Tarkovsky is my favorite 20th century film director bar none. Here's are some reasons why and why you might also be interested in his films:
(1) He described his art as poetry applied to cinema or "sculpting in time," a fundamentally different conceptual idea of the cinematic art that he went to a great length to clarify (in a book of the same name, highly recommended).
(2) His use of color is incredible. Some films, especially stalker, are near black and white with incredibly vibrant and poignant uses of green. This is a bit like Bergman at his best, but even better.
(3) He was deeply religious in a "mystical" sense, with a lot of respect for past traditions, but not in a dogmatic sense and with appreciation for both Christian and pagan elements (see Andrei Rublev for both aspects)
(4) He knew other European traditions extremely well. Ivan's childhood is a meditation on the war with Germany, including shots of Duehrer's prints. Nostalgia involves his time in Italy traditions including Madonna cults and important artwork. Sacrifice has Shakespearean references, Rembrandt, Japanese samurai, and magical traditions. In general, his films are full of long shots of important pieces of Renaissance art with profound meaning.
(5) He spent a lot of time thinking about the integration of technology and the rest of life. Solaris is the futuristic spaceship version of this. Stalker is the apocalyptic version of this.
I think in a century Tarkovsky will rightly be credited as inventing a whole new type of cinema, his way of approaching it was fundamentally in tune with a "mystical" sense and integrated with other forms of visual art (i.e. the long gaze you have at a painting), and the punctuated, rhythmic reading of poetry.
> (2) His use of color is incredible. Some films, especially stalker, are near black and white with incredibly vibrant and poignant uses of green.
Actually the first part of Stalker was (re)shot in black and white because they damaged some part of the original film reel. After about 40 minutes or so into the movie it switches to color.
I've been a huge Tarkovsky fan for years too. Last year I saw the Chris Marker film on him and I heartily recommend it if you haven't seen it. That also goes for anyone who's read the above and wants to know more about the method of his work.
Apropos of nothing in particular, but just because I love this Akira Kurosawa anecdote --
"Tarkovsky was sitting in the corner of the screening room watching the film with me, but he got up as soon as the film was over, and looked at me with a shy smile. I said to him, ‘It’s very good. It’s a frightening movie.’ He seemed embarrassed, but smiled happily. Then the two of us went to a film union restaurant and toasted with Vodka.
Tarkovsky, who does not usually drink, got completely drunk and cut off the speakers at the restaurant, then began singing the theme of Seven Samurai at the top of his lungs. I joined in, eager to keep up.
At that moment, I was very happy to be on Earth.”
That's wonderful. Stalker changed my life, it's a wonderful film. Do watch it.
Watching Stalker may forever alter your taste in cinematography, it's so beautiful. Solaris is also good (watching it back to back with the Clooney remake is an interesting experience); Lem pretty much hated all three adaptations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(novel)), an adaptation that reflects the alienness that he wanted to underline would be an interesting movie. You might want to think about what repressed personification would confront you if you had traveled to Solaris.
Both Tarkovsky and Soderbergh have almost completely missed the point of Solaris, the book. The book is about communication, or failure to do so. It's a great book to read, highly recommend.
I watched Stalker years after reading the novel it was based on. It was the first Tarkovsky film I watched and I didn't even know who Tarkovsky was at the time. My thoughts immediately after watching it were "wow, this is bad, the book is so much better", and then I found out that this is actually a critically acclaimed movie. I don't get it.
Bad translation. Some phrases in subtitles have opposite meaning; or another character starts speaking, but subtitles join his words to the sentence said by the previous speaker.
E.g. stalker says "идите" (go away), translation says "come with me"
The funny thing is "идите" can mean both "go away" and "come with me" depending on the context and intonation. They should've simply translated it as "go!".
I recommend reading Roadside Picnic[1] if you’ve watched Stalker (movie is based on the book).
There is also the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game series[2] that’s loosely-based on both. Also recommended if you’re into post-apoc and want a different perspective on it than western video games.
Roadside Picnic is one of my favorites. I've been wanting to watch the Tartovsky film (Stalker) but had been waiting for a Blu-ray version. This works, too!
(Never touched the game, but the reviews look good. Unfortunately I'm terrible at FPS games, so I doubt I'll ever play this.)
