Sátántangó

Eye is dedicating an exhibition to the artist Janis Rafa, whose work focuses on the relationship between human beings and animals. She says about the film she has chosen: "Sátántangó" is a huge film, literally and symbolically. It has a lot of raw elements and really forms a world of its own, the author’s world. I also find its cinematographic rhythm very attractive. For me, it is about the double nature of human care, how it comes to terms with violence – for example in the famous scene with the child and the cat.”

"From the intro scene with the cows for example, I have studied the camera choreography many times, how Tarr documents the muddy ground and the barns and the cows that live there. I am interested in life in small remote villages. The connection between humans and animals is different there."

About Sátántangó

It seems like an impossible feat: to spend a whole working day in a cinema seat, watching the same film all that time. But this is what Hungarian director Béla Tarr demands of his audience – and that this isn’t a problem is proven by the lyrical responses the film elicits after every screening.

This screening of Sátántangó (in a 4K restored version) not only pays tribute to a classic of Eastern European cinema, but is also an opportunity to get to know an exceptionally talented visual storyteller. Sátántangó is structured like a tango through the present and the past. In twelve ‘movements’, shot in long takes in enchanting black-and-white, Tarr takes us into a dishevelled village in Hungary. The workers from the former collective farm are left rudderless following the fall of Communism; the old certainties have disappeared, leaving only the village pub, gossip and the terrifying suspicion that the dead will return.

…monumental depiction…on a grand scale…see a film you will never forget. (***** Trouw)

…wonderfully sombre, a poignant and gruesomely comical experience that will stay with you forever. What a treat from film museum and distributor Eye…a beautiful 4K restoration that makes the mud even thicker, the rain more lashing, the reward even greater… (De Volkskrant)

...his absolute masterpiece...hypnotic...impressive from beginning to end...masterpiece...infinitely, boundlessly compelling...beautiful... hypnotic...mind-expanding experience... (Filmkrant)

At Béla Tarr’s own request, the intermissions are short so that the viewers are taken out of the film as little as possible. There is a 20-minute break after 137 minutes. The second part is 125 minutes long, followed by a 30-minute break. The final part then lasts 177 minutes.