My Favorite Movies

One of the most of important of the French New Wave, 'The 400 Blows' is an incredibly touching, semi autobiographical portrait of the deviant, yet very misunderstood adolesent Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud). The film was Truffaut's major breakthrough after moving to filmmaking from film critique in the now famous Cahiers du Cinema. Leaud's performance is perhaps just as important as Truffaut's direction, it is sincere and heartfelt, and we believe that he is Doinel, as if he has been him his entire life (thus it is no suprise that Truffaut continued the series of Doinel with Leaud in the lead over the years as he grew older).

The 400 Blows is one of the most influential, charming, and heartfelt films to come out of the French New Wave.

One of the top 5 films of all time. I would say it's baffling how poor its star rating is on this site, but its understandable. This is a brilliant film, one of the most intelligent and important ever made, not to mention influential.
Sure you don't get it, thats why you have to keep watching it. It never gets boring, in fact, it actually gets more interesting each time you see it. Brilliant film brought down by people who are unwilling to take the time to (attempt to) understand it and accept it for the piece of cinematic genius that it is

A quiet masterpiece revolving around a mistreated donkey.

What is this film? Is it just a deeply moving, real film? Is it something more - an exorcism of sorts? Louis Malle's 1987 masterpiece 'Au Revoir, Les Enfants' has had much said about it due to its personal nature for Malle. When the movie played at Telluride, Malle cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. I knew the first time i saw the film that it was autobiographical, so perhaps this helped make the film affect me a little more strongly. Whatever the case, Malle has created a heart breaking work of genius.

In a Catholic boarding school during the Nazi occupation of France, Julien Quietin, played by Gaspard Manesse as the character based around Malle, is no ordinary student. He is intelligent and different from the others. The school is also no ordinary boarding school- it has a secret. A new student arrives at the school one day, Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejtö) and becomes a sort of intellectual rival to Julien. After some early hostilities the boys begin to connect, and eventually become good friends.

Malle does not rely on overly dramatic sequences where not necessary as a way to build up the plot. Instead he shows us the monotonous daily routines of life at the school: prayers, mass, classes, music and exercise classes, and even air-raids.

Eventually, Julien comes to realize that his new friend is a Jew. He is too young to really understand what the big deal is. What is the problem with Jews he later asks? During parents visitation, Julien takes Jean along with his family as Jean has not seen his father in two years, or heard from his mother in months. While at the restaurant, French collaborators come in and begin harassing a long time customer because he is Jewish in a 'No-Jews-allowed' restaurant. Things seem like they are about to explode for the young boys but to their, and our, surprise the collaborators are thrown out by some German soldiers who are eating at the next table over.

We see the fear in Jean's eyes every time the Germans come near, and in one intimately close instance after the boys had been lost in the woods and stumbled upon a road and unrealizingly flag down a car driven by Nazi soldiers, Jean's turn to actions as he attempts to run away only to be caught. The soldiers do not realize that Jean is a Jew, or that the priest has been hiding Jews at his school. After all, why would they? They drive the boys back to the school.

These scenes work like magic on screen. The actions and words are hauntingly real and often naive. One day the Gestapo arrives looking for a Jean Kippelstein, and in a moment of unconscious reaction, Julien unwittingly outs his friend. The Jewish students are rounded up, and the priest, Father Jean, is taken away with them and the school is now to be closed.

Louis Malle has said that he wanted to make this film a long time ago, but could not find the strength. The film is not a direct parallel to the real events, but perhaps more a parallel to Malle's memories and guilt about the incidence. The end result on film is a stunningly beautiful and incredibly touching portrait of friendship, guilt, frustration and anger and I'm sure it worked wonders for Malle as an exorcism of his past.

Sometimes there are moments we almost don't realize take place, and often they can be some of the most important in our lives, and 'Au Revoir, Les Enfants' is a haunting testament to how these moments can change your life, for better or for worse.

