Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

kurosawakira I saw Béla Tarr's "Sátántangó" (1994) for the first time in 2005 with a friend of mine, and ever since we've seen it annually on that day with a gathering of friends. Needless to say, it's a wonderful film just as it is a wonderful experience. An utterly gorgeous black-and-white cinematography and use of chiaroscuro, Tarr's brilliant remaining of László Krasznahorkai's novel is like reinventing time in cinematic terms. The first four hours are mystical, energetic, a seemingly never-ending crescendo of expectation and thrill. There the set-up is carefully planned, everything put in place, the environment made familiar to us and a slew of characters waltzed in front of us. Irimiás is our Iagoan, satanic genius, the man behind the arras, and his ghostly presence hovers over the mundane chores of the villagers and everything they do, and don't do.Having seen the film a dozen times, it always fizzles out a bit after Irimiás' brilliant monologue, which is a central showpiece of manipulative power. Then, unfortunately, the release after the four-hour crescendo fails to impress. It lags, seems to lose focus and meander aimlessly, just like its characters. The last thirty minutes, however, regain the film's majestic stamina: in fact, I think the last half an hour is poignant, chilling, and cinema filmed by Tarr, including the best of "Kárhozat" (1988) and the finale of "Werckmeister harmóniák" (2000).Films that are longer than usual often teach us a lot about ourselves as people. I, for one, find this one a lot easier to sit through than Tarr's swan song, "A torinói ló" (2011). "Sátántangó" is humorous just as it is bleak, but there's still life in it that is rekindled, whereas Tarr's last film approaches the heights of "King Lear" as the ultimate portrayal of emptiness.

poikkeus Goaded on by curiosity, I saw SATANTANGO at the Pacific Film Archive several years ago. Critics gushed that SATANTANGO was without parallel - but two hours into the movie, I was less than impressed. Very little plot. Black and gray photography. Segments that went on seemingly forever, with no clear point. Much of the audience filed out early, and I left early, too. Was the director, Bela Tarr, trying to make the film an endurance contest? More recently, I consulted the Internet Movie Database to see what was written about SATANTANGO. The cumulative rating of 8.5 of 10 was impressive, as were the write-ups. "A stunning experience," says one viewer. "Biggest cinematic experience in history," says another. The kudos go on and on. But if you scroll down the database, you'll also find the negative reviews. "Self- indulgent, annoying," one writer says. One of the more measured responses is, "I do not regret that I saw this movie, but I certainly to not think it was a day well-spent" - after giving the film a 1 of 10 rating. So, I decided to see the film again - this time on DVD - to determine if my initial dismissal at the PFA was warranted. And I learned how to appreciate a different kind of movie - and even come to enjoy it. My hints to a naive viewer:Calibrate your attention span. The individual takes of SATANTANGO are unusually long; the first scene, set outside a pen for steers and chickens, lasts over eight minutes, with no cuts. Just a single tracking shot. This happens through the entire film; in fact, the long takes and slow tracking shots give the film its rhythm and style. If you go into SATANTANGO expecting a film paced to contemporary standards, you'll be disappointed. If you can, take a few breaks between segments - and ask questions.Learn about recent European history. It's possible to enjoy SATANTANGO on its own merits, but understanding recent history helps greatly. The film dramatizes the economic depression that gripped the break-up of the Soviet blok, and things gone very bad, indeed. There's crumbling infrastructure everywhere. People struggle to get by, just barely, by depending on agricultural collectives (like the one depicted in SATANTANGO). This gray, depressing worldview would eventually engulf the region. Structure, structure, structure. The key to appreciating SATANTANGO lies in understanding the film's structure. Another reviewer here aptly mentioned Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON, wherein the film's narrative is defined by a single event - told in entirely different ways by the main characters. SATANTANGO uses a similar technique; several characters experience the same segment of time from different points of view. The eight-minute "preface" introduces us to the collective itself - where the barebones infrastructure is shown. From here, each segment of the film is separated by an inter-title; when a new segment starts, we see the same action - from a new character's POV. But nearly every segment involves leaving this wet, cold, impoverished piece of hell - or try to exploit it. Dance "the Satantango." The musical segments can open the way to appreciating and even enjoying SATANTANGO. Music is important for Tarr, and the repeating figures of dance are a metaphor. The tango is a repeating dance that abides by the rule, "one step forward, two steps back." It's reflected in the lives of the characters, who take one step forward in their lives, but always end up two steps back. The "chapters" of the film don't move forward like a typical narrative work; it repeats the same segment of time, over and over again. If you're frustrated by the fact that the movie seems static - that's the point. SATANTANGO is a story that can't move forward; it repeats the same familiar song, over and over - until a development determines a new course of action for the characters.I didn't enjoy SATANTANGO when I saw it the first time, but I've since become a fan. The investment of time may seem extreme to some, but it's more than worthwhile.

