The Turin Horse

Name: The Turin Horse
Genre: Drama
Released: February 10, 2012
Duration: 146 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Erika Bók, János Derzsi, Mihály Kormos

2012

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 50 Ratings

See All

8.3

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8.3	Your Score
8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 50 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Turin Horse

Now Playing: The Turin Horse

Movie Details & Credits

Cinema Guild | Release Date: February 10, 2012 | Not Rated

Starring: Erika Bók, János Derzsi, Mihály Kormos

Summary: On January 3, 1889 in Turin, Italy, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorway of number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, a cab driver is having trouble with a stubborn horse. The horse refuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes his whip to it. Nietzsche puts an end to the brutal scene, throwing his armsOn January 3, 1889 in Turin, Italy, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorway of number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, a cab driver is having trouble with a stubborn horse. The horse refuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes his whip to it. Nietzsche puts an end to the brutal scene, throwing his arms around the horse’s neck, sobbing. After this, he lies motionless and silent for two days on a divan until he mutters the obligatory last words, and lives for another ten years, silent and demented, cared for by his mother and sisters. Somewhere in the countryside, the cab driver lives with his daughter and the overworked horse. Outside, a windstorm rages. The horse refuses to move, and the man and his
daughter struggle through their daily schedule. Food and water grow scarce. Beggars and gypsies come to their door. The horse stops eating. Slowly, the apocalypse approaches. (The Cinema Guild)… Expand

Director: Ágnes Hranitzky and Béla Tarr

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 146 min

See All Details and Credits

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

V.A. Musetto

Feb 10, 2012

A sumptuous masterpiece by one of the greatest moviemakers of all time. Read full review

100

Scott Tobias

Feb 8, 2012

The Turin Horse has a burnished beauty that's awe-inspiring, like a clear window into a faraway world as it dangles, and then falls, off the precipice. Read full review

100

A.O. Scott

Feb 9, 2012

The movie is too beautiful to be described as an ordeal, but it is sufficiently intense and unyielding that when it is over, you may feel, along with awe, a measure of relief. Which may sound like a reason to stay away, but is exactly the opposite. Read full review

Nick Pinkerton

Feb 7, 2012

An experience comparable to starting down the road with an empty sack then, over the course of the journey, having it weighed down steadily with rocks until you can't go on. But this backbreaking effect cannot be called an artistic failure. It is exactly what Tarr sets out to achieve. Read full review

Sam Wigley

May 26, 2012

Tarr risks self-parody with recurring scenes of the pair tucking into scalding potatoes, but if you've got the stomach for it this is an intoxicating vision of life at the end of its tether. Read full review

Betsy Sharkey

Mar 1, 2012

Starkly beautiful and exceedingly demanding, The Turin Horse, which Hungarian master Béla Tarr has said will be his last film, is both easy and impossible to define. Read full review

Ray Bennett

Feb 3, 2012

By this time, cinematographer Fred Kelemen's mostly stationary camera has revealed about all there is to see in a fine array of textures in such things as the wooden table, the rough floors, the walls of stone, the ropes on the horse and the skin on the boiled potatoes. That does not, however, make up for the almost complete lack of information about the two characters, and so it is easy to become indifferent to their fate, whatever it is. Read full review

SEE ALL 15 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

migaspinto

Aug 28, 2015

I love the way how this film works: with slow takes that let us time to think in each scene carefuly.
The cinematography is absolutely outstanding.
This is a film that opposes to the popcorn movies that surround cinemas in each corner of the planet, is a film that takes pacience, pacienceI love the way how this film works: with slow takes that let us time to think in each scene carefuly.
The cinematography is absolutely outstanding.
This is a film that opposes to the popcorn movies that surround cinemas in each corner of the planet, is a film that takes pacience, pacience that is rewarded with no doubt.
It's a contemplation movie. A melancholic movie.
He's a slowly crescendo about the end of everything: in other words a masterpiece made by Béla Tarr.
A modern classic.
It's art.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

DrBlahBlah

May 2, 2017

An hour too long at least, but visually stunning, especially the opening scene: an 8 minute shot of a horse dragging a carriage which is as captivating as anything you'll ever see.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

randomusername1

Jan 20, 2017

It reminded me of "Au hasard Balthazar", which is a very positive thing. The horse shows a wider range of emotions than the other actors (who are also excellent) and he also has about the same amount of lines. Enough time is spent on making sure the viewer's eye catches every texture andIt reminded me of "Au hasard Balthazar", which is a very positive thing. The horse shows a wider range of emotions than the other actors (who are also excellent) and he also has about the same amount of lines. Enough time is spent on making sure the viewer's eye catches every texture and every detail of the farm and its surroundings and despite the distant acting I really started to care about these people in a way. The cinematography is also absolutely stunning. A wonderful film in every way.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Amirhosein2005

Jun 24, 2023

A shocking, stunning and mesmerizing film... Anti-birth, the unbearable suffering of life and the emptiness in the human world is taken from the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, something that have something to say for hundreds of years. What is cinema? It means unconscious expression.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Demonbox

Sep 2, 2012

I don't agree with Cabrita, but maybe just 'cause i've been watching a lot of Tarr's movies, this is the last (or so he said) and so the end, and what an end (of the world).
I personally prefer other movies of his, Satantango and Werkmeister Harmonies are some of those, but this is still a good one

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

MarkAngel

Mar 3, 2013

I had a problem with its symbolic aesthetics, since it rarely provides opportunities for self-reflective projection. However, it can't be denied that this is beautiful trademark work of the master who made Satantango.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

cabrita

Jul 5, 2012

His use of mise en scene and film noir are great however technique on it's own does not add up to anything. I can appreciate art house films however this is simply bad art. It did not entertain my intellect by exploring themes nor did it entertain me on a manipulative level. This is where IHis use of mise en scene and film noir are great however technique on it's own does not add up to anything. I can appreciate art house films however this is simply bad art. It did not entertain my intellect by exploring themes nor did it entertain me on a manipulative level. This is where I differ with the critics they believe the film gave you a sense of awe, I believe the film gave me a sense of boredom. I have also seen the man from London which was also garbage. I'm going to give Tarr one more chance with Werkmeister Harmonies.… Expand

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

SEE ALL 7 REVIEWS