-intellectual. i personally love satantango for how it breaks certain rules of film making and for its unique take on the whole medium. but saying that it "doesn't need to be 8 hours long" or that a certain scene "serves no function" is actually super lame and very counterproductive for an intellectual discussion about art. i understand, that you get frustrated with it's fanbase, and a lot of them can be very goofy when they try to interpret the film in the laziest way possible, but this has nothing to do with satantango itself.
I don't want to give too much away, but I think the movie changes a lot in the second half. I couldn't foresee Irimiá's exodus and betrayal and I think the bitter point the movie leaves us with is very well prepared and not redundant at all. However, the movie is VERY long. No doubt about that.
There is misery in the film but it’s far from miserable viewing. It’s one of those films that gives as much back as the viewer is willing to give in attention
And while it maybe his longest it’s also certainly Bela Tarr’s best film. Seeing Werckmeister Harmonies after seeing Satantango, one can spot the directorial signature but the magnitude in achievement and effect is diminished. See Satantango, watch it again if you have plenty of six hour blocks of time…and yes the movie grows in stature depending on you taking the least breaks
Now that I'm aware of this movie, I cannot wait to not watch it. Ever. It seems like a violation of the Geneva Convention. Hell, it took me 50 years to get through "2001". Or at least, it felt like it did, and I'm both a SciFi fan AND a Kubrick fan - with a long attention span. Thanks for watching it so I don't have to. 👍👍
Not a badly written video essay, brother. Some tips: Put a slight noise compressor on your recording and put some stuff in your recording room to lessen the echo. This will greatly help the audience understand what you're saying.
"There are no revelations or widely different themes on the second part of this movie" there are no revelations or widely different themes on the second part of most people's lives either
I knew this was in trouble when the opening was a comparison between the beginnings of Satantango and Shawshank Redemption. Honestly, why are you even reviewing this? Would you and those who would share your cinema preferences even bother with this kind of film? Too many of us, this movie is not boring - yet it is extremely demanding. It's not for everyone - not even for many perhaps, and it's challenging even to those who would appreciate such a movie. "Boring" is often a word used by assessors who don't understand something... And while Shawshank Redemption is a good enough film, I don't think it requires any demands of its audience at all - it's a good versus bad guys and the good guys win. It's a commercial crowd-pleasing movie, although well done for what it is. But there's absolutely no comparison between that and this.
As a general enthusiast of Bela Tarr's movies (at least those which I've seen so far) I have similar feelings towards "The Turin Horse", despite its significantly shorter runtime. After like an hour of watching people getting dressed and eating potatoes in silence with occasional starring at the window, I'm like "Yeah I think I got it - their life is bleak and hopeless, so where do we go from here?", "Well... nowhere" says Bela Tarr with his mouth full of potatoes. I mean there are like 3 events throughout the whole 3,5 hour runtime - the neighbour, the gypsies and the scene of them leaving the house, just to return there right away, oh and maybe the scene where the dude's trying to do sth about the horse, but I'm not sure if it wasn't a part of the last scene I've mentioned. In contrast to this "Damnation", "Werckmeister Harmonies" and "The Man from London" are all amongst my all time favourite movies, especially "Werckmeister Harmonies"
I love hearing people talk who just don't understand that sometimes cinema is art and doesn't owe you entertainment in order to be good. If you have to entertained and explained the plot in the first five minutes of a film in order to even begin to understand/like it, can you even call yourself a cinephile?
Read about Deleuze's concept of the movement-image (Shawshank) vs. time-image (Satantango). Don't be lazy and skip this step. Then, re-do this critique with those brilliant concepts in mind. You'll blow your viewers' minds this time, and then you can call yourself a true critic. I won't demand royalties, don't worry. Keep it real. Peace.
great advice. honestly people who don't understand or like slow cinema shouldn't even critique it at all, leave it to the people who actually know what they're talking about
Houllebecq's novels are the equal of Tarr's for contemporary nihilism. Hope I live long enough for the translation of Anihilate 2022 his final novel because life is now beyond novelisation for him ( terrible) Hexed for 2 years by English publishers who distain his work.
I am trying to complete the LetterboxD 250 Top Narrative and I have this as the LAST movie I will watch from that list. I just finished Werckmeister Harmonies from the same director and I found it to be beautifully filmed... but really a pretencious piece that could have given the SAME message in one hour less... so I can only hope what this will do to me... :(
Damnation was stunning B/W photography Like Last Year In Marienbad. Perfectly executed his themes of the end of human existence. Beyond a doubt the human race is cancer and has zero future. 😂Luv it!
Satantango left me buzzing for hours after it ended. For anyone who truly loves images and understands the cinematic form, this film is a transcendent and almost spiritual experience besides it being a philosophical one. So it makes me sad to see people without the capacity for this sort of reception put a bad name onto such an artistic achievement.
