Review of Werckmeister Harmonies (2001) by Jessi T — 14 Jul 2010

I refuse to succumb to this supposed good taste. I don't care how beautiful a film looks when it's this oppressively boring. This film boasts only having 39 shots, and while it is interesting to watch for this, goddamn, I'm a fan of edits. See, five minute shots of people walking with no dialogue come off as slightly self-indulgent and pointless to me. I'm also a fan of plots, of which there is none in Werkcmeister. It's chock full of pretentious monologues and grand metaphors, so if that's your thing, then by all means. I don't think anyone actually enjoys this shit, though. No one is ever going to turn to his friend, "Oh man, let's watch Werckmeister Harmonies! The scene where you watch an old man get undressed and ready for bed in real time is to die for!".

It's beautiful, all right. But joyless.