Sátántangó (1994)

Director:

Béla Tarr

Writers:

László Krasznahorkai (novel) and
Mihály Vig (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 April 1994 (Hungary)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

In a small dilapidated village in 1990s Hungary, life has come to a virtual standstill. The autumn rains have started...

Plot Keywords:

Hungary | Rain | Long Take | 1990s | Poverty

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Mihály Vig	...	Irimiás
Putyi Horváth	...	Petrina
László feLugossy	...	Schmidt
Éva Almássy Albert	...	Schmidtné
János Derzsi	...	Kráner
Irén Szajki	...	Kránerné
Alfréd Járai	...	Halics
Miklós Székely B.	...	Futaki
Erzsébet Gaál	...	Halicsné
Erika Bók	...	Estike
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
György Barkó	...	Iskolaigazgató
Peter Berling	...	Orvos
András Bodnár	...	Horgos Sanyi
Ilona Bojár	...	Horgosné
Péter Dobai	...	Százados
István Juhász	...	Kelemen
Zoltán Kamondi	...	Kocsmáros
Barna Mihók	...	Kerekes
Mihály Ráday	...	Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Béla Tarr

Writing credits
László Krasznahorkai		novel and
Mihály Vig		story &
Péter Dobai		story &
Barna Mihók		story
László Krasznahorkai		(screenplay) &
Béla Tarr		(screenplay)

Produced by
György Fehér	....	producer
Joachim von Vietinghoff	....	producer
Ruth Waldburger	....	producer

Original Music by
Mihály Vig

Cinematography by
Gábor Medvigy

Film Editing by
Ágnes Hranitzky

Costume Design by
János Breckl
Gyula Pauer

Production Management
Tibor Dimény	....	production manager
Gábor Koncz	....	production manager
Ernõ Mihály	....	production manager
Gábor Téni	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Zoltán Gazsi	....	second assistant director
János Hollós	....	first assistant director
Ágnes Hranitzky	....	first assistant director
András Kécza	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Csaba Erös	....	sound recordist
József Kardos	....	sound recordist
György Kovács	....	sound designer
György Kovács	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lajos Ledniczky	....	boom operator
István Pergel	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Péter Pásztorfi	....	special effects technician

Stunts
Zoltán Gulyás Kiss	....	stunt arranger
Krisztian Kery	....	utility stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Tamas Nyerges	....	Steadicam operator

Other crew
Ferenc Kállai	....	voice dubbing: Peter Berling

Thanks
Alf Bold	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Mozgókép Innovációs Társulás és Alapítvány
• Von Vietinghoff Filmproduktion (VVF)
• Vega Film
• Magyar Televízió (co-production)
• Télévision Suisse-Romande (TSR) (co-production)
• Magyar Mozgókép Alapítvány (support)
• Berliner Filmförderung (support)
• Eurimages (support)

Distributors

• Pierre Grise Distribution
• Rai Tre Radiotelevisione Italiana (1995) (Italy) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Satan's Tango" -
"Satanstango" - Germany
"Satantango" - USA
"Сатанинское танго" - Russia
"Satantango" - Greece (festival title)
"Seytan tangosu" - Turkey (Turkish title) (festival title)
"Szatanskie tango" - Poland (imdb display title)

Runtime:

450 min

Country:

Hungary | Germany | Switzerland

Language:

Hungarian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA | UK:15

Company:

Mozgókép Innovációs Társulás és Alapítvány

Trivia:

The movie was shot between 1990 and 1994.

Quotes:

Captain:Not that human life was so highly valued. Keeping order appears to be the business of the authorities, but in fact it's the business of all. Order. Freedom, however, has nothing human. It's something divine, something... our lives are too short for us to know properly...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Elephant (2003)

A cinema epic

My name is George Zoes and I am the assistant director of Theo Angelopoulos, the famous director from Greece. I just finished watching the movie and I am in state of cinematic nirvana. I only thought Theo Angelopoulos had the secans shots but I was mistaken.

Bela Tar knows what he is doing. For the people who are addicted to post modern cinema this movie would be a nervous breakdown. But for the people who love the power of images, who keep their minds open, who investigate the same art of cinema, its a miracle this film exists.

The time games that Bela Tar plays with the shots from a different angle are unique and the atmosphere that he creates conviced me that this is a parrarel universe rather than a cinema story. Its a purgative cinema that personally gave me trust to make my own feature film. The visual story seems greater than the written one but its not. I have the feeling that this form is the most suitable for this content. Its like the flesh and the blood, you cant distinguish them.

Thank you Bela Tar and to your screenwriter.

I am ready to leave Theo to work with you.