I’ve watched plenty of miserable, challenging movies which I love (Andrei Rublev, Come and See) and I couldn’t get through the whole of Santantango. I honestly think it’s a flat out poor movie at times. The sequence with the guy watching the house was unbearable and I truly believe the film could have been a normal length if edited properly. The thesis is so hopeless and nihilistic that it’s actually shallow; ugh, life is bleak. That’s honestly all the films sayings. Just cos somethings long and in black and white, doesn’t mean it’s automatically a masterpiece. Tarr is when artistic appreciation just becomes masochism
I saw THeTurinHOrse and the film was a revelationo for me . His vision and his message is necessary ! It is the experience ,not just getting the themes you have to live someof the boredom . This guy reviewing knows to little of aesthetic ideas , knows no philosophy just too ignorant to get important cinema . He knows a few technical words like longtake , mise-en scene but he thinks point is the point . NO, Dude, the point is just like music you have to swin THROUGH AND WITH IT !
Sátántangó is definitely in my top 10 films of all time. The amazing cinematography, the acting, etc. all come together to create an genuinely transcendent cinema experience. To answer your question, the film is 7 hours long because Tarr wanted to be as accurate to Krasnahorkai's novel as possible and as someone who has read the novel and adored it to no end, he did a fantastic job at doing just that. In regards to that cat scene, it was in the novel as well and no the cat they used in the film did not die and just thought they were playing. Tarr even adopted the cat after filming was finished. So no, the cat was not abused during the filming.
As a hungarian myself, we don't really have many good movies, it's kind of infamous in our culture at this point, but I'm still glad we could pull good movies off I guess...
Don't be ridiculous. There are great great Hungarian movies, including Emberek a Havason, PPle in Snowy Mountains, directed by Szőts István, which launched the Italian Realist movement, Szerelem (Love), by Károly Makk, Szegénylegények (The Round-up) directed by Miklós Jancsó, an immense hit in the West and made Hungarian cinema's name at the time, Mephisto by István Szabó, won an Oscar. Lots of good Hungarian films.
i think I've heard of this, but I can feel my post-communist hungarian genes started activating by seeing those short clips from the movies. It's so miserable that I've gotta see it! Those dark streets and black&white pictures are a real-life representation of our daily lives starting from the german borders. It's the real smelly-sh*tty reality of mordor
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 True. I'm so ADD, I sometimes have to do regular length movies over multiple sittings, so it wouldn't really be anything new. I think you've convinced me. Cheers.
@@SewerTapesGood. It's meditative. I didn't see Sátántangó but Werckmeiser Harmonies. I thought it was boring beyond belief, then suddenly I broke through and found it a wonderful meditation. Amazing film.
Interesting review. Made me want to check out the film - even though the only Bela Tarr film I tried to watch - _The Turin Horse_ - was the very definition of pretentious, IMHO. But I love Tarkovsky, so "slow cinema" is not something I just hate on principle. A crucial difference though: Tarkovsky told stories that, however glacially, still had more-or-less story-like elements. I can put up with a ponderous, existential malaise for about an hour before something happens. But then, goddammit, something _better_ start happening. This one looks like it may have some things happening in it, even if disconnected and fractured. So yeah. I'll give it an hour and see from there. The problem with this kind of cinema is that it aims to be experiential, and it takes patience, free time, and a willingness to surrender. If that's you, great. Enjoy. But I'm frequently short on two of those three qualities (free time and patience). I may have to wait until my wife goes out of town and I can zone out for once.
I'm always weary of audience attention span. I don't even care for movies that are over 3 hours old. most of the time unless of course it's extremely interesting.
Rivette's Out 1 Don't Touch Me 1970 is 13 hours. The hour long scene of actors just being spastics and moaning ect with no language can rival any static slow shots in Tarr - for human futility. Called the Grail of Cinema it had not been shown in its full 13 hours for 40 years I last saw it in 1975 in two parts on a week end BBC 2 TV UK. Streamed on Mubi 5 years ago to mark the issue of a lavish Box Set Blu Ray / DVD I only got through 5 hours. So utterly remote is the hippy Paris of 1970 and it's sheer emotional self indulgence compared to the ersatz deadness of Europe now that I couldn't find the will to endure it. It was like something on another planet. Without a doubt Tarrs East Europe nihilism parable of dark and darker epilogue to life is far closer to reality excepting the ruralism small town settings against the hyper metros of Euroland harshness.
@@grogan_ppp can't go wrong it's visually stunning this Paris doesn't exist any more. No other film really captures the lightning in the bottle of the hippy period like this. And it's a conspiracy plot ect but not a political one so much but a mythic artistic one Rivette used in all his films not a trace of anything pretentious in doing so either. But I guess I couldn't handle the nostalgia. A lennial won't have that problem.
