Stanislas Lefort Reviews

Philharmoniker (1944)

Nothing interesting in the plot but...

[4/10 · 31 October 2012]

Philharmoniker is a typical German movie of the end of World War II. A story with love and music which will let the audience forget for a while the bombing of the cities. So far, I would not have screened the work till the end. What captivated me were the short sequences where one sees great German conductors of that time with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Reichsorchestra, as it was called during the war. One would regret not to see Furtwängler but there are plenty of documents where one can see and hear the master. It was the first time I saw Karl Böhm as he was rather young. The same for Eugen Jochum who was already a great specialist of Bruckner, not to mention Hans Knappertsbusch with Beethoven in a "Werkkonzert" (concert for the workers in a factory). The best surprise comes in the last minutes with Richard Strauss who is conducting one of his own works with a minimalist gesture. Those couple of minutes with such great artists were indeed the very best part of the movie.

Another interesting point is that one can see the "Philharmonie", the concert hall where the Berlin Philharmonic played till it was destroyed by bombs by the end of 1944, so very shortly after the movie.

The Man from London (2007)

The Essence of the Human Condition

[9/10 · 21 August 2007]

The storyline is taken from a Georges Simenon novel, L'Homme de Londres (1934). In an interview in 2001, Béla Tarr avowed: "I believe that you keep making the same film throughout your whole life." His most recent work upholds this declaration, placing itself squarely in line with his previous feature-length films, especially Damnation (1988), Sátántangó (Satan's Tango) (1994) et Werckmeister Harmonies (2000). These four films share identical layouts of the credits, black-and-white film, minimalist dialogues, long scenes, and stories that are more suggestive than narrative in nature. Most of Tarr's actors are not professionals and several appear in different films, notably Erika Bók who is Estike in Sátántangó and Henriette in The Man from London. As for the handful of foreign actors, they are dubbed into Hungarian.

If it was amusing to see Gyula Pauer play the innkeeper in two films, his third appearance in The Man from London indicates that the choice is deliberate. Same with the role of Henriette (Maloin's daughter), assigned to Erika Bók, who appeared as Estike (the child with the cat) in Sátántangó. In all of Tarr's stories, the innkeeper appears as one, single person. This is also true of Estike and Henriette who share a common destiny as child-victims. And yet Tarr only winks at us across the characters of different films; the most ordinary actions are equally allusions throughout all his works creating a universe of apparently insignificant habits. Maloin drinks in accordance with the same ritual as the neighbor-informer of Sátántangó. And when he throws a log on his fire, the stove in the first image of Werckmeister Harmonies springs to mind. So many habits in which the insignificant becomes significant because the images and the characters of Tarr's ceaselessly question one another: their existence is a succession of futile, routine gestures whose repetition bears witness to their vanity. Habits are simultaneously both their prison and their lifeline in the labyrinth of existence, giving them something to hold onto while, at the same time, preventing them from escaping their condition. True, the protagonists seek to purify their existence (Valuska), to change their destiny (Karrer, Irimiás, Maloin), to reverse the course of History (Eszter and his theories of sound). But they are inevitably reeled back in and crushed.

Though the decor and the ambiance are consistent with classic film noir, the unraveling of the plot is so exact that two viewings are necessary in order to begin to understand. But, at the base of things, the story doesn't really matter. What Tarr shows us is less a criminal entanglement than the poles between which the characters oscillate. First there is the black and the white, admirably opposed in the first scene where half of the ship's body is illuminated. The screen is black at the beginning of the film; it is white at the end. The music is also bipolar. From the first notes of a long arpeggio, we believe we hear an organ, then realize it is the sirens of ships. In Homer's Odyssey, the song of the Sirens, inaccessible feminine creatures, threw the sailors off-course so that their ships ran aground on the reefs. Here, the song of the sirens is like a requiem. This dirge contrasts with the accordion ritornello, reminiscent of the inns in Sátántangó and Damnation. With Tarr, bistros are always places of escape where one re-creates the world, gets drunk, and devises the most absurd projects. The melody, acting as a setting for these hallucinations, allows death to be forgotten, but which the arpeggio obstinately calls back to mind. Its minor key and its infinite nostalgia only make it less able to elude destiny.

