Satantango | 
| Director: Bela Tarr
Actors: Mihaly Vig, Putyi Horvath, Laszlo Lugossy, Eva Almassy Albert, Janos Derzsi
Studio: Facets Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $79.95
Buy New: $52.38
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 20560
Format: Black & White, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: Hungarian (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Hungarian (Published)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 4
Running Time: 435
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: DV86935
UPC: 736899091125
EAN: 0736899091125
ASIN: B000GTJSE4
Theatrical Release Date: 1994
Release Date: July 22, 2008
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Product Description
Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr's 7-hour black-and-white epic based on the novel by Laszlo Karsznahorkai took two years to film. The complex story follows a group of people living in a dilapidated village in post-communist Hungary. Tarr examines their standstill lives through a series of episodes told from each person's point-of-view. Winner of the Caligari Film Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize Special Mention at the 1994 Berlin International Film Festival. In Hungarian with English subtitles.System Requirements:Running Time: 435 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 736899091125 Manufacturer No: DV86935
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Beckett, Sontag, & Tarr November 6, 2008
The characters all live on some kind of East European collective farm that is surrounded by bogs and therefore cut off from the rest of the world during the rainy season (and for much of the film it is raining).
I grew up on a farm and so the wandering livestock, run down barns, and old houses with peeling wallpaper didn't strike me as being particularly depressing or dreary. In fact I found the atmospheres of this film, both the interiors and exteriors, to be quite familiar.
The people, however, were not familiar. Those who occupy this collective farm were not the friendly country people I remember growing up around; they possess none of the charm and character of rural folk. Rather the characters in this film seem like stranded exiles from some noir universe (perhaps from one of Jim Thompson's gritty novels) who really do not in any way belong on this rural collective farm in Eastern Europe. In fact to a person they would all rather be elsewhere. The characters discuss leaving and venturing out toward that imagined elsewhere beyond the bogs that keep them couped up but nothing ever comes of the talk. Perhaps because it is the only reality they have ever known, it is not any external force that holds them in its spell but an internal force-- a fear of the unknown--that holds them in its sway. Either way the ideal of communal living--of working for a common good-- has long been abandoned. The individual members are not particularly friendly with or trusting of their neighbors; in fact everyone seems to be scheming against everyone else. The backstabbing competitiveness on display in Tarr's films has led some to conclude that Bela Tarr is making some kind of anti-capitalist statement and I think that there is probably some truth in that observation but its not the whole truth; what pains these characters is not just that the economic collectivity of the communist era has been replaced by the economic competitiveness of the new capitalist Hungary but the feeling that there is nothing else besides money (or petty bureaucratic rationalism) holding the world together any longer. Perhaps this feeling was always there but simply remained unspoken during the communist era. I think that this is also likely. What pains these characters (under any economic system, under any material conditions) is the radical sense of uncertainty and emptiness that marks human life. And this uncertainty and emptiness is psychically debilitating. Though each character reacts to this state of things in a different way, each is overwhelmed by the utter meaninglessness, the inconsequence, of doing anything. It is not merely an economic sickness but the existential sickness of modernity that plagues every character in this film.
Literary types will be quick to see this film as following in a long line of existential philosophers, novelists, and filmmakers: Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Faulkner, Camus, Beckett, Bresson, Bergman, Tarkovsky...
Its not at all surprising that the late Susan Sontag praised this film as she long expressed an interest in austere and difficult art that could also be construed as spiritual (or at least art that searched for some remnant of the spiritual even amid the ruin of modern or postmodern life). It was of course Sontag who staged Beckett's Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo in 1993 while the city was under siege by Serb forces. Tarr's Satantango (completed in 1994) is a product of the same historical moment; like Sontag, Tarr created a work of art about a society that had crumbled and left its inhabitants without the support of a civilization. Like the characters in Beckett's plays, Tarr's characters maintain a sense of order only by repeating the same activities over and over again, but they are ultimately powerless to cover up the void that is left within them.
This is compelling cinema. Though the characters may be rather "grubby" (as Jonathan Rosenbaum said in his review of the film) the slow pacing of the film and the austerity of the black and white cinematography has an undeniable spellbinding effect. Its as if Tarr has slowed everything down and cast the entire world in black and white so that we can see more clearly what is at stake as these characters struggle to resist the paralyzing ennui of time itself.
