Satantango

not even an exaggeration to say that this is probably the best movie i have ever seen. i did not watch it in one sitting (which i regret not doing), and instead i ended up watching the 7.5 hour long movie over the course of 5 days, and i still loved every second of it. this is something that i NEED to watch in theaters.  432 minutes. 150 shots. 12 chapters. to say that this movie is difficult is an understatement. this movie is probably the hardest thing i’ve ever had to sit through not named the ACT. but it was worth it. long shots. to put into perspective into how crazy the long shots are, nowadays the average shot length is 2.5 seconds with an average of 1,045 shots. the average shot length for this movie is 2.5 minutes with 150 shots. the opening shot is deadass 8 minutes of cows walking around a field. if i had watched this 3 years ago, i would’ve freaked out and thought that it was some cia torturing method that they use in guantanamo bay.it’s like watching paint dry. except the paint is really really depressing and you feel absolutely dreadful afterwards because of how pessimistically philosophical the themes are and how at certain points the extremes can get a little too extreme. the movie is filmed with a 35mm camera. so consequently it’s going to be in grayscale. but given the environment and setting that the opening shot establishes, even if it were filmed in color it would still look gray. think of the house in courage the cowardly dog, but microdosed with lsd with a grayscale filter over it.  for the same reason that people consider this hard to watch, is the same reason why i love this movie. it’s immersive. it’s atmospheric. the camera movements are fluid; gliding and observant. the setting sets the tone for the harsh themes. each chapter feels connected but disconnected in a way that makes the movie coherent in a way that’s difficult to describe without having seen the movie. béla tarr’s vision of existentialism takes inspiration from philosophers like schopenhauer and elements from neitzsche in a way that is unique. watch this movie guys ! except for a certain cat scene that made me feel sick. that’s the only thing that i didn’t like about this movie.