I must ask what your next film is about.

You may ask it, but I won’t talk about it.

You never talk about it.

Yes, because it is impossible. At the end of Werckmeister Harmonies the old man goes up to the whale and look into its eyes. Is it possible to tell what he is feeling then? That is why it is good to make films.

Bela Tarr, interviewed

I’m fed up with this whole narrative thing because the movie – you know what? – without the narrative, the movie has a chance; you can show something. It’s not necessary to tell. Do you remember the end take of the Werckmeister Harmonies? When the old man goes to the eye of the whale?

Yes

Nobody can ever tell you by words what is happening in this old man and in this sad eye of the whale. But I can show you and that’s enough. I trust your eyes and I trust your heart and I trust your emotions. I really trust the audience.

Bela Tarr, interviewed

[Tarr speaks on many occasions of loving and trusting his audience. He speaks of them as friends, as Godard has done recently.]