Sátántangó

A cinematic marvel—and for all the moaning condescending reviewers complaining about the running time, I say this: If you can binge watch entire seasons of your favorite television shows...you can damn well watch This dazzling masterpiece by Bela Tarr...You might even find yourself a new fan.... —todd gold

Bela Tarr's magnum opus, Satantango, is one of those "legendary" films you hear so much about. It's a monumental work lasting a full 7 1/2 hours when screened in its entirety (which is the only way it should be shown). Does it live up to its reputation? Is it worth investing one third of an entire day to sit in a theater watching this film? Yes. In fact, when one watches it and completely surrenders to the mood and look of the film, one wishes that Bela had made his film longer. It is a deep, meditative, spellbinding work, a work of a great film artist that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Kubrick and Tarkovsky.I saw this in a theater in January 2006 after wanting to see it for ages. The plot, if you can call it that, of this film is it's the story of a failing collective farm in Hungary. Most of the residents want to take their money and split, but the 2 men in charge of the collective are returning after missing for 2 years. They're also police informers, but they don't seem to take it as seriously as they should. That's pretty much it. Recounting a plot for a film of this magnitude is rather pointless, as it is how Bela Tarr tells the story, not just the story.It has a non-linear structure, with many things told from different points of view. Many people made a lot of hay about Pulp Fiction and it's non-linear structure, and how innovative it was. This film was released the same year (it had started in 1991 but Bela ran out of money, eventually completing it in 1994), and this is a far more complex, artistic film than Pulp Fiction ever can be. Cinematically, the film is a masterpiece. The black and white cinematography is fantastic, and the film has roughly 150 shots in the entire film. Many music videos have over 500 cuts in them, and they run a few minutes. Here Tarr shows his mastery of the long take. The opening shot, which is very well known to those who have seen the film, runs nearly 9 minutes. It's a shot of a herd of cows roaming around the countryside. The camera doesn't even move for 3 minutes until the cows come together and start to roam. It sets the tone for the rest of the film. Quite often, films with long takes have short ones to offset them. This film doesn't. It's very meditative, bleak, sad, disturbing, and yet, there are hilarious (yes, hilarious) moments in it as well. Most people talk about this film in such somber tones. They don't realise that it's OK to have a little humour in an art film. The sadly late Susan Sontag, a cultural critic who I deeply admire, said about this film "devastating, enthralling for every minute of its seven hours. I'd be glad to see it every year for the rest of my life." She had similar accolades for another 7 1/2 hour film, Hitler: A Film from Germany (aka Our Hitler). Both times she was right. These films are worth every second of your time, and then some. They would make an excellent double featuer. She also mentioned this film in a scathing essay on the decline of serious film culture in the 1990's, and that Satantango was an unapologetic slap in the face to "foreign friendly" films of companies like Miramax. Many foreign films distributed in the 1990's were designed for crossover appeal. They were foreign, but had the commercialisation of Hollywood in them. Tarr's film doesn't. This is old school auteurism at its finest. This is a work of art, not a pseudo-intellectual film pretending to be art. One holds a deep admiration for Bela Tarr for making his film the way he wanted it. It is one of my all time favorite films.Facets's DVD is, as some have said here, not particularly good. The transfer is just average, which is unforgivable in this day and age (go to DVD Beaver for a more detailed analysis of the transfer). But Facets has added some fascinating extras here, something they didn't do on Werckmeister Harmonies and Damnation, two other Tarr masterpieces. There's are two short films, Journey on the Plain and Visions of Europe: Prologue, included here, and Tarr's TV film of the scottish play by Shakespeare. The two shorts are fascinating (Visions is one long take), and the scottish play film is excellent. It runs 67 minutes long, and is filmed in two takes. The first take is five minutes, then the credits, then the rest of the film (62 minutes) is all one long take. It's fascinating to see how Tarr plays it out, but he does superlatively, and makes one of the most memorable adaptations of the scottish play ever made. So while the transfer is average, the extras are very good, and maybe, just maybe, Facets will take some more pride in their future work and do good transfers.This is one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion. It's absolutely fascinating from beginning to end.

One of the greatest contemporary films by Bela Tarr, a master film director, based on book by Laszlo Krasznahorkai with score and acting by Vígh Mihály and many other talented actors. 7+ hours long, but worth every minute of its length

Evryfhing OK

It's funny.

You don't see cinema until you see "Satantango". An astonishing piece of art, in wich you can find the composition and sensibility of an artist in every single take.Take your time (it's run is seven hours) and find yourself in the movie.

