The Turin Horse (2011) (Blu-ray) (UK Import)

Hungarian maestro Bela Tarr directs this black and white drama set in the early 19th century and inspired by a story about the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. According to the tale, Nietzsche rushed to save a horse from being flogged in the street, before collapsing into the debilitating mental illness that remained with him for the rest of his life. The film imagines the days leading up to the incident, following the poverty-stricken horseman (János Derzsi) and his grown-up daughter (Erika Bók) as they go about their bleak daily existence in the biting winter winds, subsisting entirely on boiled potatoes and watching helplessly as their ailing horse gradually loses its battle to stay alive.

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Film-Dienst: "Eine intensive, bildgewaltige Umkehrung der Schöpfungsgeschichte voller Rätsel und Unerklärtem.​ Meisterhaft komponiert der Film suggestive Bilder von betörender Schönheit und geradezu schmerzender Archaik und regt dazu an, hinter dem dunklen Nichts und dem unbehausten Dasein eines zur Einsamkeit im Nichts verurteilten Menschen nach Sinn und Perspektiven zu fragen.​ Ein ebenso anstrengender wie faszinierender filmischer Kraftakt, der in seiner atemberaubend rauen Poesie voller Sinnbilder und Metaphern herausfordert.​"