Widely considered the best silent film ever.... I won't disagree

The original 'cool' movie. Modern cinema started with A bout de Souffle

I first saw this movie a couple of years ago. I didn't really know what to think of it at first. The soundtrack on the DVD is a little messy and the acting was a bit strange. I knew it had affected me though in a way that not many other movies had. As time went by I began to realize just how much of an impact the movie had on me. It really, really stuck with me. One night I found myself thinking more and more about Come and See, and decided that I had to watch it again immediately. I ran out after midnight and rented it, and watched it 3 times over the next week. I started to see why the film had been haunting me and sticking around my thoughts.
Elem Klimov directs the film, starring Aleksei Kravchenko as Florya, a young boy who desires to fight with the Partisan's army against the invading Nazi army. He digs until he finds a rifle, then the next day he is off to a camp in the middle of the woods. The scene there is chaotic. The fighters try have their photo taken, in an effort muddled as everyone keeps messing up their positions. Florya spots Glasha (Olga Mironova), a young girl, who has the younger fighters swooning, but also seems to have some sort of relationship with the leader of the camp. What that relationship is exactly we never find out.
Florya gets left behind on the attack supposedly because he is too young, and because another older fighter needs some new boots, and swaps with the new kid. The anxious Florya is upset by this decision and he takes to the woods for some solitude. He cries and then discovers that near by Glasha is also crying at being left at the camp, more so for being left alone than behind. The two bond and soon end up in an open field as German planes attack encampment. Nearly every scene that follows teeters on the brink of madness on film.
Come and See is, quite frankly, one of the most maddening films ever made. The key is the soundtrack. Florya is struck deaf for a few moments by the first bombardment bombs. Sounds are muffled, but not like anything you would expect or are used to seeing in a Hollywood film. The soundtrack is a mix of strange ringing, unexplainable sounds and random notes of music, adding to the atmosphere of chaos that the two youngsters have now been thrown into. Much of the film has this style of soundtrack, which makes Florya's descent into madness so much more poignant.
After returning to Florya's village only to find it deserted (save for one frightening shot of its inhabitants), the two flee to an island across the swap. To get there they must fight through the mud, which looks as if it threatens to swallow them whole. The soundtrack again becomes ambient and menacing in its strange blends of sounds. They find the remaining villagers, who inform them that Florya's mother and sisters have been killed by the Germans. The young boy's decent into madness intensifies even further. In one of the most memorable scenes in the film, Florya's hair is cut off to be placed on a model Hitler. This scene will be the last time we see Glasha in the movie, as Florya then goes with a party to collect food for the starving villagers - one of the scenes directly inspired by Klimov's late wife's masterpiece, The Ascent.

The most famous scene, and the one that will never leave you for the sake of its pure chaotic cruelty, is of a village being ransacked by Nazi soldiers. The scene is frenetic and culminates in a barn stuffed with the townspeople being burned and shot apart. Another famous scene involves Florya shooting a photo of Hitler, each bullet making time reverse. The photo goes back in time until it is a picture of Hitler as a baby on his mothers lap. He is an innocent infant, and Florya cannot bring himself to fire another shot. Come and See is filled with such gloriously insane moments.

Obviously, Come and See was filmed with influences of Soviet Propaganda in mind, but that hardly matters. The film is so well made and so maddening you can't help but be totally absorbed by the experience. It has a hypnotic quality about it. Its horrors are not the jump out of your seat or bloodbath kind. It is horrifying in its poignant representation of the cruelty people are capable of in war.

I can't recall seeing another film that expressed the descent into madness so convincingly as Klimov does here. It's a sensual bombardment fit for a psychological experiment. By the end of the film, you feel like you've just experienced what it must be like to lose your mind. The film has no interest in the desensitizing of violence in war. It is instead interested pain war causes to our collective soul. War is not an effort of nobility, but one of survival in the face of intolerable cruelty.
Elem Klimov created this film out of the viewer's senses, making them essentially another character. This is aided especially by the performance of Aleksei Kravchenko. His face is haunting as it appears to age decades over days. Come and See draws you in and forces us to experience what the characters. There is no safe zone to remind us that this is just a movie.