Where does The Man from London fit into Tarr's works? In the first scene – a shot twelve minutes in length – the lens surveys and captures the entire space in a way unknown to the tracking in Tarr's other works, and shows, by its fluidity and freedom, at what point the characters are prisoners of their own gravitation. The camera seems to have wings so it may better watch the men and love them, without ever judging them. In this way, it is sister to Damiel and Cassiel, the two angels of Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987). Like them, Tarr's camera leisurely insinuates itself, beyond concepts of time, and penetrates the heart of beings, ready to capture each of their convulsions in a world where the only certainty is death, humanity's habit par excellence. Looking at the earlier films, several of the characters in The Man from London bring an unexpected contrast. Such as the Inspector Molisson, who seems above the law and alone brings justice. No other film of Tarr's has a main character so tenuously attached to the human condition. His behavior with Maloin and Mrs. Brown is Christ-like, in a manner of speaking. He consoles; he cleanses sins; he tries to console. In comparison, Mrs. Brown seems like Anna Schmid, Harry Lime's mistress in The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949). Both women were used to entrap the man they loved. Both women, in the last images of the films, refuse compensation and disappear, dignity intact. In the end, Maloin, marred by sudden wealth, seeks redemption by turning himself in. He isn't sure if Molisson's pardon will allow him to find peace once again. The glass harp that punctuates the siren arpeggio as Molisson re-enacts the toss of the suitcase greets only Molisson's discovery of the truth. The final notes of the film, still played on the glass harp, mark the end of the inspector's work and the end of the riddle. Life continues for Maloin and Mrs. Brown with both their doubts and failures. But what makes The Man from London a new development in the works of Béla Tarr is the fact that this film brings together so perfectly cinematography, music, and plot line, creating a complete and emotional spectacle about the human condition.

(Thanks to Jessica Alexander for the English translation!)

Ponette (1996)

Learning about grief

[8/10 · 9 May 2005]

This film recounts the grieving process of a four-year-old child who has lost her mother, the pain of the loss, of not finding answers, of not finding explanations of the unimaginable. It also shows how the people around the child experience are void. The children as well as the adults all try to offer an explanation. Seen like that, the film could seem awfully sad. But Ponette is also and especially a magnificent reflection on facing death in childhood, on the stages of grief, on all that is unexplainable. On this point, and rightly so, the end of the film should fuel a debate: did this really happen, or was this the product of Ponette's wild imagination? I think that, if we don't ponder this, we pass over one of the major elements of the work.

Nothing About Robert (1999)

The complexity of the characters makes them at the same time close and odious

[7/10 · 3 May 2005]

"Nothing about Robert" is the description of empty, mediocre, hateful and paranoid existences... If the leading characters declare once in a while their love, they really like to let suffer each other. Is it a comedy or a drama? Is there even a plot? I had the pleasure of watching this unclassifiable movie because the characters in their vileness and outrageousness make one laugh. I loved their complexity which makes them at the same time close and odious. Especially, I discovered Valentina Cervi, actress with a very disconcerting performance, which interprets an exoplanet in the intellectual Parisian microcosm. Luchini is faithful to himself i.e. one always wonders from when he does a little too much. Sandrine Kiberlain is perfect in all the details.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

Not just a historical reconstruction

[9/10 · 1 May 2005]

The story of one of the rare opposition movements in Germany during World War II, entitled The White Rose. The story traces the last days of Sophie Scholl, whose moral stature and courage are admirably brought to life. As far as the script, I'll remember more than anything the extraordinarily intelligent dialog between the main character and the policeman interrogating her. This film isn't just a historical reconstruction; it's also a plea against the fanaticism and right-wing extremism against which not only German-speaking countries have to fight. In this sense, this short episode (four days) about life in Munich in February 1943 takes on a universal dimension.

Abschied (1930)

A forgotten masterpiece

[9/10 · 4 June 1999]

One of the very first sound movies. Sound is everywhere during the whole film: the vacuum-cleaner, the ringing of the phone, the piano... Everybody speaks but no-one hears, except maybe the cleaning woman who is presented as deaf. The story takes place in a flat where several destinies cross but may be never meet. It is a very bitter description of a microcosm: all the characters are funny, but desperately helpless and hopeless.