I think this is just an opportunity for people who have led EXCEEDINGLY comfortable lives to experience the frisson of vicarious suffering and gloom. Besides, if I were to find myself in this village (in real color and not artificial BW doomscape), I might've find it enchanting and peaceful. It's all in the eye of the beholder. Plus a 7 hr runtime is a cheap terrorist tactic against the viewing public - and we don't negotiate with terrorists.
Boy,I was going to have a fit and call you a Philistine, middle-brow, all sorts of bad names, but I was glad to see that you called it a great film that made a big impression on you. I remember watching (by accident) Werkmeister Harmóniák in which Tarr shows a huge dead whale for hours as pple slowly walk about it, looking at it. At first I thought this was the most boring film I'd ever seen, when suddenly I broke through and found it fascinating, meditative. I loved it. But you have to have patience for these great films. You could have mention that Sátántangó mean Satan's tango. Tarr is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the world today.
Another one of those pretentious movies that thinks it's being deep and critics probably suck off to no end, but really has no engagment/fun factor, making its mere existence pointless Pacing and runtime matters. Never make your movie too long or too slow
For me, Satantango is one of the greatest movies of all time. Mr. Tarr and Tarkovsky are my all time favourites. You may disagree, but that would make you wrong :)
the next films to watch on my list are the 5h30 long cut of abel Gance's Napoleon movie and the 9h long the human condition, and i feel like i have to watch this now, fuck me
Haha, take it easy man... It's just a bit of well-condensed Eastern Central European humor, lifemood and art. The film can really work in the cinema, by the way. But it requires a willingness to dig deep into Béla Tarr's mud and give yourself over to it for 7-8 hours.
You starting the video with Rick and Morty is telling. This film was made without any concern for other people's media diet. It doesn't give a shit if you’re bored.
Another eastern european filmmaker that got his hype (+european grants) in Western Europe for anti-comminist streak in his films. "Oh, people in my films so miserable because they live in communist or post-communist societies". Give me my grant to make another "artistic" pile of shit.
make a video essay about: The Blade (Hong Kong 1995, direcor Tsui Hark) and dangerous encounters of the first kind (Hong Kong 1980 same director) Now that movie is nihilism.
no no no no look shawsang redempethion (i am not english i probly speel it wrong ) is an halywood movie but bella ter santa tango isan artestick movie so its like saying i engoy animal fam novel mor the a hip hop musick this are two difrent thing
This wasn't a bad review, but why did you include Rick and Morty and all that superhero shit? It makes you seem like a silly child, even though I'm fairly sure you're probably not.
I've seen it like 4 times (and most of his other movies as well), and I love it. Though I love watching derelict, miserable scenery in real time, because that's kind of a survival skill if you grow up in a communist-style industrial town in rural Hungary... It just sucks you in, and makes that misery your reality for all those hours. You really feel what happens on the screen, not just casually watch it. It engraves itself to your mind. And will call you back later to experience it again, believe me. I'm so wanna have a look at the ruined castle from the movie, but it's quite far away from me.
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 The problem is that people try to see this movie on their laptop, and then criticize it for the wrong reasons. it's almost like criticizing Beethoven, while never have listened to classical music before. :p
I have a masters in cinematography. My master and teacher was Gábor Medvigy, the same guy who did the cinematography on Sátántangó. He came from photography which is evident in the style and framing of the shots. Béla was very hard to work with...He wanted a salad in the middle of nowhere and the whole filming just stopped because of this. Also i think there was once a time when Bela said that the cinematography was his work or idea, which is completely bulls*it and it really hurt the Camera teams feelings. Knowing Gábor i see his influence in this work, it's woven in it. It's part of the films DNA. This movie is just as much of Gábor's as Béla's which is also true for all the films they did together. People never talk about or even teach about that but it's true.
I have heard Mr. Tarr say numerous times that they are not 'his' movies, because everyone involved in making of them deserves the same amount of credit as he does as he could not have made them without those people. In a recent interview I saw he said "Bela Tarr" is a brand of a group of people making movies together.
@@AlbertKarhuFilms That's great that he thinks that now. But in the past it was quite a bit different and the media's idea of a solitary genius has not changed about him.
@@Petersonstudios Copy-paste from Wikipedia: Tarr has described his collaboration with Víg, as well as that with his wife and editor Ágnes Hranitzky and cinematographer Fred Kelemen, as "collaborative filmmaking", in which each one of their individual works stands as a relevant production of its own.
He doesn't mention Medvigy here, though, but the sentiment is there. (Víg is the film's composer who also plays Irimiás.)
@@ximono I know who Víg is, and i know that Tarr later changed his approach. What i was talking about is his work until 2000 with Gábor. And also wikipedia is not always really a good source for info.
@@Petersonstudios I know :) My bad for mixing up different periods of his career. (The parenthesis was for anyone else reading who didn't know.)
