Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

AdGuzman00 Loved the initial take, I loved Jànos definition of immortality, however I somehow deceived myself into thinking that was the kind of 'ride' Tarr was taking us which he never does, he's true to himself and avoids formula, avoids giving the audience what we think is appropriate and in doing so he manages to create an honest, truthful and refreshing cinema. I'm not going to say I understood Werckmeister Harmonies, but there were ideas behind it such as how easy is to disrupt the quietness in life or of a culture/community in the presence of 'bright' new notions, views or acts. However, after watching some interviews from Mr Béla Tarr I have the sense that 'making a statement' out of his stories is never his purpose, perhaps he's just trying to portrait life as he perceives, and being not only factual but also sincere in how narrative tends to display in real life.I'm sure I will be trying to watch Werckmeister Harmonies for a third time, trying to catch more details, trying to pin things out even when Béla has already said that's not his idea of cinema...The only "flaw" I could think of is that in catching moments on camera, and getting the audience (me) immerse in the story was a task better achieved in Sátántangó, it was easier for me to enjoy and lose myself in the moments captured in Sátántangó than in Werkmeister.

aklcraigc The movie starts well enough, establishing a stark, gloomy atmosphere. We see the local postman Janos doing various things, in the process introducing us to some of the other characters in the story. Basically the story from here, in a nutshell, is that a sideshow consisting of a stuffed whale and a character known as 'the prince' (who we never see directly) arrives in the town square. The townsfolk start to gather in the square, becoming progressively more agitated as the film progresses, finally they go on some type of rampage, sacking the local hospital (it is implied that this is somehow at the behest of 'the prince'). It seems then the army moves in to round up the locals, and for some reason not fully explained, Janos is deposited in the local asylum. There are various small subplots which go nowhere (some type of local power play with Janos' relatives and some kind of musical analogy for the plot seems to be floated). This is more than enough for your average art film to hang its hat on, the problem more comes in the quality of ideas over the length of the movie. One can detect the influences of various directors, the most obvious being Tarkovsky and the long takes; at the start of the movie these long takes are full of movement and interest; however, as we progress, the motif becomes overused and dull. In the end, it seems the long takes of people walking take on an almost comic effect, with the director dragging it on just long enough to make you squirm before introducing a new element.One never really develops any empathy with any of the characters, most are only hastily drawn eastern European clichés, the main character starts to chew the scenery a little at the end, the actor seems somewhat unsure how Janos' mental state is meant to progress. Overall, it's as if the director spends a lot of time creating an interesting setting, then isn't quite sure what to do with it over the duration of the film. Werckmeister Harmonies is by no means a bad film, it just doesn't scale to the heights it so obviously aspires to.

Aditya Gokhale A small town. A drunk room; a rather dreary bar with two big lights hanging from the ceiling. Village simpletons falling all over the floor with an overdose of drinks. "You tubs of beer"..the bartender calls them! At closing time, a wide-eyed, gaunt, but seemingly popular young man walks in. He is Janos Valuska (Lars Rudolph). He uses the drunks at the bar as props and demonstrates the Solar Eclipse and the effects of this phenomenon on the behavior of the mortal beings of the earth. The scene lasts for the first 10-12 minutes and ends with a melancholic, haunting score by Mihaly Vig. This single scene is so beautiful, it sets the tone for what's to come.There is a shroud of ambiguity over Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr's "Werckmeister Harmonies" (co-directed by Ágnes Hranitzky). There is communication that is very vague. Things are spoken about something bad that happened before and something terrible that's perhaps about to happen. And in some towns, they say it has already begun. Is it the advent of the apocalypse? At the center of this mystery is a stuffed giant whale, a part of a "circus" that has arrived in town. This circus also features the enigmatic "Prince". With the coming of the whale and the Prince there is suddenly a 'lack of harmony' within the quietude of the town. Foreigners have started encroaching. There are stories that they have started rioting and looting. The whale is perhaps the reason. Most people seem to regard the whale as an abomination. Only Janos sees it as a bounty of nature, a miracle of God...Janos is clearly an optimist. Or is it the Prince who is behind all the turbulence? There are all kinds of stories. The dead whale and the Prince are somehow responsible for creating ripples in the otherwise still waters of the quiet little town. They have already spread their wings on other parts of the country. But are all these just urban legends? One of the main characters, György Eszter (Peter Fitz), speaks about how the musical intervals and harmonies as we know them over the centuries are "false" and the result of a huge scandal brought about by a certain Andreas Werckmeister. The title alludes to the harmonies or lack thereof owing to some funny business brought about by Werckmeister as a result of an "unhinged arrogance" that wished to take possession of the natural harmonies of the Gods! This one scene and the philosophy within has a strong connection with the overall theme of the film...lack of harmony and how it is brought about! Eszter's former wife Aunt Tunde (Hanna Schygulla) has an agenda of her own...she is out to initiate a "clean town" project with the help of her current lover, the Police Chief, for which she needs her former husband's help. "Our Janos" (as he is referred to by all townsfolk who like him) is entrusted the task of convincing Eszter to use his command and popularity to get support of the movement. Eszter reluctantly agrees. "I've paid for it and I may pay for it all my life", he says. But what exactly? Tarr doesn't think that is important. We never get to know. He clearly loves ambiguity.Tarr also loves extremely long takes, stark Black and White cinematography (beautiful at that), a somber mood, melancholic score, a languorous pace, bleak imagery and an overall sense of doom and despair. There are long philosophical monologues which are almost poetic and need to be heard at least twice to grasp. There is a distinct "meditative" feel to the proceedings. It is not difficult to spot the heavy Andrei Tarkovsky influence here, just as in other films of his. But Tarr's pictures are less abstract than those of the great Russian filmmaker. "Werckmeister Harmonies" is mostly materialism heavy but there certainly is some symbolism embedded in the narrative. The "Prince" who travels with the whale, for example, is a mysterious faceless creature who seems to have immense powers. A clock that was dead for years started ticking again as he went past! And he apparently also incites rioting. He doesn't believe in any greater power or authority either. Is he then the "Prince of darkness" with a thirst for destruction? Tarr demonstrates his ability to create a powerful impact through the marriage of visuals and sound. On one hand there is the scene in which Vig's soulful music accompanies, like Janos appreciating the whale and being awestruck by its enormity. And then there is the scene in a newspaper factory. Long monologues and ambient sounds serve as a background to Janos' mundane activities being filmed, and later the camera slowly pans to the person delivering the monologue! Then, of the several long tracking shots, a particular shot of Janos and Eszter walking adjacent to each other in an almost synchronized march of their feet (with only the sound of their feet and a lunch box providing the sound...carrying on for a good 2-3 minutes!) can't help but bring a smile on your face. Apparently, for one other scene, in which a lot of people are marching together to reach a destination, Tarr was asked why the scene is that long. Tarr simply answered "that's how long it took to get there!" "Werckmeister Harmonies", like any other Bela Tarr film, is surely not for the impatient viewer. It is for that segment of film lovers who love their films grave; and who don't mind the scenes playing out real time, with the editing process being allowed to take the back seat as long as the final product delivers. Suffice to say, Tarr manages to engulf the viewer under his spell and guarantees a hypnotic audiovisual experience, one that culminates into a powerful ending that leaves a lasting impact....Score: 10/10.

