'' The Turin Horse '' received critical acclaim . At Metacritic , the film received an average score of 80/100 , based on 14 reviews , which indicates " generally favorable reviews " . The film currently holds an 88 % " Certified Fresh " rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 48 reviews , with an average score of 8.1 / 10 . The critical consensus stated , " Uncompromisingly bold and hauntingly beautiful , Bela Tarr 's bleak parable tells a simple story with weighty conviction . " Mark Jenkins of NPR described the film as " ... an absolute vision , masterly and enveloping in a way that less personal , more conventional movies are not . " A. O. Scott of '' The New York Times '' lavished the film with praise , concluding , " The rigors of life can grind you down . The rigor of art can have the opposite effect , and '' The Turin Horse '' is an example — an exceedingly rare one in contemporary cinema — of how a work that seems built on the denial of pleasure can , through formal discipline , passionate integrity and terrifying seriousness , produce an experience of exaltation . 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 . " Ray Bennett of '' The Hollywood Reporter '' wrote from the Berlinale : " Fans of Tarr ’s somber and sedate films will know what they are in for and will no doubt find the time well spent . Others might soon grow weary of measured pace of the characters as they dress in their ragged clothes , eat boiled potatoes with their fingers , fetch water , clean their bowls , chop wood and feed the horse . " Bennett complimented the cinematography , but added : " 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 . " '' Variety '' 's Peter Debruge also noted how the narrative provided " little to cling to " , but wrote : " Like Hiroshi Teshigahara 's life-changingly profound '' The Woman in the Dunes '' ... by way of Bresson , Tarr 's tale seems to depict the meaning of life in a microcosm , though its intentions are far more oblique . ... As the premise itself concerns the many stories not being told ( Nietzsche is nowhere to be found , for instance ) , it 's impossible to keep the mind from drifting to all the other narratives unfolding beyond the film 's sparse horizon . " The film won the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear and the Competition FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival . It was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards , but it did not make the final shortlist . '' Tiny Mix Tapes '' named it the best film of 2012
84th Academy Awards
84th Academy Awards
The Turin Horse