"Nobody's perfect. There was never a perfect person around. You just have half-angel and half-devil in you."

This line delivered by Linda Manz in Terrence Malick's gorgeous masterpiece, 'Days of Heaven,' sums up everything you need to know about life on earth. Much of Malick's themes have been devoted to man versus nature, and the idea of perfection is not outside that realm - imperfection is the nature of mankind.

Richard Gere, in his greatest performance, plays Bill, a hot headed, lower class worker, who in a moment of mistake accidentally kills his boss in a Chicago factory. We see that the boss is hassling Bill, but we never know why, we just see faces but no distinguishable voices over the roar of the factory. Bill, his sister (Manz) and his girlfriend Abby, played by Brooke Adams, take off for the panhandle, hitching a ride on a train. Bill and Abby tell everyone that they are all brothers and sisters, because as you know, "people talk." They find work on a farm owned by the rich farmer, played by Sam Shepard. Many other films would make the farmer the bad guy, giving him trade mark heel characteristics, but Shepard's farmer, who we learn is dying, is soulful, and yearning for love. He see's Abby, and is interested, and eventually will ask her to stay - after Bill hears the doctor tell him he has about a year to live. They decide to stay, and after some persuasion from Bill, Abby will marry the dying farmer so that they can be heir to his fortune. Suspicions arise, and hearts and lives are broken, and the Days of Heaven will come to a halting end.

The cinematography is some of the most breathtaking ever captured on film. 'Days of Heaven' could even considered a masterpiece for its aesthetic beauty alone, if the story were not so terrific. Everything about the film is magnificent. Ennio Morricone's score is haunting and beautiful. You will remember it forever, along with Linda Manz' unforgettable narration, likely one of the greatest voice overs in film history. Many have criticized Malick's distancing techniques and muted emotions. We are always kept at arms length away. But these people don't realize that the story is a memory, a memory from the real main character - Linda. Also, in a method that Robert Bresson used, by distancing us emotionally, it leaves us to add our own emotions and imaginations in the story, heightening the power of the film, as long as you are willing not to be spoon-fed what to think.

Terrence Malick is a filmmaker who came out of nowhere with his talents already fulfilled, and he has not stopped since. His films are filled with such heartbreaking beauty and symbolism, and he is one of the few living filmmakers who truly are creating art, rather than just entertainment. He had one of the greatest debuts ever, in the mesmerizing and haunting 'Badlands,' the deepest and most philosophical 'The Thin Red Line,' which is likely the greatest contemporary war film (as suggested by the late Gene Siskel)and the stunningly beautiful 'The New World.' His films are deep and meaningful, and to get into the underlying symbolism and themes of them here would be pointless, and better saved for a long essay.

Days of Heaven is one of the greatest, and most beautiful films ever made. Cinema is at a low point recently, but as long as Terrence Malick is still making films, we still have some heavenly art to look forward to.

PS - Hopefully someone like Criterion will create a new DVD, as the current one has some soundtrack problems. Imagine seeing it restored, visually and audibly.

Review Forthcoming

I used to consider Gates of Heaven and Harlan County USA as in deadlock for the best documentary ever made, but upon watching Harlan County USA again and all the extras available on the Criterion dvd, I have no choice but to move it into the sole number One position. The sense of dread and danger of Harlan County USA elavates it to a whole new level, making it perhaps the most watchable documentary ever made as well - its tense subject matter and the incredible footage captured by Kopple and her crew make it play as a feature film. Kopple's intimate participatory style makes the film even more poignant. The film crew was there with the strikers, amidst the bullets and beatings, at one point being singled out for attack and were beaten by the mining company militants. That they were there meant that they got some absolutely incredible footage, such as the scene described above, and when they catch the main strike breaker pointing his gun at them on film.
Harlan County USA is also an important social document, now housed in the national film registry for preservation. Scenes such as children being washed in buckets, in the 1970s, in the "beacon of freedom and democracy" The United States of America, really get beyond the rhetoric and show how the government and the big business agenda often trumps the rights of workers - its about maximizing profits not lives.

