On January 3, 1889 in Turin, Italy, Friedrich Nietzsche would have a mental breakdown as he tried to calm down a horse being whipped by the carriage driver leading to a period of health issues that would plague for the next eleven years until his death. The film is about the carriage driver who whipped the horse following this incident as it is told in the span of six days in which he and his daughter endure a period of isolation in their desolate home as they cope with heavy winds, a horse that refuses to eat, and events that play into their state of despair. The film’s screenplay by Bela Tarr and Laszlo Krasznahorski is largely straightforward though it opens with narration in black about what happened to Nietzsche as it would then cut to the man who was meant to be Nietzsche’s carriage driver in Ohlsdorger (Janos Derzsi) who is taking his horse home through the Great Hungarian Plain as he deals with heavy winds and dust wind upon arriving home.
For the six next days, Ohlsdorger and his daughter (Erika Bok) live in a stone hut doing the same daily routines while checking on a horse that refuses to eat as they also eat the same meals and look out the window. On the first day, the daughter wakes up to get water from a well to boil the potatoes as well as tend to the fire and help her father get dressed as it is part of a daily routine where they also check on the horse. The second day would be much of the same except they get a visitor in Bernhard (Mihaly Kormos) who makes claims about the nearby town being destroyed as it would play into this sense of dread where Ohlsdorger and his daughter get a visit from gypsies the next day as it would lead to all sorts of trouble.
Tarr’s direction is definitely stylish in its own way as it consists of 30 shots for a film with a 156-minute running time with shots averaging up to 5 minutes as it is shot on a valley in Hungary. The film wouldn’t have any dialogue for the first 22 minutes other than Mihaly Raday’s narration as it plays into the events leading up to the film as well as commentary on the events around the protagonists including a book that the daughter reads upon her encounter with the gypsies. There are some close-ups and medium shots that occur throughout the film but Tarr and co-director/editor Agnes Hranitzky would often utilize wide shots as well as these gazing images that would linger onto something for more than a few minutes. There would also be these intricate tracking shots including some Steadicam shots such as the daughter opening the front door with a couple of pails to get water from the well as the camera would follow them. There is also this sense of repetition in how a daily routine would begin as Tarr and Hranitzky would shoot the same routines but would then place the cameras in a different position to get a different perspective as it adds a unique feel to the way a day is portrayed.
With Hranitzky providing some straightforward cutting as well as some unique fade-to-black transitions for a few moments, Tarr would also play into this idea that a world is ending as he would include text written by Krasznahorski as it plays into the philosophies of Nietzsche. It adds to the bleak tone of the film as the fifth day would be this key moment late in the film as it plays into the sense of despair but also uncertainty into a world that these two people don’t know at all. Especially as the aftermath of all of that showcases this sense of accepting whatever fate they have to endure as well as the fate of the horse that was affected by this incident involving Nietzsche. Overall, Tarr and Hranitzky craft a somber yet harrowing film about a horse carriage driver and their daughter dealing with their surroundings following an incident that played into Friedrich Nietzsche’s mental breakdown.
Cinematographer Fred Keleman does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its stark imagery in many of its daytime exteriors to the usage of natural lighting and lanterns for many of the interior scenes in the day and night as it is a highlight of the film. Production designer Laszlo Rajk does excellent work with the look of the home that Ohlsdorger and his daughter live in as well as the small house for their horse to live in. Sound editor/mixer Gabor Erdelyi does incredible work with the films’ sound in the way the wind sounds in all of its intensity in the exterior scenes as well as some sparse sounds from the inside as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Mihaly Vig is amazing for its somber string-based score that only appears in certain parts of the film as it plays into the sense of dread and despair.
The film’s ensemble cast is largely small other than a group of uncredited extras as Romani gypsies that stop at Ohlsdorger’s water well as well as Mihaly Kormos as their neighbor Bernhard who asks for brandy as well as what is happening nearby and the horse Ricsi as the horse who refuses to eat while pondering its own existence. Erika Bok is fantastic as the daughter who would cook and grab water while also pondering her own existence as she is quiet yet riveting in the way she sees things as well as the sense of despair around her. Finally, there’s Janos Derzsi as Ohlsdorger as the horse carriage driver who copes with what happened as well as the world around him as he is unsure of what to do while also realizing that his place in the world might come to an end.
A torinoi lo is a tremendous film from Bela Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky. While it is not an easy film to watch due to its lack of a strong plot, slow pacing with not much dialogue occurring throughout the film, and its bleak tone. It is still an entrancing watch in how it explores two people dealing with their place in a world that is changing and with them not being part of it as well as coping with an incident that played into Friedrich Nietzsche’s mental breakdown. If this is truly the final film from Bela Tarr, then he goes out with an outstanding statement. In the end, A torinoi lo is a magnificent film from Bela Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky.
Bela Tarr Films: (Family Nest) – (The Outsider (1981 film)) – (The Prefab People) – (Macbeth (1982 TV film)) – (Almanac of Fall) – (Damnation) – Satantango - Werckmeister Harmonies - (The Man from London)
© thevoid99 2024
Set in the span of nearly two days in a small Hungarian village during the era of communism, the film revolves around a town during a cold winter as they get an unexpected visit from a mysterious circus whose showcase involves a giant whale and a mysterious figure. It is a film that explore a community of people who are baffled by this massive attraction in the town square as a local is intrigued by what is going on as it only leads to trouble and chaos within the town. The film’s screenplay by Bela Tarr and its novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai, with additional dialogue from Peter Dobai, Gyuri Dosa Kiss, and Gyorgy Feher, is largely simplistic as it follows a newspaper-delivery man in Janos (Lars Rudolph) who often spends his time talking about the universe and its mystique to drunken patrons at a bar as he’s mystified by this large container arriving into the town square by a tractor as it’s revealed to be a circus with a large whale inside and an appearance from a man claiming to be a prince.
