The movie starts well enough, establishing a stark, gloomy atmosphere. We see the local postman Janos doing various things, in the process introducing us to some of the other characters in the story. Basically the story from here, in a nutshell, is that a sideshow consisting of a stuffed whale and a character known as 'the prince' (who we never see directly) arrives in the town square. The townsfolk start to gather in the square, becoming progressively more agitated as the film progresses, finally they go on some type of rampage, sacking the local hospital (it is implied that this is somehow at the behest of 'the prince'). It seems then the army moves in to round up the locals, and for some reason not fully explained, Janos is deposited in the local asylum. There are various small subplots which go nowhere (some type of local power play with Janos' relatives and some kind of musical analogy for the plot seems to be floated).
This is more than enough for your average art film to hang its hat on, the problem more comes in the quality of ideas over the length of the movie. One can detect the influences of various directors, the most obvious being Tarkovsky and the long takes; at the start of the movie these long takes are full of movement and interest; however, as we progress, the motif becomes overused and dull. In the end, it seems the long takes of people walking take on an almost comic effect, with the director dragging it on just long enough to make you squirm before introducing a new element.
One never really develops any empathy with any of the characters, most are only hastily drawn eastern European clichés, the main character starts to chew the scenery a little at the end, the actor seems somewhat unsure how Janos' mental state is meant to progress. Overall, it's as if the director spends a lot of time creating an interesting setting, then isn't quite sure what to do with it over the duration of the film. Werckmeister Harmonies is by no means a bad film, it just doesn't scale to the heights it so obviously aspires to.
This is more than enough for your average art film to hang its hat on, the problem more comes in the quality of ideas over the length of the movie. One can detect the influences of various directors, the most obvious being Tarkovsky and the long takes; at the start of the movie these long takes are full of movement and interest; however, as we progress, the motif becomes overused and dull. In the end, it seems the long takes of people walking take on an almost comic effect, with the director dragging it on just long enough to make you squirm before introducing a new element.
One never really develops any empathy with any of the characters, most are only hastily drawn eastern European clichés, the main character starts to chew the scenery a little at the end, the actor seems somewhat unsure how Janos' mental state is meant to progress. Overall, it's as if the director spends a lot of time creating an interesting setting, then isn't quite sure what to do with it over the duration of the film. Werckmeister Harmonies is by no means a bad film, it just doesn't scale to the heights it so obviously aspires to.