Horrible pacing - Werckmeister harmóniák (2001) Discussion

[–] polysicsarebest 16 years ago

Little-known fact: This film is actually meant to be played at 5X speed.

Just kidding. This film is beautiful.

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[–] tieman64 15 years ago

All of Tarr's films are this slow. The second time I watched "Harmony" I did so at x2 speed on DVD and it was an even better experience than seeing it in theatres at normal speed. Some people might thing its sacrilegious, but apparently many people do this. Steven Soderbergh, for example, watched several Tarr films with an increased frame-rate in order to prepare himself for the filming of "The Girlfriend Experience".

"Rape is no laughing matter. Unless you're raping a clown."

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[–] trymyproduct11 15 years ago

I guess it's just a matter of preference. I personally enjoy films that are paced like this. It gives you a chance to let things sink in before you barrel into the next scene. If you are relaxed and patient, it can work out really well.

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[–] GrigoryGirl 15 years ago

Tarr's films are leisurely paced. Nothing wrong with that. I enjoy the magisterial pace of his work.

If you thought this film was slow, better not attempt seeing Satantango. It runs over 7 hours.

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[–] rooprect 14 years ago

Satantango. It runs over 7 hours.

To this day I don't know if I should attempt that one. Werckmeister is one of my top films of all time, and I wouldn't change a thing (pacing is perfect). But then I saw Damnation and found it to be excruciating, even though the pacing was almost identical. The difference is that (I felt) Werckmeister was full of meaning while Damnation was deliberately random. How is Satantango, is it more like Werck or Damn?

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[–] GrigoryGirl 14 years ago

I found the pace of Satantango perfect. I also adored Werckmeister Harmonies. I did like Damnation as well, but Satantango and Werckmeister Harmonies are better films.

Satantango is more like Werckmeister.

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[–] rooprect 14 years ago

Cool, I'm glad to hear that. I should probably give Damnation another try someday. I just remember liking Werckmeister a whole lot more. I think it's because it came later, and Tarr had refined his style by then. Satantango also came several years after Damnation, so I was hoping it would be more like Werck. Thanks!

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[–] opuss-owlowl 14 years ago

I love the pacing.

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[–] Bushcrap2010 14 years ago

And i thought Hollywood films are agonizingly and unnecessarily fast paced.

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[–] OtariiGrl 14 years ago

Two words: bad editing. It's up there with Solaris and Inland Empire as one of the prettiest yet worst cut pictures in the history of the medium.

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[–] Bushcrap2010 14 years ago

"Two words: bad editing. It's up there with Solaris and Inland Empire as one of the prettiest yet worst cut pictures in the history of the medium"

How about Quantum of Solace?

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[–] JellyFish19 11 years ago

Some film snobs I talked to said, that it's basically Tarr's style and if I don't like it, I didn't get it. I must admit that some scenes (like the two kids playing) almost drove me mad with its pacing. I've heard "Satantango" is one of those movies you should see before you die, but a 7 hour movie from this director will feel like an eternity, so I'm postponing that one until I'll find the will.

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[–] arkid77 11 years ago

Just to say, Satantango can be watched over a few days. It consists of chapters with title cards between them that act as good break points and allowed me and a friend to watch it. I have watched it over a day though with an hour or two for pause half way through and it was mesmerising.

I'd recommend a very cold rainy winters day. Have it to hand and when the weather is right go for it! What a film can do that is so long with your memory and interpretation of it is fascinating. At least I found that to be the case.

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[–] cpbvk 10 years ago

I've seen two Tarr films, this one and Satantango, both of them extremely slow-paced, with nothing really happening until the second half, and both set in small-town communist Hungary. In both cases, I found that by the time the story began I had been given a firm basis of how life for these characters feels, and accepted the "meat" of the movies in a way I couldn't have without being so primed. Well worth the wait, I thought. (In the case of Satantango, therer was also the strong sense of accomplishment once it was over.)

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