Béla Tarr (1955-2026)

[markhax]

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.

[zedz]

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.

[Peacock]

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.

[aox]

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?

[swo17]

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.

[Cold Bishop]

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!

[zedz]

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. . .

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.)

[knives]

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

[swo17]

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

[matrixschmatrix]

Oh shit someone just blew my mind

[zedz]

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

[John Cope]

R. Emmet Sweeney's interview with Tarr.

[FerdinandGriffon]

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.

[fatboyslim142]

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

[MichaelB]

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

[JPJ]

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.

[swo17]

Tarr to head up a film academy in Sarajevo

[Dadapass]

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.

[tarr3412]

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.

[Mr Sausage]

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

[GaryC]

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.

[perkypat]

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

[ArchCarrier]

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

[FrauBlucher]

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

[Lemmy Caution]

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 ...