"This 8 minutes long take of this absolutely disgusting town"
*me, a Hungarian, having grown up in a village that looks just like this*
i’m sorry😭😭
@@grogan_ppp I mean, it's not like you're wrong
@@krkngd-wn6xj the movie is about you
@@grogan_ppp I am much nicer to cats, but otherwise, sure
Bro , as an East European to another East European I have to tell you: At least be happy you could see some colors
Wow..if I want seven hours of misery, I just go to work.
and that's the reason why you deserve it
Gosh, thanks so much for taking the time to give the world your opinion. Now we can go on with our lives! GOD BLESS YOU!!@@foljs5858
@foljs5858 whaaaaaaat
😂😂😂
@@foljs5858Your response makes no sense.
Satantango is a slow, boring movie with no plot for the first six hours, but the last hour and 20 minutes has a very clear plot and is very engaging and interesting. I think the 6 hours prior to Irimias' arrival in the village puts the viewer in the correct frame of mind to properly digest the meat of the film. By the time he shows up, we understand the village and have almost become residents. I think that's why Tarr wanted viewers to see it in a single sitting (which is asking a hell of a lot).
Please tell me that "very clear plot ". I just watched the movie yesterday in cinema, it was hell of a journey, liked most part of it. But the plot... man, wasn't so damn clear for me. In fact, I would have liked the whole movie better if it didn't have a "specific" story. Visually it's a breathtaking masterpiece, but I think you can take it in if you know why you're watching it.
I started to watch Satantango so that I could boast to my cinephile friends that I had watched an 8-hour movie. However, as the film progressed, I found myself in those muddy fields and desolated fields; fooled by Irimias' promises. By the end of the film and the contemplating hours that followed, Satantango had a strange effect on me.
I don't rewatch it much except for some sequences but the film is inside my psyche now.
it truly sticks with you like no other movie
Did you like it?
This is my favorite film of all time.
honestly very valid. despite what i said i rly want to rewatch it and appreciate the extent to it
@@grogan_ppp It's one of those movies. Like Grave of the Fireflies. You don't want to watch it again, but you will. Think a lot of what makes it compelling is that is more of a feeling, than a story, which is how the end of communism felt for many. There was no grand plan. No big betrayal. Stuff was just bleak and everyone was trying to take advantage over everyone else.
It has to be said that the movie and book are NOT about the end of communism, but communism at the end.
Jajajaja 😂😂
@@AdamMPickIn a lot of ways it's worse now.
It's curious the book it's about 250 pages and the film is 7 and a half hours. Tarr and Krasnahorkai will live forever in my mind.
I talked to someone who read the book, and they said those 250p felt like what watching an 8hr film would feel like, in the worst way.
Talked to someone else who loved the novel, and compared the density to early Pynchon, so :¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@vicjames3256 I've read a couple of LK books and he writes in severe page long paragraphs so I know what he means
@@alvaroc6326 I think he very deliberately writes like that because he is trying to evoke the feelings Kafka gives people in some of his work. (The Trial especially comes to my mind) He sort of drains you, to the point where you feel the same existential apathy as the characters in his stories do. And you don't even get the release of some meaning or message at the end, because that is the true horror of life, in the eyes of an existentialist/absurdist - that all this drudgery, all this pain is ultimately happening in a universe that doesn't care about you, and won't give you any meaning.
Also, small nitpick, but it's Krasznahorkai, you left out the Z. It's an easy mistake to make, as you wrote it how it's pronounced for an English speaker - the 'sz' in Hungarian is like the English 's'. (while Hungarian 's' is like the English 'sh')
I have seen this movie 5 times and read the book it’s based on, yet I don’t think I can say I understand it fully. But I love the concise rythm and immersive atmosphere, and I find the characters just as amusing as they are tragic.
I LOVE Laszlo Krasznahorkai. ‘Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming’ is my all-time favourite book.
@@THEpopelonergan I read ‘Baron Wenckheim’ last year! Such a fantastic book!!
How is the rhythm “concise” if the movie is 7 hours long?
@@therainman7777 sorry, I meant something more like ‘consistent’ :)
@@THEpopelonergan He won a Booker prize, which most pple think is a more prestigious prize than the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Somehow a faster movie than the Irishman
💀💀
Lmao
this deserves a wes anderson style stop-motion parody. run time 60min.
If someone asks me to move the camera slowly I might ask them "From a scale of Kubrick to Bela Tarr, how slow?"
"horrible disgusting town" "literally looks like my grandparents village", I love being eastern european
This is often cited as a movie you "have" to watch if you're "a true lover of film", and that is honestly an attitude I despise. What I love most about film...well it's hard to pinpoint just one thing, but one of the main things I'm looking for is storytelling and the communication of emotion from the creator to the audience. If I sit through this 8 hour movie just so I can say I watched it, that feels more like a chore or a bucket list check-off than an experience of art. You should recommend a movie based on its themes (in the case, nihilism and analogies of latter 20th century Eastern European history), but if someone has no interest in them (such as myself, since I am not a nihilist), why would I watch the whole thing? No, the 10 minute, unedited shot of the cows is not "to chase the impatient philistines out of the theater", it's just an unedited, 10 minute shot of cows that serves no function to the story or themes.
