Films/DVD Asylum

Follow tin's advice, rent The Man from London... everyone must

76.99.186.92

Victor Khomenko

M

I suspect everyone will discover something about himself while watching it. I suspect not everyone will be willing to tell us exactly what he discovered. Some out of fear of looking not intellectual enough, others will try to hide their enthusiasm to avoid looking too snobbish, but the bottom line is the film is polarizing, it is almost designed to be a human litmus test.

Tarr is great master, and the movie is mesmerizing to no end... and how on Earth did he come up with that endless, unmodulated drone-music that reached down to your bone marrow? How did he manage to find that scenery, more unreal than the most unreal painting?

Follow Ups:

Where did you rent it? Netflix doesn't have it.........($) - afilado 08:51:17 09/27/10 (1)
.
- They stream it. nt - Victor Khomenko 08:56:11 09/27/10 (0)
  .
What did you feel about Swinton? Did you notice that - tinear 08:05:58 09/27/10 (2)
quivering lower lip? That's definitely NOT Acting 101. They teach that in Master Class. She must have been fun to live with as she practiced it, "Honey, is it wiggling now or just flopping around?"
More than one review has said you don't care about the characters or story, that they're not "the point."
I very much cared about the guy, about the ominous criminal.
There is something interesting that happens in a Tarr film: the seeming objectivity catapults the viewer into the scenes--- you feel you are hidden just out of sight, an unseen witness. I think the English detective's performance is a tour de force.
I have yet to see a Tarr film that I didn't want to see again.
- She was good, I thought, but I am not a fan of hers - Victor Khomenko 08:38:03 09/27/10 (1)
  I know this is a weak sentence...
  But in reality most actors did superb job, the detective without any questions. Someone called the movie hypnotic, and that it is in droves. You are right, it is not about characters per se, certainly not about the story... it is more atmosphere, and in some sense closer to paintings as art than traditional movie making.
  Did you, BTW, notice a minor mistake, the chess players did? The first time around they opened up the board the wrong way, turned 90 degrees from its proper position. Figures placement was of course also wrong!
  They did fine the second time around... :)
  The cinematography is as superb as it is unusual... at least in modern cinema. I nearly freaked out at the balls on pool table - they beat any Dali painting... and they were moving!
  I am now dying to go back to the first minutes and see them again - they were bone-chilling... the slow disembarking figures wrenched my guts to no end. You mentioned other directors that come to mind when watching it - I would like to add Fritz Lang, for sure.
  
  Edits: 09/27/10
  - This film made me very happy, indeed, to have my Kuro. The color black should have been in the - tinear 11:17:27 09/27/10 (0)
    credits.
    I don't think you've seen, "Satantango." It is film art of such magnitude that it dwarfs all but a few other films. It is nothing short of amazing that a director can produce something so gigantic and beautiful and then come back to make a perfectly cut, smaller gem.
    Fassbinder's, "Berlin Alexanderplatz" is the only modern era film that has the scope, power, precision, and sheer size that allows comparison.

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