Like cilantro or anchovies, the films of Hungarian director Bela Tarr are an acquired taste and The Man from London is no exception. Tarr's trademark are his lengthy, meticulously planned long takes, some so intensely immersive that when the shot ends, the cut is almost like a jump scare. The visuals in The Man from London are spectacular, with long tracking and crane shots, almost imperceptible slow zooms, and atmospheric lighting creating a tangible sense of dread. The film is hindered by some truly horrible dubbing and an almost non-existent, razor-thin plot, but this is not a movie about dialogue or storylines – it is a film about the art of cinema. Many will hate the languid pace and despise what may be perceived to be artistic pretensions – others will embrace the cinematic artistry. Watch it and judge for yourself.

One of Bela Tarr's more accessible efforts might still be too tedious for many viewers.

Tarr's work has been influential in my life for sometime. This film contains all of the staples of Tarr's work (long takes, b&w cinematography, etc). However, this one is probably my least favorite of Tarr's films, because of uninteresting and overly vague characters, and probably the film is a bit too long. The poor dubbing doesn't help either. The film itself had issues with financing and production which could explain the final product

A very old school way of Cinematic style. And I didn't quite like it.

Admittedly it is daunting to start watching my very first Béla Tarr's works (with his wife and longtime editor Ágnes Hranitzky credited as the co-director), who has already retreated to a permanent retirement in filmmaking after THE TURIN HORSE (2011), as his oeuvre is mostly notorious for stirring audience's usual viewing habits with long takes exceedingly overstay their length of tolerance, a mixed anticipation and perturbation has overtaken me when I selected his lesser praised 2007 feature as the very first introduction piece, rarely I was in such a state before even embarking on the ritual of watching a film. keep reading my review on my blog: http://wp.me/p1eXom-1TW

while its storyline was paper thin the breathtaking cinematography and lingering camera shots of faces reflecting their own private world of hurt were as prolific as jackrabbits!

It's hard not to feel disappointed when excitingly high expectations are dashed. I was looking forward to the Bela Tarr film noir (taken from a Georges Simenon story) and imagining what he might do when transmogrifying this genre's materials into his own unique style. After all, his way of intensifying black and white reality with a slowly moving ever-watching camera (stationed who knows where - behind the wall?) might heighten the already tense emotions of the noir. But alas, after a stupendous opening shot that tracks and tracks, around and around, showing us the money drop, a murder, and who ends up with the loot, there isn't much left to do. Sure, the inspector arrives and the plot unfolds, slowly, slowly, slowly - so, slowly in fact that the 3 or 4 things that happen take up the entire 2 hour plus running time. It remains absorbing because of Tarr's unique style, but it isn't astonishing like Satantango or Werckmeister Harmonies. Definitely see those first.

My first Bela Tarr. It is a marvelously filmed B&W noir that has a snail-crawling plot which isn't as smart as you think it would be. Rather, Tarr seems to want you to get immersed in the monotonous life of a poor man which gets disrupted when he witnesses a murder. Surely a test if you aren't accustomed to long takes and dense symbolism.

Based on the novel by George Simenon, this is a black and white thriller with strokes of drama. It tells us the story of Maloin, a switchman of a station by the sea. By chance he witnesses a murder from his signal tower and rather than report it to the authorities he gets hold of the bag full of money the deceased was carrying. We then follow this ordinary and rather dull character get home, we get to see his family and the impact all that money might make in his humble household. I cannot stress enough that this is not the conventional Hollywood sample of the genre, this is not the typical rushed persecution nor the exciting film you watch at the edge of your seat. It is a movie about guilt and about the life choices Maloin makes. It is a slow paced film with very long sequence shots with fixed and moving camera. This is art not entertainment; the images, in a classic tradition of film noir, are beautiful and suggestive of the state of mind of the characters. Shot half in English half in French, The man from London is a visual delight but lovers of thrillers might -and will- get disappointed with the slowness of the film developments.

With "The Man from London," Bela Tarr proves that he could even make watching paint dry interesting which surprisingly has little to do with the always fascinating Tilda Swinton being cast, as her role is so minor. In fact, the film is inspired by others including the beginning of "Touch of Evil" and its epic introductory shot. At the start of "The Man from London," Maloin(Miroslav Krobot), a night watchman, notices something suspicious on the job. On further inspection, it is a briefcase filled with slightly soggy English pounds. And then there is the Aki Kaurismaki angle with Maloin's dreary life where he severely disapproves of his daughter Henriette's(Erika Bok) job and clothing. But what's important is Tarr managing to keep events moving, even if it is at a glacial pace, perhaps mirroring that of the characters' existence.

