My initial reaction to the film is "here is a black and white movie, well made, sombre in spirit that takes off from the event that led to Nietzsche's eventual death." The famous nihilist, Nietzsche, who once studied to be a monk and then denounced the existence of God, ultimately went mad after he saw a horse being brutalized by a horse- cart owner when the horse stubbornly refused to pull the cart. This movie "The Turin Horse" is all about stubborn lives as well in a stubborn world.
The wind blows relentlessly in a barren spot in Hungary. A partly paralyzed father and his daughter live in a house built of stones and tiles far away from any living soul with an aging horse.
Director Tarr builds up a highly unreal story. The duo survives day after day on potatoes, possibly grown on the farm and some distilled liquor, possibly homemade. They live on water from a well that dries up. Could anyone live on potatoes, water and liquor for days on end?
They do not appear to have a survival instinct or worry about their future. The stubborn horse refuses to eat, and kind daughter follows the horse's actions--by refusing to eat. Even lamps full of oil refuse to light up.
How the daughter and horse are similar visually towards the end is remarkably achieved by Tarr and his team.
The music and camera-work are laudable. So are the performances of humans and animals. The nihilism is all pervasive. It contaminates the viewer, for no logical reason.
Tarr has misplaced talent similar to Miklos Jansco, whom I have interviewed 33 years ago. I love many Hungarian films--especially those of Zoltan Fabri (whom I had interviewed as well) and Istvan Szabo-- that are world class. Yet despite the high class production details, I cannot relate with the two Tarr films I have seen thus far--this one and "Werckmeister Harmonies."
The wind blows relentlessly in a barren spot in Hungary. A partly paralyzed father and his daughter live in a house built of stones and tiles far away from any living soul with an aging horse.
Director Tarr builds up a highly unreal story. The duo survives day after day on potatoes, possibly grown on the farm and some distilled liquor, possibly homemade. They live on water from a well that dries up. Could anyone live on potatoes, water and liquor for days on end?
They do not appear to have a survival instinct or worry about their future. The stubborn horse refuses to eat, and kind daughter follows the horse's actions--by refusing to eat. Even lamps full of oil refuse to light up.
How the daughter and horse are similar visually towards the end is remarkably achieved by Tarr and his team.
The music and camera-work are laudable. So are the performances of humans and animals. The nihilism is all pervasive. It contaminates the viewer, for no logical reason.
Tarr has misplaced talent similar to Miklos Jansco, whom I have interviewed 33 years ago. I love many Hungarian films--especially those of Zoltan Fabri (whom I had interviewed as well) and Istvan Szabo-- that are world class. Yet despite the high class production details, I cannot relate with the two Tarr films I have seen thus far--this one and "Werckmeister Harmonies."