Mini Review:
Another Antonioni masterpiece. A visually beautiful tale of alienation and the shallow upper class society. It's a strange movie when first viewed, with a plot structure that lingers and seems to be about one thing and then jumps to somthing else. Its a great movie with beautiful cinematography and deep meaning.

Full Review forthcoming

Anonioni's finale to the aliention trilogy. Probably the most difficult one to grasp as the plot and its characters are the most inconsequential of the three films. Wonderfully filmed, and the final sequence is very powerful in its employment of symbolic imagery.

The film opens to the semi-annoying sound of a small birds chirp in a dull, grey room that appears to be empty. After a moment we realize the room is not empty - a man lights a cigarette lying on his bed. Meet Jef Costello, played by french pretty boy Alain Delon. The opening shot sets the pace for the rest of movie. There are no high speed chases or wild action sequences, and the star barely speaks a word. Costello is one of the coolest characters in film history. Delon plays his character to perfection. If one did not know anything about him it was likely you would not realize he was a pretty boy. His face is expressionless throughout almost the entire movie - it is a tribute to Delon that he can express emotion on only a couple occasions while still remaining facially expressionless.

Costello is a hit-man, loyal to his boss: himself. The title of the film, Le Samourai, suggests of course that Costello is a student of the Samourai code. But is he really? The movie also opens with a quote "There is no solitude greater than the Samurai's, except for that of a tiger in the jungle. Unless perhaps it be that of the tiger in the jungle." This supposedly comes from the Book of the Samurai, which as it turns out was an invention of director Jean-Pierre Melville.

The story plays out as Jef completes a hit on night club owner, after setting up an almost too perfect alibi, but on his way out the door is seen by a the beautiful piano player. The police round up a number of people who look fit the description; Costello happens to be rounded up while at a card game. His alibi is strong, and mysteriously the piano player claims that this is definitely not the man she saw; another man who watched Costello walk out of the club also said with certainty that this is not the man. Another club patron claims that he saw this man at the club at the time of the murder and claims this is the culprit. The remaining two witnesses aren't sure, but don't think this was the killer. We know its Costello, the third man believes it is him, but why do the two who had the best look claim that this is not the man they saw? The plot evolves from here: The police believe Costello is lying and follow him everywhere; the men who gave Jef the hit will betray him and come after him as well.

Melville is meticulous in his direction, just as Costello is in his actions. There is great detail paid to the actions of Costello leading up to the hit, from stealing a car while trying a number of keys, placing those that do not work in a perfect line on the seat beside him, to his alibi with a woman (played by Delon's real life wife) who says she does not love him to the police, but we get the feeling she does indeed. There are moments of silent comedy that you could almost miss: The men riding with Costello on the way to the police station, none of whom look anything like the description, some old and decrepit; there is a scene in which Jef opens his cupboard and we see on the top of it bottles of water and packs of cigarettes lined up perfectly. None of this is laugh out loud funny, but incredibly clever and lets you know that Melville knows exactly how Costello should be.

As stated, the film is not full of action. It is a film where almost nothing happens. But no other film in which nothing happens has ever been so riveting. There is a famous metro chase scene that moves at probably the slowest pace of any chase scene in cinematic history, but it is enthralling. The pace sets up more importantly the themes of the movie. What are they? Its been debated widely. Searching for home? Mental Breakdowns? Morality, and loneliness? I would argue that it is not one, but likely all of these. The title reflects Jef's solitude and loneliness more than his code of honor. The final scene reflects many things about what we just witnessed, and has left some confused about what happens. Costello does a number of things in the latter half of the movie we do not understand, and that Melville gives us no answers to. Costello returns to the night club for example, buys a whiskey, pays for it, and then promptly leaves without drinking it. Why? Who knows.