 Go Region 2 if you want to see this film July 16, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'm afraid to say, that despite ALL of Facets' posturing, they've done a lackluster job on this truly important film. An unconverted PAL source with tons of ghosting and combing. NON-ANAMORPHIC and interlaced. But the Artificial Eye version. It's not super, but it's a lot better than this typically poor job.
Dancing With The Devil? July 14, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
The famous opening shot of Bela Tarr's "Satantango" is done in a single take lasting seven minutes. It is of a herd of cows walking across an empty landscape as the camera pans from right to left.
This is not exactly the kind of shot which would thrill most American audiences. And it may be for that reason Hungarian filmmaker Tarr has not quite gained fame in this country.
"Satantango" is a 7 hour film consisting of extreme long shots done in single takes lasting minutes on average. It was shot in black&white, as are most of Tarr's films.
Originally released in 1994 "Satantango" went on to achieve some fame on the international festival circuit. Only now has Facets released the film on DVD. It will be available next week in a three disc set. Since I use to intern at Facets, and this was one of the films I worked on, I received an advance copy. When the DVD is available to the public, it will become, in my opinion, the major DVD event of the year! Finally this masterpiece can now find a larger audience.
Going back to the first image in the film, many people are going to shake their heads, why? What does this mean? Why is Tarr showing us cows? I think this shot is important for many reasons. First of all it sets up the fact the film takes place in a small village. We are among the poor, working class. The land is deserted. No one takes care of it and no one seems to be watching those cows. And could the herd of cows represent the characters in this film? At one point we hear a character describe the others as a "herd". The characters may be wondering aimlessly just like the cows searching for meaning, a purpose. Of course these aren't answers, merely suggestions.
But "Satantango" is filled with images like this with shots which run just as long. Tarr leaves the camera on moments viewers will find boring, whether is it animals, landscapes or a character's face, Tarr's films are loaded with scenes other directors would throw out and leave on the cutting room floor. But Bela Tarr and "Satantango" represents a different kind of story-telling.
I think the reason Tarr has shot last so long is to put us in a trance, to lull us. I'm reminded of the story told about Werner Herzog. Supposedly he hypnotized his cast in the film "Heart of Glass" to get a dreamlike quality out of them. Tarr too wants to hypnotize us. He wants to viewer to feel uneasy. He wants to attempt to calm us down. When you look at most American films with their rapid edits, the films consist mainly of cuts and jump cuts. Images flash before our eyes so fast sometimes we can't even register what we saw. Tarr comes from a tradition of filmmaking similar to Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos and Antonioni. He takes his time setting up a shot and lets the story move at its own rhythm.
There is not much of a plot to "Satantango". If the film had been told in a more conventional manner it would not take 7 hours to tell. The film follows 8 people from a small community who have put their money together just to be conned by two men thought to be dead; Irimias (Mihaly Vig) and Petrina (Putyi Horvath). These men promise a new life for the people by moving them to a new village where better work can be found. But the villagers not only are suspicious of the two men but each other as several have planned to steal the money themselves. Tarr seems to be making a commentary of greed and capitalism. Many critics regard the film as a commentary on the end of communism. I'm not sure I'm willing to go that far, as Tarr claims he is not a political filmmaker, but there is an undertone of corruption and greed. One character even says people are afraid of freedom but there is nothing to be afraid of. Order though can be frightening. Is this the freedom of democracy and the order of communism?
Despite the simple plot what makes "Satantango" such a must see are the visuals. Tarr gets some truly beautiful shots. The very first time we see the two con men they are walking in the middle of the street as a strong wind storm blows garbage around on the sidewalks. The shot last for two minutes but it is amazing. Another scene does a 360 degree turn, in a close-up, on a woman's face. What's the point? Not a clue, but fun to look at.
