Cinema Montreal

The Turin Horse is a film of such epic proportions one has to look to Greek tragedy for a point of comparison. The emptiness and cruelty of the universe blows through the film like an endless storm, and the tireless bravery and determination of the characters to endure it is nothing short of breathtaking. This is not a film you shake off easily. A rare, truly awesome cinematic experience.

"Freely inspired by an episode that marked the end of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's career", is the film description's first sentence. My inspiration of Nietzsche's final years looks completely different... I love to live life as a minimalist and lived many years not having more than the essential basics. In this "freely inspired" film the lonely suffering overshadows all and everything. There seems not any other emotion left in life - and this is what makes this imagination of Nietzsche's final years far too narrow and too one-sided. If a person is considered having lost his consciousness and being mad: there are always still more than just one emotion left.

Life stripped down to its barest essentials. A tone poem of utter simplicity and power. Reminiscent, in places, of Bergman and Tarkovski, but with a distinctive sense of loneliness and a pervasive melancholy that linger long after seeing the film. Director Béla Tarr claims that this will be his last film. I sincerely hope not.

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