Andrei Tarkovsky: Difference between revisions

* ''Ivan's Childhood'' (1962) or ''My Name Is Ivan'' was Tarkovsky's first feature film. Like ''Cranes Are Flying'' or ''The Ballad of a Soldier'', this film explores [[War Is Hell|the suffering and human cost of war]] as seen by Ivan, a 12-year-old boy in [[World War II]] occupied Russia. It was a commercial and critical success, and gained Tarkovsky his first real fame as a director.

* ''[[Andrei Rublev]]'' (1966) is Tarkovsky's longest film, at 205 minutes, and is a [[Biopic]] of medieval Russian icon painter Andrei Rublev, focusing on his role in creating the Russian Christian identity. Its depictions of ancient religion and ambiguity about politics got this film censored for years. However, it was his first widely awarded film.

* ''[[The Mirror]]'' (1975) or ''Mirror'' was a loosely autobiographical film that Tarkovsky had been working on since 1964. It is told out of order, and is a chronicle of the life and meditations of Alexei. This film did not have an official premiere, but has since become better known and welcomed into the Tarkovsky oeuvre.

* ''Voyage in Time'' (1982) was Tarkovsky's first "foreign" film, and documented his collaboration with Tonino Guerra in preparation for...

* ''Nostalghia'' (1983), made in Italy, about a Russian writer who goes to Italy to research the life of a Russian composer who killed himself upon returning home. Along the way, the writer begins to feel nostalgia for Russia, befriends a madman, and begins reflecting upon himself.

* [[Contemplate Our Navels]]: A frequent criticism of Tarkovsky is that his films contain too much meditation and not enough action, but he preferred it this way, so that we really can think about what we are seeing and hearing.

* [[Creator Thumbprint]]: Lots of expansive, panning, cinematic shots. Also expect to see horses used with excessive Symbolism.

* [[Dead Little Brother]]: Indirectly. Porcupine hanged himself out of guilt for having sent his brother to die in the Zone so he could become rich. Porcupine was the Stalker, and his death promoted the current Stalker to the position.

* [[Dead Little Sister|Dead Wife and Dead Scientist]]: Kris Kelvin's wife Hari poisoned herself ten years ago, and the scientist Gibaryan died just before Kelvin's arrival to Solaris.

* [[Failed a Spot Check]]: One of the soldiers trying to prevent people from approaching the Zone sees Stalker's car, but does not think that Stalker is hiding under the car.

* [[Fan Service]]: Alexei's mother in ''The Mirror'' takes a shower in full view of the camera, and in ''Solaris'' Hari's nipples poke through her shirt when she resurrects after taking the liquid oxygen.

* [[Gainax Ending]]: Some of his movies seem to end in this way, like for example ''[[The Mirror]]'' and ''Nostalghia''. See also [[Mind Screw]].

* [[Genius Loci]]: Solaris (a planet or rather planetary intelligence) and the Zone (a strange, secluded wilderness). "The Zone wants to be respected. Otherwise it will punish."

* [[Negative Space Wedgie]]: The Zone has mysterious properties, including the ability to kill people and wreck technology. The most dramatic example is when the trio enter the Zone and see the wreckage of dozens of army tanks.

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: The heads of the Solaris Project reject Burton's testimony because they refuse to concede that Solaris is that intelligent, and pull him off the Station.

* [[Production Posse]]: Tarkovsky's wife and father helped him in the production of his films. His father, Arseny, also wrote the poems read in ''The Mirror''. The actor [[Anatoly Solonitsyn]], meanwhile, appeared in ''Andrei Rublev'' (as Andrei Rublev), ''Solaris'' (as Sartorius), ''The Mirror'' (as a doctor), and ''Stalker'' (as the Writer).

* [[Public Domain Soundtrack]]: Bach's "Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ" in ''Solaris'' is used as Hari's theme. Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and Ravel's "Bolero" bookend ''Stalker''. Bach appears again, three times, in ''The Mirror''.

* [[Used Future]]: The space station in ''Solaris'' is falling to pieces and covered in trash due to the scientists going mad and dying or leaving. One of the few times viewers can see litter on a space station.

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: Tarkovsky wants the audience to piece together his films, and relies on them knowing the references to other works, such as paintings, songs, books, poems, and even other films.

* [[Write Who You Know]]: Many elements in the films come from Tarkovsky's own life, such as the horrors of war, a family separated, hospitals, and someone meditating in the wilderness.

* [[You All Meet in An Inn]]: The Stalker, Writer, and Professor.