One scene which bothers a lot of people is a sequence where a young girl, Estike (Erika Bok) kills her cat. A lot of people wonder why would she do it. Why would Tarr have such a scene? I think this is a reflection on the hierarchy of power. The girl's mother bullies her as does her friend. But who can she bully? She picks on the cat. It is similar to the way the two strangers bully the town into giving them their money. Those who feel they are strong pick on the powerless and defenseless. What match is the cat for the young girl? The girl incidentally is on the cover of this DVD.
"Satantango" also marks, at the time, the second collaboration between novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai and Tarr. The two had worked on "Karhozat (Damnation)" previously and continued their work in "Werckmeister harmoniak (Werckmeister Harmony)" and Tarr's most recent film "A londoni ferfi (The Man From London)". These films show a shift in style on Tarr's part, from his early films which were docu-dramas which made social commentaries on communist life. Now Tarr has become more psychological.
And what about the film's title? The movie is divided into twelve chapters. Six of them move the story forward, 6 are flashbacks. The structure is suppose to resemble a tango. But what about the "satan" part? Is Tarr showing us hell on Earth? Are these characters experiencing hell? Remember the film Tarr made before this was called "Damnation". The very last scene in the film seems to suggest the end is near. The screen fades to black as we hear a character's voice over. The last words heard are of an impending war.
If there is a valid point of criticism (not comments like, the movie is too long, or in black&white, or its in Hungarian) it is that at times you feel Tarr is making more of an experiment rather than a film. I also never seem to enjoy the last act of the movie. Or in this case, disc 3. Here the film shifts its focus from the townspeople to the con men. I love the first two disc and the way Tarr shows the village and the people and who everyone seems to fear the strangers. They have a mystic power over everyone. But once the film starts to focus more on them they seem harmless. Was this Tarr's point? People will fear are only human and should not be feared? Either way I lose interest in the film's final moments.
Facets has also included some special features including Tarr's rarely seen version of "Macbeth" which aired on Hungarian television in the early 80s. It was done in two shots.
Anyone who considers themself a film lover will be doing themself a great favor by buying this film. I know 7 hours is a long time to sit through. And I know it is in Hungarian. But after watching this film you will be seeing a master filmmaker at work. Anyone who thinks there is nothing interesting being done in cinema anymore has never seen a Bela Tarr film.
 Fully-restored, director-approved edition July 1, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ignore the reviews that seemingly refer to older region 2 versions of this film. According to the Facets promotional materials, this release of Satantango (delayed since its originally announced date in the of fall 2006) is the fully restored, director-approved edition. In addition to the film, this DVD set contains Macbeth (1982, 64 mins.), Tarr's rarely seen interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy famously captured in two shots; Journey on the Plain (1995, 34 mins.), in which actor-composer Mihaly Vig revisits the Satantango locations; Prologue (2004, 5 mins.), the director's stunning contribution to the omnibus Visions of Europe; About the Restoration (5 mins.); and a Facets Cine-Notes booklet.
Beyond cinema December 26, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I'm not going to bore you with the details of the `story' because first of all nothing really happens and secondly it's not important. Mostly its just people looking in and out of windows, walking, or just being, yet that may be what we're doing also by sitting for 7 hours, watching other people by transcending the barrier of celluloid and sharing in their misery. They say the eyes are the windows of the soul and in these Breughelian faces we see the personality of characters shine through and understand their individual and personal agony. This is what elevates this film beyond cinema and art into something more personal like the experience of music. By the end of the film characters feel like real people that we may intimately know.
Parallels are inevitably drawn with the work other directors like Tarkovsky, most notably `Andrei Rublev' (1966) and `Stalker' (1979). Tarkovsky's films had a sense of religious hope whereas Bela Tarr's have none of that yet I felt a certain amount of elation at the end. Albert Camus said that struggling to the height may be enough to fill a man's heart. How true.
This is a film I've waited several years to see since I first saw `Werkmeister Harmonies' (2000) and `Damnation' (1988) on the Artificial Eye DVD release. Rumour circulated for a long time about this eventual release and finally we have it. It's a film more have heard about than actually seen and has always been highly revered among cineastes. Satantango is filled with some of the most remarkable cinematography I've ever seen. So was it worth the wait? Absolutely.
Bela Tarr may be the greatest living director working today.
Highly recommended viewing.
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