If you like Gus Van Sant’s death trilogy, anything by Ming-liang Tsai, or Vincent Gallo’s Brown Bunny, you’ll like Bela Tarr. I’m a fan of all those things, but Bela Tarr surpasses them, and most other filmmakers, on every level imaginable.
Werkmeister Harmonies is my favorite film of his, so that’s a good place to start. There’s a great UK dvd release of Werkmeister, bundled with Damnation, so I’d say just buy that. If you like what you see, move on to Satantango and enjoy the ride.
If that’s too much minimalism for you, his early films are also great, and more in the style of say… Cassevetes.
OK cool. I’m actually quite fond of minimalism however I hated the death trilogy. Is the UK DVD no region?
That particular dvd from Artificial Eye is Region 2.
Facets released a lot of his films in the US in the past few years. Werkmeister Harmonies, Damnation, Satantango, Almanac of Fall and a set of his first three films (Prefab People, Family Nest, and The Outsider). I haven’t seen any of these discs, but I remember hearing bad things about the picture quality.
Wow thinks for the info. I’m going to have to look into that before paying for something that does not present the film correctly.
I hated Brown Bunny but I love Bela Tarr, well Damnation onwards anyway. I think a better comparison is Tarkovsky. Hmmm, it’s about time I watched Satantango again…
I like Tarr’s Damnation and Pre-Fab People. Pre-Fab Ppl kind of reminds me of something Kieslowski-esque maybe. Damnation is slow and moody and I usually hate those films. I would always rent before buying. And Satantango is mesmerizing. Not necessarily in a good or bad way, but it is quite a long film!
D. Voluntaryist
I am thinking about buying a few of this guy’s films. I am perticualy interested in Werckmeister Harmoniak. Can someone give me some info. Maybe something like if you like this filmmaker you will probably like Bela Tarr.