The town’s reaction is also one of intrigue but also a reaction that hasn’t made everyone excited where Janos also deals with family drama involving his composer uncle Gyorgy (Peter Fitz) and aunt Tunde (Hanna Schygulla) as the latter has gained political and social connections through her affair with the police chief (Peter Dobai). Janos finds himself in the middle of social unrest as the town is dealing with problems that is only escalated by the presence of this circus as well as the hype over the appearance of this prince who is never seen as it just adds to a lot of trouble with Janos watching it all.
Bela Tarr’s direction is definitely entrancing as it play into this period in time that is possibly set around the 1980s as it showcases a town that starts to unravel as it is shot on location in Baja, Hungary. With the aid of editor Agnes Hranitzky as the film’s co-director, Tarr would maintain a style that is simplistic where shots would linger for a long time as the film only contains 39 long-standing shots throughout the film’s 145-minute running time. Many of these shots often go on for minutes as it play into the settings and places that Janos go to as the opening shot that goes on for 10 minutes has Janos dancing with drunken patrons to explain the mystiques of the universe as the camera often showcases everything through a wide and medium shots during the course of this scene. With Hranitzky’s editing as she would create abrupt yet straightforward cuts to transition one scene to another, Tarr maintains that minimalist approach where the camera is often following characters through tracking shots including Janos walking around the town as he observes everything around him including the second act where this growing unrest at the town square starts to escalate.
Tarr also play into this idea of who the prince is as he’s an unseen character that is considered a radical who spouses rhetoric that leads to this 12-minute sequence in 2 shots with nearly 8 minutes devoted to the action in a psychiatric hospital where the locals just go nuts and destroy everything including assaulting hospital patients until they’re stopped by something that is indescribable as it forces these people to come to their senses. It is followed by events where Tarr showcases a world that is becoming undone with Janos in the middle as he sees horror and some revelations about what is happening that he had been oblivious to. Its ending with a 5-minute running time for its final shot is a reflection of the chaos that occurred with this whale being a symbol of disruption but also sadness of what this whale could’ve brought if people were more understanding instead of following some drunken fool. Overall, Tarr crafts a majestic yet harrowing film about a Hungarian town unraveling by the presence of a mysterious circus.
Cinematographers Milos Gurban, Erwin Lanzensberger, Gabor Medvigy, Emil Novak, Patrick de Ranter, Rob Tregenza, and Jorg Widmer do incredible work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its usage of shadows and lights for many of the exterior scenes at night as well as the usage of available light for the scenes in the day as it adds to this element of nostalgia but also bleakness to the film. Set decorators Sandor Katona, Zsuzsa Mihalek, and Bela Zsolt Toth do amazing work with the look of the bar in the film’s opening scene as well as the container where the circus is presented that includes the giant whale designed by Ivan Poharnok that is massive and almost life-like. Costume designer Janos Breckl does nice work with the costumes as it is mostly casual and ragged as it play into the period of the winter time.
Sound designer Gyorgy Kovacs does brilliant work with the way much of the recorded sound is presented including the hospital scene as the layer of sounds just add to the sense of terror in the film. The film’s music by Mihaly Vag is incredible for its rich and somber orchestral score with some melancholic piano themes that play into the air of intrigue of the whale but also the despair that looms throughout the town.
The film’s superb ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Peter Dobai as the drunken police chief whom Tunde is having an affair with, Ferenc Kallai as the circus master who presents the whale to the people and claims of a prince to emerge, Alfred Jarai as Janos’ cobbler uncle Lajos, Iren Szajki as Lajos’ wife, and the trio of Janos Derzsi, Doko Rosic, and Tamas Wichmann as the three drunk men who take part in Janos’ universal dance. Hanna Schygulla is fantastic as Janos’ aunt Tunde as Gyorgy’s estranged wife who has gained political and social connections as she does what she can to clean things up but also with some ulterior motives for herself as it would later cause problems.
Peter Fitz is excellent as Janos’ uncle Gyorgy as a music composer and musicologist who wants nothing to do with politics as he’s aware of his estrangement from his wife where he finds himself having to be involved as it relates to Janos. Finally, there’s Lars Rudolph in an amazing performance as Janos as a newspaper deliveryman who is fascinated by the mysteries of the world including the universe and God as he deals with the chaos around him as he also ponders about the presence of this circus that is at the center of everything.
Werckmeister harmoniak is a tremendous film from Bela Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky. Featuring ravishing visuals, a minimalist presentation, haunting performances, an eerie music score, and allegories on political and social turmoil that bears a lot relevance to events in the 21st Century. It is a film that explores a small town that unravels by the presence of something mysterious that eventually play into the worst aspects of themselves during a tumultuous period in the era of Communist Hungary. In the end, Werckmeister harmoniak is a spectacular film from Bela Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky.
Bela Tarr Films: (Family Nest) – (The Outsider (1981 film)) – (The Prefab People) – (Macbeth (1982 TV film)) – (Almanac of Fall) – (Damnation) – Satantango - (The Man from London) – The Turin Horse
© thevoid99 2021
