Sátántangó (1994, Béla Tarr)

It took a while, but I've finally managed to experience Béla Tarr's highly regarded masterpiece, Sátántangó. The experience was definitely exhaustive, but the result was not disappointing.

Like most of Tarr's films (Werckmeister Harmóniák, Karzohat), the plot is complex and abstract. Set within a rural and small farming community in Hungary, the disillusioned inhabitants - including three couples, an alcoholic doctor, and a young girl - are all lost souls. They soon find the opportunity to leave their rural lives behind when an enigmatic and calculating con man arrives. Vague description isn't it? Yet like most of Tarr's films, this is also unlike anything you've seen.

Some might consider Sátántangó to be a film where nothing really happens... and I believe that is how I would interpret it best. Nothing happens. The film is fluid, lyrical, slow-paced -- very slow-paced, and it dwells on - just as the lives of these characters do. They dejectedly inhabit a community where nothing happens. As the film progresses, they are torn through greed, betrayal, and hopelessness. Each segment of the film examines these characters who are so forlorn and discontented that we witness them roam and live within a desolate environment that seems like it offers no hope or prospects for any of them.


Béla Tarr captures almost every detail of their lives in stunning, gloomy black and white. I will go ahead and proclaim Tarr as the master of tracking shots as he has photographed some of the longest and meticulous, yet mesmerizing images on celluloid. The establishing shot of the film involves a herd of cows merely wandering through the town, but there is an incredible eeriness beneath. Then there's the famous dance scene which lasts in one, unbroken take for an astonishing ten minutes. Essentially, the film's shots and pacing is necessary for Tarr to pull us into every scene and share in his characters' discontents and hopelessness. With the painstaking and mesmerizing cinematography, the world of Sátántangó is a somewhat frightening one; with overcast skies, wet and boggy landscapes, coldness, bleakness, and despair. The community appears entirely detached from reality and appears rather pre-apocalyptic. Once absorbed into the world of Sátántangó , you immediately sense this detachment from reality.


Upon completion, I felt as if the hours flew by as I became so absorbed by this film. There are layers of scenes and images in this film that continue to haunt me. These scenes and images throughout are so layered, that it would take me several more viewings to dissect and absorb all at once. Though I definitely wouldn't mind. If you're familiar with Tarr's work, you should know that one has to be in the right mindset to watch. Yes, you should be prepared to have your mind blown, but also bear in mind that this one is quite an investment. With its notorious running length of almost 8 hours, I was less than inclined for about four months to get my ass into a seat and witness it. Also, a 7 1/2 hour, black and white foreign film would turn off the majority of mainstream viewers and as a result, Sátántangó is among the most unrecommendable films I've seen. Yet, if you're intrigued, I recommend you sit down and experience this challenging, yet haunting piece of art.

10/10