I have been meaning to get around to seeing some work by Bela Tarr for a while, considering the collective international fangasm this guy is receiving. I certainly see the attraction: Bela Tarr has learned his craft from some of the best, notably Andrei Tarkovsky, and is capable of turning every element of the landscape and setting into a character in and of itself. He is also really good at using sound editing and music to add an extra dimension to the already almost three-dimensional fluid motion of the camera, which typically tracks along a single access back and forth constantly revealing another angle. One of his best shots in this film is an exterior where an old woman approaches and cuts off the frame with an umbrella, showing that Tarr even uses props and costuming to create simple, effective compositions.
The movie follows a small community of Hungarians, especially Karrer, as they live out the misery of their stolid existence but manage, by the end, to find some form of redemption in each other--sorta. The dance sequence near the end is a real moment of transcendence, but the scenes immediately following indicate a return to hopelessness and despair. Tarr is smart and keeps the actual story completely to the visual elements, leaving the dialog to be long and exhaustive character analyses and themes about Judgement Day, et al. After all, the movie is called Damnation. Anyway, it can be distracting to follow one thread of thought in the foreground while in the background the actual story is happening, but on one hand that is sort of the point, and on the other hand the nature of Tarr's long takes are such that he is capable of revealing exactly which element you are supposed to be paying the most attention to. I particularly liked the scene where the bartender confronts Karrer about his self-involvement, as it is one of the aspects of the character that really drags the movie down.
The best praise that I can give to this movie is that I did not feel the two hour playlength, despite the long takes. I give the biggest credit to the use of sound, much background noise of which helped psychologically move the spectator into the frame of the movie. Ultimately Tarr echoes one of his own character's statements, "I love watching rain," and invites the viewer to share in the pleasure as well, as most of the movie is sort of like watching a storm through a window and allowing yourself to go into a daze.
--PolarisDiB
The movie follows a small community of Hungarians, especially Karrer, as they live out the misery of their stolid existence but manage, by the end, to find some form of redemption in each other--sorta. The dance sequence near the end is a real moment of transcendence, but the scenes immediately following indicate a return to hopelessness and despair. Tarr is smart and keeps the actual story completely to the visual elements, leaving the dialog to be long and exhaustive character analyses and themes about Judgement Day, et al. After all, the movie is called Damnation. Anyway, it can be distracting to follow one thread of thought in the foreground while in the background the actual story is happening, but on one hand that is sort of the point, and on the other hand the nature of Tarr's long takes are such that he is capable of revealing exactly which element you are supposed to be paying the most attention to. I particularly liked the scene where the bartender confronts Karrer about his self-involvement, as it is one of the aspects of the character that really drags the movie down.
The best praise that I can give to this movie is that I did not feel the two hour playlength, despite the long takes. I give the biggest credit to the use of sound, much background noise of which helped psychologically move the spectator into the frame of the movie. Ultimately Tarr echoes one of his own character's statements, "I love watching rain," and invites the viewer to share in the pleasure as well, as most of the movie is sort of like watching a storm through a window and allowing yourself to go into a daze.
--PolarisDiB