tependris I was familiar with Tarr's "Harmonies of Werkmeister", but i think there is noway that they match this unprecedented masterpiece! Take 7 hours of your lifetime and watch the film, not a single minute is needless! Perfect cinematography, pace, music, photography. Acting was flawless and i think that many of the actors were amateurs. The whole child's episode offered one of the most moving performances in the history of cinema! Tarkovsky sure is an influence for Tarr. While watching it the only scene that seemed needless was the Doctor-episode, but the end of the film put the things in order - or not? Nothing less than an heroic feat in the history of cinema! Right from the famous opening scene i was mesmerized. Cyclical time is the main subject of this movie (others are human seek for purpose, truth, religion) based on a Hungarian novel and i think that a basic key to try to grasp this movie's meaning is the art of intellectual creation trying to alter or transcend time and space (novel in a novel - movie in a movie). I'm going to watch "Damnation", as soon as I find the just position for Satantango in my top 10 movie list of all time, why not contesting my number 1, which is of course "Citizen Cane".

ddeboer I just finished the film. I watched it on DVD over a period of a few days. I refused to watch it all at once. I know some will criticize my method of viewing. I also know nobody in my social circle who would watch this with me. Sadly I am not able to talk about with this film with them so I came to this website yet again. I am not one of those people who are going to claim the film a masterpiece and the most amazing film I've ever seen. Nor am I going to be one of those people that call this film a boring self indulgent mess. I can see both sides and I think both opinions have some merit. I like art cinema but I too have limits. I didn't sit through an entire Tarkovsky film at a theater and I found David Lynch's Inland Empire excruciating. But I saw Werkmesiter Harmonies and I was so mesmerized that I had to check out Satantango. The movie is basically a series of beautifully stark and minimal black and white photographs that move. The heavy atmosphere is quite palpable and I appreciated visiting this world where no technology, cars, or plumbing exist (and when you see a static laden TV later in the film you will be startled by it's seemingly alien presence in this film's environment). I liked the score which was alternately eerie, pretty, and even zany. I was impressed by images of tumbling windswept litter, roaming cows in what appears to be an abandoned farm village (perhaps my favorite shot), the gradual emergence and gradual dimming of light, a stark journey by foot into darkness and rain by a character who seems to border on death more than once, and an owl spying on some sleeping newcomers. I also loved the same periods of time being revisited from different points of view. This film was indeed boring in places. Anyone telling you that they were not bored at all during this film is not an ordinary person. For the most part, the long tracking shots and real time pacing create a hypnotic effect or give you a heightened sense of really being in the "here and now" with the film but there were many scenes that were simply mundane (getting dressed, breaking for lunch, packing for a trip) or absurd (long silences with actors simply looking into each others eyes before finally speaking). Finally, I absolutely hated the cat torture scene which lasted much longer than I expected. I almost quit viewing the film as I felt privy to a feline snuff film. The director has told people that the cat did not really die and he actually owns the cat as a pet. Be that as it may, you will still be watching a vulnerable and innocent animal being brutalized for an extended period mind you and I can't abide by that. This part of the story was indeed one of the more fascinating elements but the treatment of this animal for the sake of the film was rather inhumane. I wish more people would criticize this directorial choice but many don't even bring it up. I'm glad I made it through the film. I wanted to test my patience. I wanted to meditate on the images and the unique sense of time. But I can't say that I was moved by the story or it's characters. It was a fascinating exercise for me and nothing more. I enjoyed Werckmeister Harmonies much more and consider it a superior but less ambitious film.