The Turin Horse

“In Turin on 3rd January, 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorwayof number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, the driver of a hansom cabis having trouble with a stubborn horse. Despite all his urging, the horserefuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes hiswhip to it. Nietzsche comes up to the throng and puts an end to the brutalscene, throwing his arms around the horse’s neck, sobbing.His landlord takes him home, he lies motionless and silent for two days ona divan until he mutters the obligatory last words, and lives for another tenyears, silent and demented, cared for by his mother and sisters. We do not know what happened to the horse.” These are Béla Tarr’s introductory words at the beginning of his film, which picks up the narrative immediately after these events, and is a meticulousdescription of the life of the driver of the hansom cab, his daughter and thehorse. This Hungarian director’s new work bears all the hallmarks of hisinimitable style including long takes, black-and-white photography andalmost no dialogue.