In retrospect
I am a bit more appreciative now, at the time of viewing not so much.
My retrospect tells me there is a lesson here- "good things come to those who wait", I got that because Maloin didn't spend the money in the briefcase that he harpooned out, but in the end got a small monetary reward- I'm pretty sure that in the end he figured out that the "old guy" wasn't a cop, and thus changed the meaning of the briefcase altogether.
I am sorry but I do not remember the "old guy's" name, he had INCREDIBLE bags under his eyes- that is really the only reason I kept watching him.
A lot of the arduous black and white shots at the beginning were seamless, which was really awesome- but I guess made it a little harder to follow the plot and I really didn't know where I was in relationship to the boat that set up the beginning.
I really couldn't visually SEE what was happening at first, and I never blinked for a second. I put the pieces together only at the end, although I wish I had seen whomever was in the shed one last time because it would have allowed me to enjoy the irony of the situation more. The irony is that the whole wife spiel wasn't even necessary because Maloin was already fulfilling his destiny in returning the briefcase... But that scene served as a segue and an excellent example of good on-screen crying.
I enjoyed the deliberateness of the details- down to Maloin's money arranging and the way he picked up the bag of food, fabulous.
I wondered if people use pounds in Hungary, but I suppose it doesn't matter.
I think a lot of the problem for me was that there was too much distraction from the plot by the terrible dubbing. Not just the dubbing (which completely ruined Tilda Swinton's performance, she should have just learned Hungarian) but the post-production studio sounds, adding in the footsteps, etc. I hate this whenever it's too obvious, and it was way too obvious.
Sure, the noir plot was cool in theory- but the dialog translated terribly and the beginning was not built up at all in an effective way, causing me to completely not care what happened to any of the characters in the end, whatsoever!
Tilda Swinton and Maloin also had really no chemistry at all as husband and wife. It seemed to me that all the women in this film were helpless and angry except Maloin's daughter, who confused me with her lack of loyalty towards her father in the store but ultimately made me happy in the end because she was not a materialistic character, nor a beautiful Hollywood actress.
Lastly, there was a typo in one of the subtitles, shame on whomever proofread that, or didn't.
This was my first Tarr film in full (I don't think seeing clips counts), obviously something does not deserve excessive praise just because it's what's expected, but it also could have been a lot worse.
My retrospect tells me there is a lesson here- "good things come to those who wait", I got that because Maloin didn't spend the money in the briefcase that he harpooned out, but in the end got a small monetary reward- I'm pretty sure that in the end he figured out that the "old guy" wasn't a cop, and thus changed the meaning of the briefcase altogether.
I am sorry but I do not remember the "old guy's" name, he had INCREDIBLE bags under his eyes- that is really the only reason I kept watching him.
A lot of the arduous black and white shots at the beginning were seamless, which was really awesome- but I guess made it a little harder to follow the plot and I really didn't know where I was in relationship to the boat that set up the beginning.
I really couldn't visually SEE what was happening at first, and I never blinked for a second. I put the pieces together only at the end, although I wish I had seen whomever was in the shed one last time because it would have allowed me to enjoy the irony of the situation more. The irony is that the whole wife spiel wasn't even necessary because Maloin was already fulfilling his destiny in returning the briefcase... But that scene served as a segue and an excellent example of good on-screen crying.
I enjoyed the deliberateness of the details- down to Maloin's money arranging and the way he picked up the bag of food, fabulous.
I wondered if people use pounds in Hungary, but I suppose it doesn't matter.
I think a lot of the problem for me was that there was too much distraction from the plot by the terrible dubbing. Not just the dubbing (which completely ruined Tilda Swinton's performance, she should have just learned Hungarian) but the post-production studio sounds, adding in the footsteps, etc. I hate this whenever it's too obvious, and it was way too obvious.
Sure, the noir plot was cool in theory- but the dialog translated terribly and the beginning was not built up at all in an effective way, causing me to completely not care what happened to any of the characters in the end, whatsoever!
Tilda Swinton and Maloin also had really no chemistry at all as husband and wife. It seemed to me that all the women in this film were helpless and angry except Maloin's daughter, who confused me with her lack of loyalty towards her father in the store but ultimately made me happy in the end because she was not a materialistic character, nor a beautiful Hollywood actress.
Lastly, there was a typo in one of the subtitles, shame on whomever proofread that, or didn't.
This was my first Tarr film in full (I don't think seeing clips counts), obviously something does not deserve excessive praise just because it's what's expected, but it also could have been a lot worse.