Sátántangó (1994)

Director:

Béla Tarr

Writers:

László Krasznahorkai (novel) and
Mihály Vig (story) ...

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In a small dilapidated village in 1980s Hungary, life has come to a virtual standstill. The autumn rains have started...

Plot Keywords:

Rain | Hungary | Criminal | Wind | Loneliness

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Mihály Vig	...	Irimiás
László feLugossy	...	Schmidt
Putyi Horváth	...	Petrina
Éva Almássy Albert	...	Mrs. Schmidt
János Derzsi	...	Kráner
Irén Szajki	...	Mrs. Kráner
Alfréd Járai	...	Halics
Miklós Székely B.	...	Futaki
Erzsébet Gaál	...	Mrs. Halics
Erika Bók	...	Estike
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
György Barkó	...	Principal
Peter Berling	...	Doctor
András Bodnár	...	Sanyi Horgos
Ilona Bojár	...	Mrs. Horgos
Péter Dobai	...	Captain
István Juhász	...	Kelemen
Zoltán Kamondi	...	Innkeeper
Barna Mihók	...	Kerekes
Mihály Ráday	...	Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

Satan's Tango
Satanstango (Germany)

Runtime:

450 min

Country:

Hungary | Germany | Switzerland

Language:

Hungarian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA

Company:

Mozgókép Innovációs Társulás és Alapítvány

Trivia:

The film, like many of Béla Tarr's films, contains one of the longest average shot lengths in any motion picture: 145.7 seconds. A single long take approximately 4 hours into the movie lasts an incredible 10 minutes, 14 seconds.

Quotes:

Captain: Not that human life was so highly valued. Keeping order appears to be the business of the authorities, but in fact it's the business of all. Order. Freedom, however, has nothing human. It's something divine, something... our lives are too short for us to know properly...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Elephant (2003)

It grows!

I saw SATANTANGO about ten years ago. At that time, I found it impressive, but quite an ordeal to sit through. But then, years later, I realized I kept thinking back to the images and rhythms of this film. It grows. I also saw other very long movies with very long takes, like TAIGA by Ulrike Ottinger (8 hours) and FROST by Tarr's student Fred Kelemen (4 hours); they didn't work. SATANTANGO stayed with me, like two other films by Tarr, DAMNATION and WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES. Today I consider it as one of the greatest movie experiences I ever had. I do not know how Tarr pulls this off; his most effective takes often seem simple and straightforward. It must be magic. By the way, Gus Van Sant's ELEPHANT uses similar techniques at times (long shots of people walking), and Van Sant acknowledged Tarr's influence.