Le Samourai is a classic, filled with pitch perfect performances and is the inspiration for a number of modern day films. John Woo has called it an absolutely perfect film, and he is likely right. It is a meticulously developed project, with virtually no flaws. It's probably the best film about hit men ever made, which is a narrow classification of this film, because it is more than just the story of a hit-man. Il N'y a pas De Plus Profonde Solitude Que Celle Du Samourai

Revamped Review forthcoming

Satantango, Bela Tarr's 1994 7.5 hour masterpiece is incredible first and foremost in that despite its length and multiple shots of literally nothing taking place it is never dull. This is one of the most incredible films I have ever seen. Compiled of only 150 shots, many of which last for over 10 minutes, Tarr and his cinematographer manage to create a hypnotic and beautiful depiction of a desolated communal farm in post-communism Hungary. The scenery is at once withered and ugly, yet compellingly beautiful. The land is muddy and the buildings are in shambles. There are two scenes where main characters walk with the camera following as multitudes of trash blow along with them in the wind, creating a somehow hypnotic effect.
The film opens with literally a 10 minute shot following a herd of cows wandering through a seemingly rundown farm town. The camera makes what has to be one of the most incredible pans in cinematic history panning to the left for most of the ten minute scene. Who else but Bela Tarr would try such a thing; and who else but Bela Tarr could make it work so well.
The film follows the people of the farm in essentially three sections. The first section begins by showing Futaki having an affair with Schmidt?s wife. Schmidt we find out is planning to run away with the money the town has made over the past year but comes home and is confronted by Futaki who has snuck out only to come right back and knock on the door. They hear that the smooth talking Irimias and his sidekick Patrina, who have been believed dead by the town, are on their way back to town. The other residents, who all plan to take their money and leave town, seem to be under the thumb of Irimias and after hearing of his return meet at the local pub and discuss what to do and wait nervously for Irimias?s arrival.
The scenes are broken down into 12 steps, such as in a Tango. Nearly all of which are connected in that we see what has already happened from another perspective. The first section as noted involves Schmidt and Futaki; the second and one of the most hypnotic in the film is of an overweight and frail doctor who sits in front of his window documenting the actions of the townspeople. He details how Futaki is slipping out of Schmidt?s house, and then goes back in, a scene which we?ve already seen except this time it?s from the window of the doctor?s house. The doctor hulks around and then realizes he must leave his home to get more alcohol. Scenes go on like this weaving in out and out the story line from different points of view.
The first third of the film deals with the realization of Irimias? return, and exposes the corruption of the citizen?s capitalism by their greed. The second third is the post powerful. It documents a little girl who is conned by her brother and ignored by her mother. The only thing she has power over is her cat, and in order to feel that superiority she tortures and poisons the cat. I will not reveal how, but this section turns to tragedy which will be exploited by the smooth talking Irimias.
The final third deals with the corruption of Irimias?s communist plan for the farm. He convinces them to give him the power and all the money that has been saved up only to con them. This section is brooding with satire, as is the first in some ways, and has shades of Orwell?s animal farm ? the dumb and obedient townspeople conned into subjugation by the charming Irimias.
Essentially, Satantango is a 2 hour movie shown without its cuts bringing it to 7.5 hours. The film never uses its drawn out scenes to further the narrative, but neither does it use them for simply aesthetic purposes either. The film?s length and incredibly long shots seem to be rubbing the atmosphere right in our nose. Many shots have the camera move, raising and weaving and circling defining space like no other film. Some of the extended scenes are incredibly funny in bizarre ways, such as an extended dance seen (from which the film gets its title) where the villagers get drunk waiting for Irimias and Patrina, dancing to accordion music while the little girl peers in through the window; and another scene that circles the room while two officers dictate and type out Irimias?s statement, cleverly changing vulgar statements (which I found hilarious) and in the middle of it all, sitting down and having a snack in real time! These scenes sound perhaps boring, but somehow Tarr makes them seem riveting and when they end it?s almost sad to see it. Another incredible extended sequence sees the camera facing down at the sleeping villagers circling them ever so slowing as a narrator describes their dreams.