"Depressing,Dissappointing,Disaggreeable, Dirty, Dank, Devilish, Depraved " . . .V E R Y D A R K in every respect! B&L (more black than white )Deficient in plot and storyline, Debauched people living wasteful, empty lives ! If this is beautiful, then give me : "ugly" ! This slow documentaryis dismal and the sellers are dishonest to lead us buyers on with false adjectives such as "masterpiece"and "imaginative universe" . Sopping mud is mud and when cows move around in the mud for "long takes" or "cuts" that is as excitingly imaginative as it gets . . . perhaps, this is meant for those whose brains are and have been steeped in peach brandy 24/7! which is all that these semi-paralytic, pathetic people seem to do and have a poor little idiot girl as a result who is left to fend for herself and literally "kill the cat", her only and solitary living companion . . . this is where I opted out . . .To stick with the alphabet "D" s and the failing grade "D"'s Do not waste : GBP 60, /( for me:NOK 521,31). . . on this rubbish! I am not ashamed to be of Hungarian descent . . . there is wonderful talent in Hungary . . . however, this was an enlightenment of living under an experimental political system and has really little to do with Hungarian culture (except the peach fruit trees and brandy. . . Such misery can befall any country, given to similar , poverty stricken communal government "collective-farming" conditions with its obvious, soul-destroying bleakness! We do not need it illustrated and dishonestly peddled to us for seven and a half hours! Those who revel in this film and are sorry that it did not go on and on should spend time , perhaps, within the walls of institutions where obligatory bleakness is the order of the day . . . prison, mental hosptial etc.( I bought it because my mom happened to be born and brought up for the first 10 years of her life, in Pécs, Hungary , in 1918, but, was then luckilyadopted by Holland where she lived until she became an adult and moved to England. If you have a heart and are human and empathetic,then I fail to see how this is beautiful , to view the tragic boredom and misery of others for 7 and a half hours ! What is beautiful about that !It is a "masterpiece" in patience that I sat through 2 and a half hours of it . . . Peter Berling must be the British seller because Gyorgy Feher, Joakim von Vietinghof and Ruth Waldburger are the producers of this waste of human endeavor, time , money and patience.

Lunghissimi piani sequenza mostrano una fattoria fatiscente in un paesaggio piatto, monotono, fangoso. I personaggi, che si muovono sotto una pioggia incessante, sono in attesa di qualcuno che deve arrivare e portare dei cambiamenti che loro sono incapaci di attuare. Il bianco e nero, mentre appiattisce ancora di più il paesaggio, scava all’interno dei personaggi, quasi per cercare di portare alla luce l’umanità che comunque si cela nel profondo, sotto una superfice di apatia, rassegnazione e miseria. Il resto del mondo sembra abitato solo da animali domestici e da poliziotti, il cui scopo è garantire l’ordine controllando e classificando le vite degli altri. La storia si sviluppa in dodici capitoli con rimandi temporali tra uno e l’altro che sottolineano la relatività del tempo e dei punti di vista. L’atteso messia non porterà però un mondo più giusto ma solo un nuovo tipo di solitudine, e all’ipotizzata distruzione del vecchio non succederà una nuova speranza. Come per il dottore che sigilla dall’ interno la finestra della sua casa e narra la stessa storia riprendendola dall’inizio.Peccato che i DVD non comprendano extra, perché in un film così complesso e con un regista come Bela Tarr così poco conosciuto in Italia, avrebbero potuto essere importanti.

Sette ore e un quarto di grandissimo cinema, che si guarda senza stancarsi.Protagonista assoluto è l'occhio della cinepresa, nella pietosa osservazione dello sfacelo di una piccola comunità agricola, che ha perso ogni ragione di essere e si dibatte vanamente, seguendo sogni e leader tanto ammalianti quanto inconsistenti, in una società nella quale solo burocrazia e polizia funzionano ancora.Fotografia della cupio dissolvi dei paesi comunisti e forse profezia di quella europea.

Il film è il capolavoro indiscusso di Bela Tarr, però, a mio avviso, risente di una versione in Dvd non troppo riuscita, la qualità dell'immagine e dell'audio non è proprio il massimo. Ne esistono sicuramente delle edizioni migliori!

Non è un film commerciale, anzi...non è un film ma un lungo poema sulla povertà, disperazione solitudine in quelle lande affascinanti , immaginate ma mai viste.Gesti piccoli diventano poesia ( farsi il bidet) sia per il vero BIANC O e NERO SIA PER LA AREALTA DELLA DURATA DI OGNI GESTO..Non posso godermelo in compagnia perchè finora non ho trovato UNO che capisca questo stile.

Ottimo film stupendo e spedizione veloce!! Grazie a chi me lo ha consigliato... E grazie per la velocità con cui è stato spedito!!