Monday, April 16, 2007

trains in cinema, woyzeck

woyzeck directed by jános szász, 1994

hungarian version of georg büchner's 1837 play woyzeck.

instead of a soldier we find woyzeck as a flag man in a train yard in hungary.
like bela tarr making a train film, although less minimal.
with examples of; smoke, darkness, rain, snow, mud and fog (obscuring the trains and characters that pass by).

close up of the tracks as a train passes by in slow motion with a lovely flicker.



smoke abstracting a passing train.

car train.



bela tarr image.

smoke abstractions.

smoke abstractions.

smoke abstractions.

snow abstracting the train yard. the camera pans and you see woyzeck working, great composition.

snow abstracting the train yard.

snow abstracting the train yard, this sequence reminds me of the satantango (bela tarr) sequence when the villagers destroy their furniture.

tracks seen from the top of a moving train. it took me a while to figure out what it was i was looking at, looked more like falling debris.

(some other train studies).

5 comments:

shahn said...

i've seen this too, its a fantastic film. what also struck me, along with the visuals, was the sounds of the train merging with the people: the train wheels for a heartbeat, the steam puffs for hyperventilation....

you grabbed some nice images.

woolgathersome said...

I'm looking forward to seeing this version more than ever now! The stalagmite train tracks are stunning!

If you've not read Lenz yet, I think you'd really like it -a beautiful short work...

the art of memory said...

yes, i never thought of it that way, but the sounds and visuals are quite stunning, and go right along with our interest in "drone" music or whatever you want to call it.

i will have to make a trip over to the city of lights and pick up lenz. mr. catscratcher has been telling me for a while now to check it out, i should be able to read it because of its length. can't seem to stick with long fiction lately?

* said...

yes Lenz is wonderful - and what a relief to not always find the general reference to the Kinski-Woyzeck film. I have the idea that szasz film does much more justice to Wozeck's inner world...but it looks as if it is a film that is difficult to get...

the art of memory said...

it does more with his inner world, the acting and the photography both,
i don't think it is hard to get though, it is pretty simple, in some ways entertaining, always visually interesting.
the actors are engaging in the way they look, so there is that as well.