Satantango is a film like no other. Its scope is breathtaking and its style is beautifully crafted. Tarr?s films are almost like ballets: the camera moves always gracefully and in ways that we would only imagine that a cut was necessary, never faltering and always creating incredibly beautiful dances, and they set a mood perhaps better than anyone else. Satantango is Tarr?s masterwork, epic in every sense of the word. If you get the chance to see this one, do yourself a favor and experience all 7 and a half hours of its majestic and drab atmosphere. Satantango is film for the sake of film and art for the sake of art.

I first saw Terrence Malick's take on James Jones Novel, The Thin Red Line, the year that it came out. I didn't know what to make of it. Perhaps it was my age, I was younger then, and could not understand it. It wasn't full of battle scenes and gore like Saving Private Ryan. I got bored.

Since then I've seen the film numerous times; what made me go back and give it another shot I do not know. What I do know, is that The Thin Red Line is the film that turned me onto film. Over the years since the films release I've fell into love with it. In my mind, there are few movies of the 90s that match its greatness. The Thin Red line is frankly a modern masterpiece.

Like most masterpieces, it is bound to be misunderstood. I can think of very few other films that are filled with such depth and beauty. Like Malick's other films, what you see isn't necessarily what you get. There is an abundance of underlying messages and meaning in the film, making it very difficult to grasp. Also, the films style is strange, having an almost total lack of narrative, making it, as Martin Scorcese put it, an endless picture. The names and voice overs are difficult to distinguish and often indifferent to what is happening on screen, but it's all done for a reason. War has faces and names dropped on you out of nowhere with recruits and the chaotic nature of it all; often people disappear amid the bullets and the carnage, and new faces replace them.

It has been said that the movie has no main character. This could be true, but there are multiple main characters, similar to the book. Witt, Tall, Welsh, Staros, Bell - all main characters. Perhaps the best way to describe it is to call the whole company, C company, the main character.

The film follows the company through Guadalcanal, dropping into the lives of various characters here and there, all trying to deal with the war in their own way. It is difficult to get into a descriptive plot outline simply because the film is almost plot less. Those who've read the book will recognize the machinations, but the film was more inspired by the novel, rather than a film version of it. It would be virtually impossible to film the book as it is.

War is chaos, and the film clearly displays this, and recognizes that war does not ennoble men, it "turns them into dogs. Poisons the Soul." The film focuses more on how those men that are thrust into it try to cope with the dehumanization, all looking for inner peace. The Thin Red Line is filled with beautiful images and beautiful poetry; starkly contrasting the horror of reality. The film also contains one of the most powerful scenes I have ever seen. The scene involves the company charging through the woods looking to attack a Japanse bivouac. They walk through the fog carpeted forest as you hear only the whiz of bullets passing by from seemingly out of nowhere. When they finally reach the site of the attack, the camera moves frantically, chasing soldiers here and there, from the viewpoint of both American and Japanese soldiers. The music in this scene is quite possibly the key to why it becomes so powerful. Another scene, a death scene, haunts me every time i see it.

The Thin Red Line evokes a sense of tranquility in the middle of chaos, and begs questions that may possibly never be answered, but need to be asked nonetheless. The late Gene Siskel called the film on its release "the finest contemporary war film." The film is still misunderstood years later, but its popularity is growing and its finally becoming regarded as a masterpiece. Martin Scorcese has called this the second best film of the 90s- it should be noted that the film he chose as number 1, was made in the 80s, it just never gained popularity in North America until the 90s.

Unlike films like Saving Private Ryan, who's repeat viewings offer nothing new, you can watch The Thin Red Line time after time after time, and see a different film every time.

This film touched me personally. It showed me that film was more than entertainment - it not only is legitimate are, but the ultimate medium for it.

