The Werkmeister Harmonies

On my favorite level, this unashamedly difficult film is the story of a boy who was a whale.

Bela Tarr unfolds a simple but interesting narrative, full of big people, little people, and the apparatuses that fill in the blanks between, including (significantly, in my opinion) books.

Emotionally evocative in black and white, the images often pass slowly, or remain on screen interminably, subtly shifting, progressing, regressing. For an audience with a visual attention span of seven seconds, all 2.2 hours are impossible, but moving nonetheless. This film can change you, if you can sit through it.

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