Bela Tarr's 2007 The Man From London, a film one might categorize as "a grower," is the topic of this week's Foreign Region DVD Report, over at The Auteurs'.
“London” calling
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This is currently playing OnDemand, through August, I believe. I do intend to give it a look, although my experience with “The Werckmeister Harmonies” made me think that Tarr and I may not get along too well.
That shot you posted is a real stunner, Glenn; with the exception of the opening sequence, it’s probably my favorite shot in the film.
I love Bela Tarr, but “The Man From London” didn’t entirely work for me, though it has some very strong moments which have definitely stuck with me. Then again, I’ve only seen it once, so it may grow with a second or third viewing. I did however, leave with the feeling that a rerecorded and remixed soundtrack would benefit the movie immensely; not because of the dubbing so much as the fact that the density (or lack thereof) of the soundtrack didn’t really complement the sparse images particularly well, relying far too much on repetition. It worked well in Satantango and Werckmeister, but not here.
I saw Satantango last month and I was surprised by how relatively accessible it is. I mean, it’s not something I could start without first making peace with the fact that I was going to be sitting there for that amount of time, but after I pressed PLAY it completely consumed me. The first couple hours went by fast, and while around hour 5 or 6 the length began to feel, if not punishing, at least slightly discourteous, that sense quickly passed. And I can’t say I was ever bored, since the Faulknerian structure creates enough intrigue to balance out the long stretches of apparent inactivity.
After seeing Werckmeister Harmonies a few months before Satantango, I wrote a little about the movie and what Tarr’s style does, at least for me: “His shots go through several transformations as they’re unfolding: at a certain point they stop being about what they’re depicting and become about their own duration, and then again become about what they’re depicting, but in a more generalized, universal way. E.g. ‘this shot is about Janos walking’ becomes ‘this shot is about Janos walking for a long time’ becomes ‘this shot is about the human act of walking.'” Maybe that’s just wank, but I think I might be halfway onto something.
Need to see this one.
JF: No wank, I think your observations are very astute and catch Tarr’s project quite nicely. Yes, by all means catch this one!
So I caught this one. I enjoyed it but definitely get why it’s been divisive. It’s half formal exercise, half Satantango cast reunion (note that bit in the bar that reprises Satantango’s tango, only with a different member of Satantango’s cast trying to keep something balanced on his forehead this time), and since it’s been over 7 years since Werckmeister Harmonies, it’s reasonable to expect a little more in the bleak sublimity department than what we get here. I think this might be enough for now, though. Especially that opening.