The film opens as the local pub is closing up. The barkeep orders the drunken townsfolk to leave, but they inform him that they must was for Janos to arrive so that he can explain the forthcoming eclipse. He arrives, and uses the drunks as his models for the planets and stars. He describes the eclipse in a vibrant story telling style ? ?will the hills march off?? The barkeeper has enough and orders them to leave before the end. Janos walks off the camera in front of him backing away. He is immersed in light surrounded by darkness as he makes his way down the street to Mihaly Vig?s mesmerizing score. This is all done in two shots, lasting around 11 minutes. As typical in a Tarr film, many if not most shots will last near ten minutes.
The director, Bela Tarr is widely regarded as one of the greatest modern filmmakers, though (as noted by Roger Ebert) is more talked about than seen. This was the first film of Tarr?s that I saw, and it caught me hook, line, and sinker. The beautiful black and white cinematography, incredibly long takes, and hauntingly sparse soundtrack creates a masterful atmosphere. The film revolves around Janos, who is well liked in his small village. He goes to great lengths to care for his ailing uncle, a music scholar, who spends all his time trying to readjust the mistakes of Andreas Werckmeister. A carnival comes to town under the cover of night, with the giant carcass of a whale, and a mysterious character called the Prince, who rumor has it has a devoted following of worshippers who follow his every word as he incites riots and stirs up violent sentiment. We overhear a conversation that describes how whole families are disappearing, and that good honest people are fearful to leave their houses. Janos becomes mystified by the whale and the humor of the lord for creating such a bizarre and huge creature after seeing it for himself.
He is visited by his Auntie Tunde, the ex-wife of his uncle. She demands that he must get his uncle to persuade the town?s citizens to sign up and donate to a fund so that she and the police chief may organize a group to restore order in the town. If his uncle fails to do so by 4pm that day, she will move back in. They follow her orders as the camera follows them around town. Tarr thinks nothing of simply watching someone walk for minutes at a time. Later that night, Janos will be asked to go down to the town square and see who was talking to whom and what is going on. He goes and finds that fires have been lit. He sneaks into the truck to see the whale again, and overhears the circus manager arguing with the Prince and his translator. He demands that the Prince must not be allowed out to destroy another town but he is powerless to stop him. He tells them that they are free from his services and he will not take responsibility anymore. Janos runs off as the camera paces in front of him, close up on his face, as we still hear the voice of the Prince. We hear riots break out behind him. He stops running and heads back.
Much has been made to attempt to place symbolism on the film. Tarr has claimed however that his films contain none. Nevertheless, the film is filled with such metaphysical overtones and undertones that you don?t have to look hard to suggest symbolism. The incredible, balletic organization of the shots works to create a dense and atmospheric mood. In all of Tarr?s films there are extended shots of people doing mundane things. The task of eating is particularly present in his films, and long shots of people walking. There are many of these moments in Werckmeister Harmonies, one of which does come across as slightly trying and overreaching. Most however are incredibly hypnotic. Take for example a shot of the mob as they make their way to a hospital through the streets. The camera hovers above them, moving backwards for minutes, no dialog or music, just the sounds of footsteps in unison. The most complex shot of film comes as the mob ransacks the hospital beating patients. They come across a naked old man, standing, waiting to be attacked. The mob stops, as Vig?s score sad score kicks in, and are brought back to reality as they leave in unison again, this time somberly. We discover that Janos has been watching them, or perhaps participating.
Werckmeister Harmonies? beautiful compositions, deliberate lack of story telling and existential themes blend to create a film that is outside of time. All of Tarr?s films create a specific and empty sense of atmosphere. He looks to plunge us into the world of his characters. The final shot of the film lands us back in the town square as Janos?s uncle finally goes to see the whale his nephew has been begging him to see, the whale which lead to Janos?s intrigue, what got him caught up in the events of spawned by the Prince. The truck it was in has been turned to rubble, the whale lies on the ground. He looks it in the eye, and walks off in sadness rather than fascination.