The Turin Horse

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I like "slow cinema." I like abstract narratives, B&W photography, Tarkovsky, a meditative pace. I have very much liked some (not all) prior Tarr films, including the much longer "Satantango." And admittedly with something like this, its success largely depends on the mood you're in--you need to be in a particular form of receptivity, willing to enter a sort of trance state. So, it's just possible if I ever brave "The Turin Horse" again, it will actually work with me. But I have to say that when I did see it, it seemed to me that it was Tarr plunging over the edge of self-parody. And once I started thinking, "What if it really WAS a satire of the most pretentious, solemn, nothing-happening stereotypical European art cinema?," I started laughing and could not stop. Even now I think of it as "Boiled Potatoes: The Movie" and have a spasm of amusement every time it crosses my mind.

There's no more magnificent combination than Béla Tarr directing and Milháy Vîg making the music. The film is simple and yet somehow gently thrilling!