I have only watched "Solyaris", but I believe I can say that Tarkovsky is one of the greatest directors who ever lived. I read the novel after watching the film, and while the film missed a few of the core themes of Lem's masterful piece of sci-fi, it still was able to capture the essence of the planetary being that is Solaris.
Stalker has been on my watch-list for quite some time now, but I haven't got around to watching it. Maybe tonight?
Give The Mirror a try. It is highly autobiographical so it is probably not his most well known or well liked film but its cinematic techniques are some of the best. Poetry in motion is how I can best describe it as well.
Watching a Tarkovsky movie is a very interesting experience. People that never did are in for a treat. All you need are good subtitles.
One might say that a movie is a movie, a sequence of images, and it can't be that much different.
Yet, there is that feeling, that unmistakable sensory discovery that you make, when watching a movie like Stalker, or Mirror. You will find yourself in an unusual, novel, state of mind, and will witness your thoughts wandering on new territory.
I have, as many others here, difficulty putting these things into words. But that is for the better, as you should see for yourself.
You'll have more luck keeping an eye out for 35mm screenings near you. I saw it on 35mm a few weeks ago, the picture and color was stunning. Much better than any bluray release would be :) I wonder why there's no bluray, it might be caught up in some licensing hell. There's not even a good US domestic DVD.
Good list. Yeah, I really like Shepitko's "The Ascent".
Kalatozov is really good. The Cranes Are Flying (Russian: Летят журавли) has really beautiful cinematography.
Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba is outstanding for cinematography. You will probably not enjoy its propaganda message, and Cubans didn't like, but cinematography wise it is a beautiful film.
I just watched German's MY FRIEND, IVAN LAPSHIN a few days ago, it was excellent. Highly anticipating his final one, HARD TO BE A GOD..! I'll have to watch MY CAR soon.
Sokurov (mentored by Tarkovsky) can be good, though he's quite mainstream as well.
There's actually a STALKER parody by some other Russian, I forget the name.
[+] [-] Jd|12 years ago|reply
(1) He described his art as poetry applied to cinema or "sculpting in time," a fundamentally different conceptual idea of the cinematic art that he went to a great length to clarify (in a book of the same name, highly recommended).
(2) His use of color is incredible. Some films, especially stalker, are near black and white with incredibly vibrant and poignant uses of green. This is a bit like Bergman at his best, but even better.
(3) He was deeply religious in a "mystical" sense, with a lot of respect for past traditions, but not in a dogmatic sense and with appreciation for both Christian and pagan elements (see Andrei Rublev for both aspects)
(4) He knew other European traditions extremely well. Ivan's childhood is a meditation on the war with Germany, including shots of Duehrer's prints. Nostalgia involves his time in Italy traditions including Madonna cults and important artwork. Sacrifice has Shakespearean references, Rembrandt, Japanese samurai, and magical traditions. In general, his films are full of long shots of important pieces of Renaissance art with profound meaning.
(5) He spent a lot of time thinking about the integration of technology and the rest of life. Solaris is the futuristic spaceship version of this. Stalker is the apocalyptic version of this.
I think in a century Tarkovsky will rightly be credited as inventing a whole new type of cinema, his way of approaching it was fundamentally in tune with a "mystical" sense and integrated with other forms of visual art (i.e. the long gaze you have at a painting), and the punctuated, rhythmic reading of poetry.
[+] [-] wooptoo|12 years ago|reply
Actually the first part of Stalker was (re)shot in black and white because they damaged some part of the original film reel. After about 40 minutes or so into the movie it switches to color.
The tint you're talking about is a technique created by Tarkovsky which alters the film temperature: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
[+] [-] zbyszek|12 years ago|reply
Interesting about colour - perhaps a "less is more" thing. The end of Andrei Rublev is breathtaking, for instance.
I saw Mirror three times at the cinema, and there are not many flicks I can say that about.
[+] [-] krrrh|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kaeluka|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] VeejayRampay|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] melancholy|12 years ago|reply
"Tarkovsky was sitting in the corner of the screening room watching the film with me, but he got up as soon as the film was over, and looked at me with a shy smile. I said to him, ‘It’s very good. It’s a frightening movie.’ He seemed embarrassed, but smiled happily. Then the two of us went to a film union restaurant and toasted with Vodka.
Tarkovsky, who does not usually drink, got completely drunk and cut off the speakers at the restaurant, then began singing the theme of Seven Samurai at the top of his lungs. I joined in, eager to keep up.