To clarify, I reject the notion that a screenplay must constantly advance the story, as that leads to hyperactive film making. But this really did not need to be 8 hours. The White Ribbon managed to tell a story of fascism and societal evils in a rural farming community, while being 2.5 hours, well-shot and well-edited. I could not handle more than 3 total hours of Satantango, yet I have probably watched The White Ribbon 3 or 4 times.
i truly agree this is a great way to say ut
So what! That's yr opinion. Most pple rave about it.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay16331) Most people do not rave about it, as most people don't know it exists, and 2) I'm aware it's my opinion, as I'm the one who typed it. I'm sick of how much of online film discourse is people arguing about whose movie taste is more "normie" vs avant garde, as if a work of art being inaccessible to the general public is some sort of bragging right.
@@blaisetelfer8499 brooo, chill. if it's not your thang, then it's totally fine! you don't have to like it. but the stuff in your comment comes across as super anti-intellectual. i personally love satantango for how it breaks certain rules of film making and for its unique take on the whole medium. but saying that it "doesn't need to be 8 hours long" or that a certain scene "serves no function" is actually super lame and very counterproductive for an intellectual discussion about art.
i understand, that you get frustrated with it's fanbase, and a lot of them can be very goofy when they try to interpret the film in the laziest way possible, but this has nothing to do with satantango itself.
I don't want to give too much away, but I think the movie changes a lot in the second half. I couldn't foresee Irimiá's exodus and betrayal and I think the bitter point the movie leaves us with is very well prepared and not redundant at all. However, the movie is VERY long. No doubt about that.
They hurt a cat?! No, I don't need to know more. 😒
Yep, I loved Wreckmeister Symphonies but honestly fuck any director that hurts animals for the sake of their stupid art or straight up shock value
@@xxjcd702have you heard of the idea that movies fake stuff? It’s part of movies to fake something, what you see onscreen isn’t all real
I WILL find you. I KNOW where you live.
alright good news, apparently the cat wasn't actually hurt for the film, it was effects of some kind.
The cat was given this sedative stuff so he wasn’t hurt during the scene, and he lived a good life with Tar after the movie
There is misery in the film but it’s far from miserable viewing. It’s one of those films that gives as much back as the viewer is willing to give in attention
And while it maybe his longest it’s also certainly Bela Tarr’s best film. Seeing Werckmeister Harmonies after seeing Satantango, one can spot the directorial signature but the magnitude in achievement and effect is diminished. See Satantango, watch it again if you have plenty of six hour blocks of time…and yes the movie grows in stature depending on you taking the least breaks
After watching the cat being hurt in the first seconds I noped the f*** out of this video lol
Now that I'm aware of this movie, I cannot wait to not watch it. Ever. It seems like a violation of the Geneva Convention. Hell, it took me 50 years to get through "2001". Or at least, it felt like it did, and I'm both a SciFi fan AND a Kubrick fan - with a long attention span. Thanks for watching it so I don't have to. 👍👍
You couldn't handle 2001? Maybe you have ADHD.
Sátántangó is a Timeless Masterpiece.
,,Tango was the friends we made along the way"
Not a badly written video essay, brother.
Some tips:
Put a slight noise compressor on your recording and put some stuff in your recording room to lessen the echo. This will greatly help the audience understand what you're saying.
Plenty of people watch the same amount of Friends re-runs in a day. Tarrs films would be much better for their mental health.
"There are no revelations or widely different themes on the second part of this movie" there are no revelations or widely different themes on the second part of most people's lives either
This greatest living filmmaker.
Even this video was too miserable to get through. Yes, that means you did it right.
I knew this was in trouble when the opening was a comparison between the beginnings of Satantango and Shawshank Redemption. Honestly, why are you even reviewing this? Would you and those who would share your cinema preferences even bother with this kind of film? Too many of us, this movie is not boring - yet it is extremely demanding. It's not for everyone - not even for many perhaps, and it's challenging even to those who would appreciate such a movie.
"Boring" is often a word used by assessors who don't understand something...
And while Shawshank Redemption is a good enough film, I don't think it requires any demands of its audience at all - it's a good versus bad guys and the good guys win. It's a commercial crowd-pleasing movie, although well done for what it is. But there's absolutely no comparison between that and this.
Difference between an accessible film and a demanding one.
