Review of Satantango (1994) by Brandon — 29 Jul 2008

Here it is... the supposed 7-hour masterpiece of the 90s. I was obviously skeptical, but my expectations were still unfairly high, and when I finally saw it, who knew emptiness could be so beautiful? Bela Tarr's 7-hour Hungarian epic revolves around the lives of villagers in a small-town, as they face with greed, deception, betrayal, and loss.

Tarr's cinematography here exceeds anything else ever captured on celluloid. I could list 1,000 reasons why this is the best film ever made: from its fascinating, anomalous structure, to its sensible, brooding, and dark portrayal of human nature, to its lyrical, ravishing portrait of forlorn desolation, to its false, but beautifully authentic sense of hope.

As a visceral experience alone, this is the greatest film ever made, but add a touch of arguably sardonic symbolism, and it's beyond that. Bela Tarr has touched on a realm of cinema I never thought possible.