At that moment, I was very happy to be on Earth.”
That's wonderful. Stalker changed my life, it's a wonderful film. Do watch it.
[+] [-] Jun8|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] x0054|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 10098|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RuCrazy|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] update|12 years ago|reply
‘What are you reading?’ Gorchakov asks, unexpectedly.
‘Tarkovsky ... Poems by Arseny Tarkovsky.’ Eugenia looks a little taken aback, as though caught red-handed.
‘In Russian?’
‘No, it’s a translation ... A pretty good one ...’
‘Chuck them out.’
‘What for? ... Actually, the person who translated them, he’s an amazing poet, in his own right ...’ she says, as though trying to justify herself.
‘Poetry can’t be translated ... Art in general is untranslatable ...’
[1] http://www.stanford.edu/dept/DLCL/cgi-bin/web/files/skakov_t...
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086022/
[+] [-] avodonosov|12 years ago|reply
E.g. stalker says "идите" (go away), translation says "come with me"
[+] [-] 10098|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eswat|12 years ago|reply
There is also the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game series[2] that’s loosely-based on both. Also recommended if you’re into post-apoc and want a different perspective on it than western video games.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.T.A.L.K.E.R._(series)
[+] [-] mratzloff|12 years ago|reply
(Never touched the game, but the reviews look good. Unfortunately I'm terrible at FPS games, so I doubt I'll ever play this.)
[+] [-] Cyph0n|12 years ago|reply
Stalker has been on my watch-list for quite some time now, but I haven't got around to watching it. Maybe tonight?
[+] [-] Cbasedlifeform|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdtsc|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xefer|12 years ago|reply
http://amazon.com/o/asin/0307390314
which is a short, personal appreciation-cum-memoir of Tarkovsky's "Stalker"
[+] [-] udev|12 years ago|reply
One might say that a movie is a movie, a sequence of images, and it can't be that much different.
Yet, there is that feeling, that unmistakable sensory discovery that you make, when watching a movie like Stalker, or Mirror. You will find yourself in an unusual, novel, state of mind, and will witness your thoughts wandering on new territory.
I have, as many others here, difficulty putting these things into words. But that is for the better, as you should see for yourself.
[+] [-] dharma1|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wahnfrieden|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mratzloff|12 years ago|reply
By the way, just a few days ago Kino released a Blu-Ray edition of Nostalghia.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GA9F2PI
[+] [-] pipy|12 years ago|reply
Georgiy Daneliya. "Kin-dza-dza!" (1986) [1]
Larisa Shepitko. "The Ascent" (1977) [2]
Leonid Maryagin. "Public enemy - Bukharin" (1990) [3]
Aleksey German. "Twenty Days Without War" (1977) [4]
Aleksey German. "Khrustalyov, My Car!" (1998) [5]
Stanislav Rostotskiy. "A zori zdes tikhie" (1972) [6]
Mikhail Kalatozov. "True Friends" (1954) [7]
Mikhail Kozakov. "Pokrov Gates" (1982) [8]
Georgiy Daneliya. "Osenniy marafon" (1979) [9]
Elem Klimov. "Come and See" (1985) [10]
Victor Ginzburg. "Generation П" (2011) [11]
Sergei Gerasimov. "The Journalist" (1967) [12]
(this one is Polish) Juliusz Machulski. "Sexmission" (1984) [13]
(also Polish) Krzysztof Kieslowski. "The Decalogue" (1989) [14]
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091341/
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075404/
[3] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100891/
[4] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074447/
[5] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156701/
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068161/
[7] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047650/
[8] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083465/
[9] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079679/
[10] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/
[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459748/
[12] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062524/
[13] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088083/
[14] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092337/
[+] [-] rdtsc|12 years ago|reply
Kalatozov is really good. The Cranes Are Flying (Russian: Летят журавли) has really beautiful cinematography.
Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba is outstanding for cinematography. You will probably not enjoy its propaganda message, and Cubans didn't like, but cinematography wise it is a beautiful film.
[+] [-] wahnfrieden|12 years ago|reply
Sokurov (mentored by Tarkovsky) can be good, though he's quite mainstream as well.
There's actually a STALKER parody by some other Russian, I forget the name.
[+] [-] RuCrazy|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DanBC|12 years ago|reply