As a general enthusiast of Bela Tarr's movies (at least those which I've seen so far) I have similar feelings towards "The Turin Horse", despite its significantly shorter runtime. After like an hour of watching people getting dressed and eating potatoes in silence with occasional starring at the window, I'm like "Yeah I think I got it - their life is bleak and hopeless, so where do we go from here?", "Well... nowhere" says Bela Tarr with his mouth full of potatoes. I mean there are like 3 events throughout the whole 3,5 hour runtime - the neighbour, the gypsies and the scene of them leaving the house, just to return there right away, oh and maybe the scene where the dude's trying to do sth about the horse, but I'm not sure if it wasn't a part of the last scene I've mentioned.
In contrast to this "Damnation", "Werckmeister Harmonies" and "The Man from London" are all amongst my all time favourite movies, especially "Werckmeister Harmonies"
staring Good for you.
I love hearing people talk who just don't understand that sometimes cinema is art and doesn't owe you entertainment in order to be good. If you have to entertained and explained the plot in the first five minutes of a film in order to even begin to understand/like it, can you even call yourself a cinephile?
Read about Deleuze's concept of the movement-image (Shawshank) vs. time-image (Satantango). Don't be lazy and skip this step. Then, re-do this critique with those brilliant concepts in mind. You'll blow your viewers' minds this time, and then you can call yourself a true critic. I won't demand royalties, don't worry. Keep it real. Peace.
great advice. honestly people who don't understand or like slow cinema shouldn't even critique it at all, leave it to the people who actually know what they're talking about
Houllebecq's novels are the equal of Tarr's for contemporary nihilism. Hope I live long enough for the translation of Anihilate 2022 his final novel because life is now beyond novelisation for him ( terrible) Hexed for 2 years by English publishers who distain his work.
disdain
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 how much you wanna bet?
i thought this movie was much much older but its FROM 1994?????
The opening scene is a bovine mirroring of the plight of the villagers....
dont see my editorial consultation accreditation 🤨🤨
Didn't you say it was "the best movie I've ever seen. "Objectively" at least", why the 180?
I am trying to complete the LetterboxD 250 Top Narrative and I have this as the LAST movie I will watch from that list. I just finished Werckmeister Harmonies from the same director and I found it to be beautifully filmed... but really a pretencious piece that could have given the SAME message in one hour less... so I can only hope what this will do to me... :(
Damnation was stunning B/W photography Like Last Year In Marienbad. Perfectly executed his themes of the end of human existence. Beyond a doubt the human race is cancer and has zero future. 😂Luv it!
Satantango left me buzzing for hours after it ended. For anyone who truly loves images and understands the cinematic form, this film is a transcendent and almost spiritual experience besides it being a philosophical one. So it makes me sad to see people without the capacity for this sort of reception put a bad name onto such an artistic achievement.
For most people, it's The Most Miserable Movie Ever Made. For most Hungarians, it's just Tuesday
I wonder how much editing went into a 7 hr film
I’ve watched plenty of miserable, challenging movies which I love (Andrei Rublev, Come and See) and I couldn’t get through the whole of Santantango. I honestly think it’s a flat out poor movie at times. The sequence with the guy watching the house was unbearable and I truly believe the film could have been a normal length if edited properly. The thesis is so hopeless and nihilistic that it’s actually shallow; ugh, life is bleak. That’s honestly all the films sayings. Just cos somethings long and in black and white, doesn’t mean it’s automatically a masterpiece. Tarr is when artistic appreciation just becomes masochism
come and see is incredible i completely agree with all of this
Why would anyone post movie reviews when they clearly don’t actually like good movies and clearly don’t understand them🙄 Satantango is a masterpiece.
I saw THeTurinHOrse and the film was a revelationo for me . His vision and his message is necessary ! It is the experience ,not just getting the themes you have to live someof the boredom . This guy reviewing knows to little of aesthetic ideas , knows no philosophy just too ignorant to get important cinema . He knows a few technical words like longtake , mise-en scene but he thinks point is the point . NO, Dude, the point is just like music you have to swin THROUGH AND WITH IT !
I would have probably picked Pulp Fiction over Shawshank as much as I love that movie.
Maybe santango was the friends we made along the way 😭😭😭
seven hours in 8 mins. concise!
definitely could’ve gone more in depth lol
There's literally a movie that is 21 hours long
Sátántangó is definitely in my top 10 films of all time. The amazing cinematography, the acting, etc. all come together to create an genuinely transcendent cinema experience. To answer your question, the film is 7 hours long because Tarr wanted to be as accurate to Krasnahorkai's novel as possible and as someone who has read the novel and adored it to no end, he did a fantastic job at doing just that.
In regards to that cat scene, it was in the novel as well and no the cat they used in the film did not die and just thought they were playing. Tarr even adopted the cat after filming was finished. So no, the cat was not abused during the filming.
very good to know… thanks a lot i can sleep at night now. it’s an incredible movie i can’t lie
Bela Tarr is the goat
yes
True
O gato foi torturado de verdade. Não dá pra mim...
