Last week, I watched a movie that I think forever changed my view of foreign movies. Up until now, I haven't had much experience with foreign films. Oh, I had seen "Life is Beautiful," and "Run Lola Run" and "The Princess and the Warrior" and even the foreign animated feature "Triplets of Belleville." The last foreign film I saw was "God Is Great, And I Am Not." The movie should have been titled, "Film Is Great. This One's Not." It was a terrible movie, hence the bad taste left in my mouth.
This semester, I am in an Eastern European Film class. I was incredibly nervous about taking this class as I know absolutely nothing about eastern Europe, but I figured it'd be interesting none the less. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the first couple of films we watched. "Gorilla Bathes at Noon" was a bizarre, yet somehow intriguing film. Not really the best quality - a little cheesy - but amusing none the less. I really enjoyed "Goodbye Lenin" which inspired me to rent a movie with the same lead male actor - Daniel Bruhl - entitled "The Educkators". Great flick. We then watched a film that was part of a trilogy entitled "Three Colors." We watched "White." Not a ton to say about it - I wasn't necessarily impressed. Then we watched two Jan Svankmejer films, who relies heavily on stop animation... I'm not going to waste time writing about them. I hated them.
Then came Werckmeister Harmonies.
This Hungarian film by director Bela Tarr made absolutely no sense to me at first, and yet it had this magnetic force I couldn't resist. I absolutely loved it, though I couldn't explain the movie to save my life. There was something about this film that made me so emotionally moved that I wasn't even able to process it fully for a couple days. The cinematography is absolutely stunning. If any of you have seen Gus Van Sant's "Elephant," know that that movie had to have been based on Bela Tarr's work. He sets up these shots that last forever. The first scene - possibly the movie's most magnificent - is 11 minutes long, I believe. One cut. Amazing. The film is black and white, which most of the time is very dark and yet displays extremely high contrast. The score is by composer Mihaly Vig, and is so completely haunting and beautiful at the same time. As we rewatched specific scenes today, shivers ran down my spine.
What is the movie about? I couldn't tell you... It's pretty abstract. It's about human cycles of construction and destruction. It's about order vs. chaos. It's about light vs. darkness. Yet, it's much more than a simple "this vs. that." The one thing I can say... It captivated me.
Here are what other people have said about the film.
"The pacing is slow, but the film is entrancing and earns a permanent place in the viewer's mind." - Andy Klein, NEW TIMES
"The kind of picture that slowly grows with such emotion and transcendence that its ultimate effect is shocking." - Kim Morgan, OREGONIAN
"Perhaps Tarr's greatest gift is his merciless sense of cinematic economy and an ambiguity that springs not from some intellectual conceit but from the sheer honesty of his gaze." - Josef Braun, VUE WEEKLY (EDMONTON, CANADA)
The film was released on DVD in the US today. I'm hoping to be able to pick up a copy of it, and study it more closely. If you have any interest in film, or want to dive more deeply into the realm of foreign films, this is a must see. It is so artistically done, and provides many questions with few answers - but one's well worth talking about. This movie is mysteriously moving and well worth the watch.
(Quotes taken from Rotten Tomatoes)
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