The Turin Horse

In 1889, while travelling in Turin, Friedrich Nietzsche threw his arms round a maltreated horse, he lost consciousness and then lost his reason. We know much about the philosopher’s fate and his demise. But what of the horse? The Turin Horse offers a perfect synthesis of the singular style of influential Hungarian solitaire Béla Tarr. Through his measured sequence of long shots, accompanied by suggestive music and focusing on inexpressive acting, Tarr builds up a beguiling atmosphere of timelessness which defies a positive outcome. Almost without dialogue, the film examines the necessity of human coexistence and, at the same time, the powerlessness of the human race when faced with major change. Here, meaning arises not through the characters’ dialogues, but through their actions and the semblance of calm that surrounds them. The film’s tension, then, stems not from the dynamic editing, but from the content and structure of carefully composed shots. “We brought the film to its logical conclusion,” says Ágnes Hranitzky, the director’s editor and life partner. For his part, Tarr declared this film to be his last.