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The slow and ambitious cinema of Bela Tarr
Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, who died this week at the age of 70, was a master of cinema as mesmerism. The glacial pace of his films, with an average shot of two and a half minutes, demand more than the audience’s attention; those used to films composed of two-and-half-second shots have to prepare for total surrender. For, Tarr was a man of both enormous talent and towering ambition, committed to putting life itself on the screen, with all its beauty, banality and tawdriness — an endeavour hardly conducive to the neat patterns that mainstream cinema has trained viewers to expect.
Consider the punishing seven-and-a-half hour runtime of his 1994 adaptation of Laszlo Krasznahorkai’s Satantango, about a village that abandons its life to follow a charlatan — the opening shot, which follows a herd of cows over a muddy field, is over six minutes long. Look at the lingering attention paid to the daily, unremarkable actions of a coach-driver and his daughter in The Turin Horse (2011), which takes off from the story about Nietzsche breaking down at the sight of a horse being flogged. Or marvel at how he turned Georges Simenon’s novel The Man from London into a meditation on guilt (2007). These films, with slow tracking shots and richly textured frames, don’t offer jolts of adrenaline, but a more enduring reward: An experience of immersion.
Yet, haunting as their images are — a girl with a dead cat (Satantango), dogs sniffing around a wasteland of a town (Damnation, 1988) — Tarr’s films are also shot through with the kind of levity found in his frequent collaborator Krasznahorkai’s work. Eliciting wry chuckles over human foibles and the dark comic timing of fate, his films will last not only because of their artistry, but also the generosity of the vision that animates them.
Overall Analysis
The editorial is a reflective tribute to Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, emphasizing his distinctive cinematic style and artistic philosophy rather than narrating a conventional obituary. The author foregrounds Tarr’s commitment to slowness — long takes, minimal cuts, and deliberate pacing — and contrasts it with the fast, attention-fragmented rhythm of mainstream cinema. This contrast is central to the argument: Tarr’s films demand surrender, not casual viewing.
The language highlights Tarr’s ambition to capture life in its totality, including its dullness, moral ambiguity, and unattractive aspects. Words like banality and tawdriness are deliberately chosen to underline his refusal to beautify reality. The editorial suggests that such ambition resists “neat patterns,” subtly critiquing commercial cinema’s formulaic storytelling.
By citing specific films — Satantango, The Turin Horse, and The Man from London — the author illustrates how Tarr transformed long durations, mundane actions, and sparse narratives into immersive experiences. The vivid descriptions of scenes and runtimes serve both as evidence and as a warning to the uninitiated viewer: this cinema is demanding but deeply rewarding.
In the final paragraph, the editorial deepens its appreciation by noting that Tarr’s bleak imagery is not devoid of humor or humanity. References to levity, wry chuckles, and generosity of vision complicate the perception of his films as merely grim. The language becomes warmer, asserting that Tarr’s lasting legacy lies not just in artistic rigor but in compassion for human frailty.
Important Vocabulary (5)
- Mesmerism – the power to captivate or hypnotize attention.
- Glacial – extremely slow-moving.
- Banality – the quality of being ordinary or dull.
- Tawdriness – a state of being cheap, showy, or morally shabby.
- Levity – lightness or humor, especially in serious contexts.
Conclusion & Tone
The editorial positions Bela Tarr as a filmmaker whose work challenges modern viewing habits and rewards patience with profound immersion. It argues that his cinema endures because it combines artistic discipline with empathy and subtle humor.
Tone: Elegiac, admiring, and contemplative — blending critical appreciation with a quiet sense of loss.