Cosmoeticadotcom The DVD, put out by Facets Video, is a good one, qualitatively. But, it is utterly bare bones: no commentary, no trailer, no featurettes. Its only 'extra' is a small booklet with essays on Tarr and the specific film, However, when a film is this great, it doesn't really matter. The sound quality is very good, and the film is in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. There is one BIG negative, though, and that is the white subtitling Facets employs. I've often ripped on titles from The Criterion Collection for this flaw, but this particular Facets DVD is even worse, for not only are the subtitles white, but very thin. Also, there are several scenes where the extreme white in the cinematography (excellent by Medvigy Gábor, and supposedly composed of less than 40 actual shots in the film- claims range from 33-39, which, according to legend, allowed Tarr to edit the film in less than a day) almost totally blanches out what one can read. What the hell is wrong with the folks in the subtitles department? Is it too damned much to add a bit of gold, or even some black trim about the subtitles so that they can actually be read? It's bad enough DVD companies skimp on English language dubs, but illegible subtitles? The score (piano and violin), by Míhaly Vig, who played Irimias in Satantango, is spare, but highly effective, as any scoring should be, and its likely the best in the Tarr films I've seen, adding to the reality that this film is the most emotional of the films, as well. Some critics, however, have taken issue with the film's scoring, claiming that the film argues that music is an immanently flawed vehicle to base any sort of foundation upon, thus the film's score is at odds with its artistic claim. But, this is clearly wrong, since the film does not argue that music is immanently flawed, just one of its characters does- Eszter.Another error that many critics have made is calling Werckmeister Harmonies a minimalist film. It is not. It's amazing how many critical notions in art and life are flawed simply due to the critic's inability to understand the definitions of the very terms they use. Minimalism is when a work of art is reduced to its barest minimum- i.e.- some of the Absurdist plays of a Samuel Beckett, or some scenes in George Lucas's THX 1138 or some films of Carl Theodor Dreyer, come to mind. These critics conflate mere economy with strict minimalism, but there's a world of difference. Minimalism is not just a spare setting, but that spare setting with a singular focus, a character or two, and brevity in action. Economy can have multiple characters, themes, and plot points, but be told in broad, singular strokes. This far more fits the description of a Tarr film, including this one. The film is not larded down with symbolism, but the few moments of such are ripened and potent. The scenes with the whale, never seen in its entirety, when seen by Janos, but only in the final scene, with Eszter, is a good example; for when we see what has so enraptured Janos, in the daylight, it is not nearly as mysterious nor awe inspiring as when we see only glimpses of it in shadow. To paraphrase, the elephant that the seven blind men feel, in the old parable, will always be more interesting and exciting than if they could see the real beast. Werckmeister Harmonies is not minimalist; in fact, it's the exact opposite, it's loaded with meaning, detail, and subtlety. And the elephant also hearkens back to the ending of Federico Fellini's masterful La Dolce Vita, and its ending with the discovery of a manta ray's corpse, and its all seeing eye.Despite many of the critical misreadings, Werckmeister Harmonies is a truly great film; audacious in its depiction of reality, however askew, and even bolder in its plumb of human consciousness; especially in its relationship to things greater than the self. That it does not lay out all its cards on the table for immediate perusal is not a weakness, but a strength, in that it invites rewatches. If all films offered only a quarter of what this film does, cinema would be far better for it. But, when given a rare full plate, like this, it's OK to gorge between the famines. Grace is optional.