The Sacred Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky (Media, Feminism, Cultural Studies)

THE SACRED CINEMA OF ANDREI TARKOVSKY A major new study of Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986), director of seven feature films, including Mirror, Andrei Roublyov, Solaris and The Sacrifice. This book explores every aspect of Andrei Tarkovsky's output in the most detailed fashion - including scripts, budget, production, shooting, editing, camera, sound, music, acting, themes, symbols, motifs, and spirituality. Tarkovsky's films are analyzed in depth, with scene-by-scene discussions. This is an important addition to film studies, the most painstaking study of Andrei Tarkovsky's work available. Andrei Tarkovsky is one of the most fascinating of filmmakers. He is supremely romantic, an old-fashioned, traditional artist - at home in the company Leonardo da Vinci, Pieter Brueghel, Aleksandr Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoievsky and Byzantine icon painters. Tarkovsky is a magician, no question, but argues for demystification (even while films celebrate mystery). His films are full of magical events, dreams, memory sequences, multiple viewpoints, multiple time zones and bizarre occurrences. As genre films, Andrei Tarkovsky's movies are some of the most accomplished in cinema. As science fiction films, Stalker and Solaris have no superiors, and very few peers. Only the greatest sci-fi films can match them: Metropolis, King Kong, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Tarkovsky happily and methodically rewrote the rules of the sci-fi genre: Stalker and Solaris are definitely not routine genre outings. They don't have the monsters, the aliens, the visual effects, the battles, the laser guns, the stunts and action set-pieces of regular science fiction movies. No one could deny that Andrei Roublyov is one of the greatest historical films to explore the Middle Ages, up there with The Seventh Seal, El Cid, The Navigator and Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Life' trilogy. If you judge Andrei Roublyov in terms of historical accuracy, epic spectacle, serious themes, or cinematic poetry, it comes out at the top. Finally, in the religious film genre, The Sacrifice and Nostalghia are among the finest in cinema, the equals of the best of Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Robert Bresson and Carl-Theodor Dreyer. Contains 150 illustrations, of Andrei Tarkovsky's films, Tarkovsky at work, his contemporaries, and his favourite painters. Bibliography, filmographies and notes. Illustrated. 696pp. ISBN 9781861710284. www.crmoon.com CONTENTS Acknowledgements 17 Abbreviations 19 Illustrations: Andrei Tarkovsky At Work 23 0 Introduction 33 P A R T O N E T H E A R T I S T 1 The Poetry of Cinema 55 2 Religion and Cinema 75 3 Andrei Tarkovsky and the Religious Film 105 4 The Film Image 123 5 The Mysteries of Space and Time 137 6 Symbols and Motifs 155 7 The Worlds of Andrei Tarkovsky 175 8 Sound and Music 187 9 Production 203 10 Andrei Tarkovsky and Painting 235 11 Philosophy and Religion in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Cinema 261 12 Structure and Narration 281 13 Childhood, Family and Character 293 14 Love, Gender and Sexuality 305 P A R T T W O T H E F I L M S 15 Ivan’s Childhood 317 16 The Passion According To Andrei Roublyov: Andrei Roublyov 335 17 Solaris 369 18 Beyond the Mirror: Mirror 401 19 Into the Wasteland: Faith and the Quest in Stalker 437 20 The Angel Under the Water: Nostalghia 467 21 The Ultimate Act: The Sacrifice 495 22 Critical Responses to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Cinema 525 Notes 553 Bibliography 575 Filmography 597 Illustrations 603