Nice video. Consider getting a better mic, your breathing is very audible.
wow i didn't even notice the 9 minutes passing while watching this video. easy sub
love you brooo
As a hungarian myself, we don't really have many good movies, it's kind of infamous in our culture at this point, but I'm still glad we could pull good movies off I guess...
Don't be ridiculous. There are great great Hungarian movies, including Emberek a Havason, PPle in Snowy Mountains, directed by Szőts István, which launched the Italian Realist movement, Szerelem (Love), by Károly Makk, Szegénylegények (The Round-up) directed by Miklós Jancsó, an immense hit in the West and made Hungarian cinema's name at the time, Mephisto by István Szabó, won an Oscar. Lots of good Hungarian films.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 I was talking about the newer ones.
i think I've heard of this, but I can feel my post-communist hungarian genes started activating by seeing those short clips from the movies. It's so miserable that I've gotta see it!
Those dark streets and black&white pictures are a real-life representation of our daily lives starting from the german borders. It's the real smelly-sh*tty reality of mordor
Oh, it wasn't so bad. At least not in Budapest.
What rating would u give it? Just curious
it’s rly rly hard to rate… but prob about an 8/10, 9/10
@@grogan_ppp damm, would you think the runtime being 3 - 4 hours would affect your opinion,
@@leepicrandomaa definitely man, that’s my main problem with the movie, could be pretty perfect if it was shortened
Thanks for letting me know this exists. I'd probably watch it if it were 3 and a half hours long.
Watch it in two or more sittings.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633
True. I'm so ADD, I sometimes have to do regular length movies over multiple sittings, so it wouldn't really be anything new. I think you've convinced me. Cheers.
@@SewerTapesGood. It's meditative. I didn't see Sátántangó but Werckmeiser Harmonies. I thought it was boring beyond belief, then suddenly I broke through and found it a wonderful meditation. Amazing film.
Interesting review. Made me want to check out the film - even though the only Bela Tarr film I tried to watch - _The Turin Horse_ - was the very definition of pretentious, IMHO. But I love Tarkovsky, so "slow cinema" is not something I just hate on principle. A crucial difference though: Tarkovsky told stories that, however glacially, still had more-or-less story-like elements. I can put up with a ponderous, existential malaise for about an hour before something happens. But then, goddammit, something _better_ start happening. This one looks like it may have some things happening in it, even if disconnected and fractured. So yeah. I'll give it an hour and see from there.
The problem with this kind of cinema is that it aims to be experiential, and it takes patience, free time, and a willingness to surrender. If that's you, great. Enjoy. But I'm frequently short on two of those three qualities (free time and patience). I may have to wait until my wife goes out of town and I can zone out for once.
come on see does the same thing at not even half the length. fuck this movie.
come and see one of the best movies ever made fr
I live in northern serbia (basically like Hungary) and this triggered soo much nostalgia
I'm always weary of audience attention span. I don't even care for movies that are over 3 hours old. most of the time unless of course it's extremely interesting.
If you think this is the "most miserable movie" ever it's because you've not watched Salo.
Rivette's Out 1 Don't Touch Me 1970 is 13 hours. The hour long scene of actors just being spastics and moaning ect with no language can rival any static slow shots in Tarr - for human futility. Called the Grail of Cinema it had not been shown in its full 13 hours for 40 years I last saw it in 1975 in two parts on a week end BBC 2 TV UK. Streamed on Mubi 5 years ago to mark the issue of a lavish Box Set Blu Ray / DVD I only got through 5 hours. So utterly remote is the hippy Paris of 1970 and it's sheer emotional self indulgence compared to the ersatz deadness of Europe now that I couldn't find the will to endure it. It was like something on another planet. Without a doubt Tarrs East Europe nihilism parable of dark and darker epilogue to life is far closer to reality excepting the ruralism small town settings against the hyper metros of Euroland harshness.
lord i need to check it out
@@grogan_ppp can't go wrong it's visually stunning this Paris doesn't exist any more. No other film really captures the lightning in the bottle of the hippy period like this. And it's a conspiracy plot ect but not a political one so much but a mythic artistic one Rivette used in all his films not a trace of anything pretentious in doing so either. But I guess I couldn't handle the nostalgia. A lennial won't have that problem.
You want something even more boring? Try The Wind Will Carry Us by Abbas Kiarostami.
oh lord… i’ve seen life and nothing more by him… definitely a challenging watch but i love most of his movies so i should watch it
I think this is just an opportunity for people who have led EXCEEDINGLY comfortable lives to experience the frisson of vicarious suffering and gloom. Besides, if I were to find myself in this village (in real color and not artificial BW doomscape), I might've find it enchanting and peaceful. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
Plus a 7 hr runtime is a cheap terrorist tactic against the viewing public - and we don't negotiate with terrorists.
