Hungarian director Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies begins with the image of a flame being doused out. This is significant, because in this political drama, the conflict between light and dark provides much of the thematic fodder. In an astonishing opening scene, the camera smoothly zooms and pans around a dilapidated pub, as János, the film’s hero and an amateur astronomer, uses his drunken compatriots to demonstrate a solar eclipse. Although Tarr never cuts here, he manages to show close-ups, varying angles, and establishing shots by elegantly transitioning from one to another. His 1994 masterpiece Satantango was technically accomplished, but not quite so... Continue Reading