Only recently I have been turned on to the amazing cinema of the famous Russian director, Andrei Tarkovsky. Better late than never I guess.
I had only seen 1 film of his a long time ago, SOLARIS, which is widely regarded as one of his most accessible films and has very well known recently because of the remake a few years that came out, with George Clooney, which was totally unnecessary. Needless to say, it didn't even come close to the original, but it wasn't a total disaster either, like I thought it would be. Anyways, I have to admit that when I saw Tarkovsky's original, I didn't really like it. That was at a time when my taste in films weren't very wide-ranging. It was just too slow for me. I was still conditioned by the Hollywood sensibilities. But re-approaching it after 10 years or more, the film blew me away. Some critics refer to it as Russia's answer to 2001, but I think that's a weak comparison. This movie stands alone as one of the most memorable and beautiful sci-fi movies ever made. The story follows a scientist and space explorer on a strange journey to a planet where memories can take physical form. Sounds like a very simple story, right? But the further into it you travel, the more fucked up everything seems. Sometimes the meaning is hard to grasp and the pace is very slow, then suddenly after 2 1/2 hours of space headfuck trip, it moves into a twisted, unsettling vision of memory and home. Check it out.
I've haven't seen all of his films yet, but I would say a perfect starting point for the beginner is Зеркало (Mirror) from 1974, which is probably his most personal film where he's at the peak of his powers. This is an autobiographical work in which Tarkovsky mixes flashbacks, dreams, historical footage and original poetry to illustrate the reminiscences of a dying man about his childhood during World War II, adolescence, and a painful divorce in his family. The story interweaves reflections about Russian history and society. The film opens up with a stuttering boy cured by a hypnotist and announcing that he will now speak clear and strong. It's a very strong opening to a film. Tarkovsky really represents dreams in a way that I've never seen in cinema before. The images and sounds are just simply beautiful. One of the most haunting and surreal scenes is the rainstorm inside the house. Don't try to make any sense of the movie, just sit back and allow the images and sounds to wash over you. It's a truly wonderful experience for those who appreciate such beauty. I know that sounds fruity, but it really IS something else.
Another notable epic is Andrei Rublev, a collection of metaphorically related scenes that loosely follow the life of Russia's great medieval artist, Andrei Rublev, about nothing less than the struggle between mankind's spiritual nature and carnal temptation. It's one of the few "Christian" films that neither belittles the faithful nor holds religon as more important than the "unfaithful" ones. This is a pretty dense story, so don't expect a family blockbuster kind of epic like "TROY" or even "LORD OF THE RINGS". There are some pretty brutal scenes of violence and nudity, there's one scene where it shows a guy carving out another man's eyes. Lots of realistic battle scenes in the second half of the film. If you're an animal activist, you may be shocked, there's a few animals that die in this movie. I don't think it was faked. Whether you're Christian or not, you'll still enjoy this film. The best version of it is on Criterion, it's the only version which has the full cut.
The other film I'm going to mention is his first 43-minute short film "The Steamroller and the Violin" which is just a simple film with the central characters being a young boy, Sasha, and a steamroller-operator, Sergei. Sasha has studied the violin for two years but his musical genius far surpasses other kids his age. One day Sasha is bullied by a bunch of snot-nosed ruffians when Sergei steps in and scares them off. From here, the relationship between them begins. The interesting thing about them is that they are one and the same person, just at two different levels of artistic experience. Sasha has imagination and ability and Sergei has more practical discipline and so he serves as the male mentor for Sasha. The only thing that really divides them is age, social purpose, personal abilities, etc; yet, these two very different people become good friends. Igor Fomchenko plays Sasha, the young boy, and he's brilliant. Very vivid colors and memorable throughout. My only complaint is that i wish it was longer.
I haven't seen STALKER yet, but I am going to order it next week. I'll probably post my comments about it after I watch it a few times. Anyway, if I've sparked your interest at all about Tarkovsky's films, and you would like to know more, a good place to go would be the NOSTALGHIA website. Great site devoted to the man and his art, has very thorough DVD reviews and comparisons between different versions of his films on DVD.
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