Boy,I was going to have a fit and call you a Philistine, middle-brow, all sorts of bad names, but I was glad to see that you called it a great film that made a big impression on you. I remember watching (by accident) Werkmeister Harmóniák in which Tarr shows a huge dead whale for hours as pple slowly walk about it, looking at it. At first I thought this was the most boring film I'd ever seen, when suddenly I broke through and found it fascinating, meditative. I loved it. But you have to have patience for these great films. You could have mention that Sátántangó mean Satan's tango. Tarr is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the world today.
I strongly believe Stantango is an optimistic film and my mind can't be changed
insane take… why do u think that
i could make a video out of this what😭
Another one of those pretentious movies that thinks it's being deep and critics probably suck off to no end, but really has no engagment/fun factor, making its mere existence pointless
Pacing and runtime matters. Never make your movie too long or too slow
Ooh boy I remember this one. It was depressing as f*ck alright 😢
I’ll need to watch it. Love depressing/dark films
For me, Satantango is one of the greatest movies of all time. Mr. Tarr and Tarkovsky are my all time favourites. You may disagree, but that would make you wrong :)
That Stevie Wonder background XD
he’s the goat😊
@grogan_ppp have a nice life is also great !!
3:02 ...7 hours all set in a hellish landscape...that's not hell it's just everyday eastern Europe good sir.
bro discovering poverty in east EU after the fall of the comunism
I'm 2 hours in, just 5 more hours to go 💪💪
good luck soldier 😭🙏
If you want to watch a long movie just watch the Soviet version of war and peace
this is the most Miserable UA-cam channel ever
😘😘
This was an amazing video. Keep up the amazing work 💛
THANK YOU SO MUCH. means a lot
Please cover Naked by Leigh!!!!
this is actually a great idea i adore that film
Its a masterpiece
watch oscar winning doc, amongst the white cloud
the next films to watch on my list are the 5h30 long cut of abel Gance's Napoleon movie and the 9h long the human condition, and i feel like i have to watch this now, fuck me
Haha, take it easy man... It's just a bit of well-condensed Eastern Central European humor, lifemood and art. The film can really work in the cinema, by the way. But it requires a willingness to dig deep into Béla Tarr's mud and give yourself over to it for 7-8 hours.
I think Bela Tarr is actually one of the worst arthouse filmmakers.
You starting the video with Rick and Morty is telling. This film was made without any concern for other people's media diet. It doesn't give a shit if you’re bored.
he talks like he has food on his mouth
Another eastern european filmmaker that got his hype (+european grants) in Western Europe for anti-comminist streak in his films. "Oh, people in my films so miserable because they live in communist or post-communist societies". Give me my grant to make another "artistic" pile of shit.
not Bel Tarr but Béla Tarr pron Baila and it's Schindler's List
Loves in need of love todayyyy
make a video essay about: The Blade (Hong Kong 1995, direcor Tsui Hark) and dangerous encounters of the first kind (Hong Kong 1980 same director) Now that movie is nihilism.
no no no no look shawsang redempethion (i am not english i probly speel it wrong ) is an halywood movie but bella ter santa tango isan artestick movie so its like saying i engoy animal fam novel mor the a hip hop musick this are two difrent thing
This wasn't a bad review, but why did you include Rick and Morty and all that superhero shit? It makes you seem like a silly child, even though I'm fairly sure you're probably not.
💯
Bro blow your nose PLEASE
I've seen it like 4 times (and most of his other movies as well), and I love it. Though I love watching derelict, miserable scenery in real time, because that's kind of a survival skill if you grow up in a communist-style industrial town in rural Hungary...
It just sucks you in, and makes that misery your reality for all those hours. You really feel what happens on the screen, not just casually watch it. It engraves itself to your mind. And will call you back later to experience it again, believe me.
I'm so wanna have a look at the ruined castle from the movie, but it's quite far away from me.
i’ve really been meaning to find the time to rewatch it, this is the perfect way to describe it
Who reviewed this, some 24 year old named Jason?
@@sycamoreflynn i watched the movie when i was 16😂😂
Very cool video, niiiiiice music too, new sub, will you do more videos in this format?
for sure, can’t wait to make more. thanks so much
Zoomer Go Home!
Brilliant film, you just haven't a clue lad
Never do this again.
If it was about capitalism itd be better surely
Ok, dude. Great cinema is not for you. Thanks for letting us know, anyway. 😂😂😂
You don't see an issue with basically saying "you're not allowed to criticize this beloved piece of art"?
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 The problem is that people try to see this movie on their laptop, and then criticize it for the wrong reasons. it's almost like criticizing Beethoven, while never have listened to classical music before. :p
@@florisb1 What does seeing it on a laptop have to do with anything?
The fact that you felt the need to ask speaks volumes.@@ChangedMyNameFinally69
This question tells me all I need to know about you.@@ChangedMyNameFinally69
probly just ahead of its time ha i mean u ever binge watch a show ha i have