Satantango - Part 1 -1994

Actors: Mihaly Vig, Putyi Horvath
Director: Bela Tarr

Satantango opens with a five-minute shot of cattle - and it's at this point that you know you are settling in for the long haul. Tarr loves exceptionally long takes with the camera sweeping around the action or following behind or ahead of our characters as they walk.

Like other long-take directors (e.g. Fassbinder, Tarkovsky), sometimes Satantango shows us something that other films will pass over, and other times it's just plain dull. The story is told in parts - the first disc of Satantango has 3 vignettes, all of which concern each other - the characters in Vignette 2 are mentioned in #1, and #3 concerns an observer of all the action. Tarr's story concerns a rather dim and despondent farming community in Hungary - it's a difficult slog, and I guess I'll have to see if it's worth it, as there are still nearly 5 hours left.