D
Deleted member 23558
God make my neurotransmitters great inc
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Since Andrei Tarkovsky and Robert Bresson are two of my favorite filmmakers, it seems logical that any filmmaker attempting to evoke the meditative quality of their work would be in my wheelhouse, yet every Tarr film frustrates me. When I finally watched Satantango I realized what it was, there was no reason for the film and most shots to be this long. Take for instance this fantastic long take from Stalker. Not only is the scene more engaging because of movement within the frame, but also the suspense and the fear are emphasized by the claustrophobic lack of movement. In Stanatango there were so many scenes where the long take just felt unnecessary. For instance, in the scene where the traitor dictates a bunch of lies about the group, what exactly is learned after the first 2 minutes? There is no significant movement guided by action. There's nothing learned from having the shot last so long. What we know and feel at minute 2 is the same we feel at minute 20 so why have such an involved scene? His style reminds me a lot of the overly complicated long takes of DePalma's later career, beautiful technically but utterly pointless in their exploration of character and theme.
It's not like Tarr's style never works. Within Satantango there are some incredible moments. In particular I love the chapter that follows the old fat man who takes notes on everyone in town. For one, the parallels with later scenes is very well done, but also the long takes emphasizes the loneliness of the man. By watching him take notes, refill his cup, and leave the house we are stuck in his dull, sad life and we slowly become him. His effort to refill his alcohol bottle feels monumental to us because the time it takes is monumental. We feel the weariness of his decrepit body in the painful slowness of his movements.
It's not like I think Tarr is the worst thing in cinema and I'm glad he exists. In each of his films I find such incredible moments that it makes up for the overwhelming amount of frustration I see in him. His work just didn't feel purposeful enough and far too often I think he shot a long take because he could rather than because it made sense.
It's not like Tarr's style never works. Within Satantango there are some incredible moments. In particular I love the chapter that follows the old fat man who takes notes on everyone in town. For one, the parallels with later scenes is very well done, but also the long takes emphasizes the loneliness of the man. By watching him take notes, refill his cup, and leave the house we are stuck in his dull, sad life and we slowly become him. His effort to refill his alcohol bottle feels monumental to us because the time it takes is monumental. We feel the weariness of his decrepit body in the painful slowness of his movements.
It's not like I think Tarr is the worst thing in cinema and I'm glad he exists. In each of his films I find such incredible moments that it makes up for the overwhelming amount of frustration I see in him. His work just didn't feel purposeful enough and far too often I think he shot a long take because he could rather than because it made sense.