When will euro directors get it through their heads that audiences don't want be put to sleep before the film even begins? Why are these geniuses so convinced that we WANT to be lulled, as in this film, with a 6-minute opening in which all we see is the prow of a ship? Are they bereft of ideas as to how to set a mood--or just too cheap to set it up? DO they have to fucking bore us to death before the story even begins?!

kind of a boring slog of a film with AMAZING cinematography. skip this and watch "the werckmeister harmonies" instead.

Here's a director who is obviously impressed with David Lynch and wants to be just like him. Unfortunately, he has neither the imagination nor the warped sense of humor of Lynch, and cannot overcome those obstacles in this film. A bare-bones script and storyline, a minimalist style of black-and-white photography and an excruciatingly slow delivery DO NOT AN ART FILM MAKE on their own!!!! There has to be something at least to look at, and although the cinematography is topnotch, the subjects frequently are not remarkable, and having recurring and VERY annoying Philip Glass-like accordion music in the background can't make up for a lack of anything interesting to observe. (Not to knock Philip Glass, I love his work.) As well, he couldn;t decide if the Hungarian speaking actors should be dubbed into English or French, and then he threw Tilda Swinton into the mix, speaking English but being dubbed into French. Not interesting, just dumb. This is the case of a 20 minute vignette squeezed into a 140 minute vacuum, the result being that the vacuum would be more interesting without the vignette. Nobody can do David Lynch anywhere near as well as David Lynch, nor should they try. Nothing cerebral here, folks, move on...

"L'Homme de Londres" (2007) de Bà (C)la Tarr (Hongrie-France) 2h20 (Noir-et-Blanc) revu à la tà (C)là (C) sur la chaà (R)ne culturelle franco-allemande dans la nuit du lundi 23 au mardi 24 mai 2011 de 2h20 à 4h40 du matin !

An odd but worthy visual experience even if it is very exhausting..

A movie with stunning shots and a very real time feel with the long shots.

lugubrious, a nightmare, a few fantastic scenes (people descending from a ship to a train as if en route from purgatory; old men dancing with chairs while a woman plays an accordion); slow & shuffling pace

I don't know what this movie was trying to accomplish all i know is that it bored the hell outta me so SKIP IT!!!

"The Man From London" starts off with a rail-worker (Maloin) witnessing a murder, and the mystery of that particular situation becomes a chilling slow-burning thriller about, essentially, moral responsibility. It's Tarr's unique perspective of situations and the "everyday man" integrated with a great understanding of less-is-more/real time photography that raises this film on a higher pedestal than other (far more) conventional thrillers. Like Tarr's other films, there's always so much happening within his long, precise, ballet-like camera moves, that the length in which scenes are are nearly invisible. Do you notice in the first 35 minutes that there are only 4 shots? No, because the "action" is so well choreographed and intriguing that you're taken over by the story and you forget about the frame. That's a hard comment to make, because he clearly spends a lot of time working on his photography. The photography is haunting (for the lack of a possibly more sophisticated description). Is this as good as "Satantango" or "Werckmeister Harmonies" or even "Damnation"? That's a tough call, because one can argue that all his films, while made in different years, could take place in the same realm, at the same time; as if Bela Tarr was at once merely the observer and the architect of the lives of these people. Of course, there are slightly different social classes, but his films are, at least to my personal feelings, one large on-going story of different personal conflicts. What did make "The Man From London" feel different than his other films was the technology in some cases, where at times this film felt too clean and too perfect and too planned out. On the negative side of things it was hard watching Tilda Swinton, but that has everything to do with my incredible dislike for her as an actress. Maybe she did a fabulous job and maybe she really worked, but her scenes removed me from the story. That and there was a Police Inspector that sounded a bit like a drunk Sean Connery. The scenes were very dramatic and full of information, but all I wanted to do was chuckle. Whenever I finish a Tarr film, I rarely feel perky or alive. It's always a quiet process afterwards, as you feel the weight of everything you just watched. Maybe you learn something about life while watching his films, maybe you learn something about human behavior. Whatever it is you feel, I'm hoping that to Tarr himself that it's the right feeling. (Unless of course you were just bored watching the film, then, well...)

A film noir in English and French from legendary Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr. Perverse and mesmerizing, but at the same time often very funny. Very slow moving and attention-taxing, like all Bela Tarr films. Overall, enjoyable.