About a year ago I first saw the film Werckmeister Harmonies (or Werckmeister Harmóniák in its original Hungarian) by Hungarian director Béla Tarr. This was before I began this blog as it is today, & I remembered thinking, “Wow, I’m not much of a writer, but this the kind of film you want to write about, dammit.”
As one of those flighty art people, a visually striking movie wins me over easily. The movie, shot in black & white, is characterized by its very long, smooth shots. So long, in fact, that there are only 39 shots that make up nearly two and a half hours (thanks, Wikipedia!). Even when the dramatic pacing picks up, the camera pans liquidly & almost lethargically, which gives it a dreamy or surreal feeling. But it isn’t an airy or light dreaminess at all: for all its steadiness, this effect of methodically paced shots can be disturbing & very disquieting.
Here’s a good youtube clip of the beautiful opening shot/scene. Take a look at what I’m going on & on about.
You could say I like disturbing films (see my entry on Antichrist if you doubt me), & even though this one presents very little that could be seen as offensive or obscene, I’d classify it as a disturbing movie. There is nothing visually upsetting but the Tarr’s overwhelming manipulation of the audience’s emotions through pacing, music, & the confused & sometimes pitiable main character János, the childlike adult whose eyes through which we view the unrest of the fragile Hungarian town.
On a side note: I bought an album by Ólafur Arnalds, an Icelandic musician, that was released about a year ago, titled . . . And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness, a line from this opening scene, & Arnalds says the album is inspired by the film. I am a sucker for good album art, & even though this is a very simple album cover (a solar eclipse as described in the first scene), it’s smooth simplicity works well with the meditative, sometimes somber & dark, & overall emotional tone of the music, sharing these moods with the film & its surreal dreaminess that evolves into something of a nightmare.
