10 Movies To Challenge Even The Most Hardcore Film Buff

2. Sátántangó

Anyone familiar with Gus Van Sant's later movies such as Gerry and Elephant will be familiar with his new-found love of the works of Béla Tarr, the Hungarian director who influenced their deliberately slow pacing and long, long takes. The epitome of this approach to editing (or lack thereof) came with Tarr's 1994 film, Sátántangó. If the three hour plus running time of Celine and Julie Go Boating is enough to put off many viewers investing the time, then Sátántangó's seven and a half hour running time will come as a truly daunting prospect even for the most hardcore cinephile. Adapted from the novel of the same name by László Krasznahorkai, it depicts a rural village in quiet turmoil on the cusp of the collapse of Communism, as the community struggle to deal with both their own scheming, duplicitous nature and that of their fellow resident Irimiás, returning to the village after having disappeared two years before. Long takes are the order of the day here, and Tarr uses this style to deliver an unflinching and highly immersive portrait of the town and those who dwell within. The parallels with Andrei Tarkovsy are clear - Tarr's preoccupation with lingering on his subjects in order to allow the audience ample time to meditate on its meaning is borne through from start to finish. Sátántangó is something of an endurance test for any film fan, but one worth persevering with to the end.