The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue

The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue
Average customer rating:

Academically Smug and Distasteful

The Best Yet on Tarakovsky

A MUST-HAVE FOR THOSE TOUCHED BY TARKOVSKY'S WORK

Fantastic Resource

Decent Source of Background Info, but Flawed Critique

The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue
Vida T. Johnson , and Graham Petrie
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0253208874

Customer Reviews:

Academically Smug and Distasteful.......2005-09-14

This book purports to be the definitive work on Tarkovsky's films, yet at closer inspection this is perhaps one of the worst books on him. Why? The authors are conceited, smug academics who never miss an opportunity to take a swipe at Tarkovsky personally, who is obviously in no position to answer back. Furthermore, their interpretations of his films are somewhat narrow and overly literary (one of the hazards I suppose of spending your life on campus and not in the real world). Finally, the authors also never miss a chance to criticize other writers on Tarkovsky over what they perceive to be mistakes which are, more often than not, merely cases of Johnson and Petrie being overly critical when their own work is far from perfect, or simply wrong. Having got all that off my chest, this book does some good stuff in it, but it has to be weeded out. It's just a pity about the authors and their attitude. Caveat emptor.

The Best Yet on Tarakovsky.......2005-09-01

This isn't a new volume, though it represents the best yet on the incomparable, Tarakovsky. It's a very thourough assessment of his slim film output of unprecedented visual poetry. Tarakovsky's proseletyzing tends to burden his visual statements in the late work. And, I think, the authors are onto the fact that Tarakovsky's emphasis on literary sources within the films, particularly Dostoyevsky, isn't an entirely happy outcome. This is early 90s scholarship and an improvement on my only other source, MarK Le Fanu in its scope, particularly its citations of a range of critical responses from Russia, through Europe and the States. They don't really take Tarakovsky to task for his flaws, professional or personal, but indicate some of his weaknesses which, for too long, have been masked by his own mythologising, as per his treatise,'Sculpting In Time', and that of the Western Arts press who buy into the notion of the martyred, outsider artist, promulgated since early Romanticism. One of the many virtues of the book is its succinct synopses of the films, abetted by great black and white stills, which send me scurrying back to the films to look for things I've missed. No highbrow deconstructivist theorising here. It's as pragmatic as its subject's own films.

A MUST-HAVE FOR THOSE TOUCHED BY TARKOVSKY'S WORK.......2004-08-06

I agree with points made by some of the various reviewers below. First of all, this book is vital for the general viewer of Tarkovsky's films as a tool for coming to a greater understanding of the director's methods and motivation. They offer synopses of all of the films (with the exception of MIRROR, whose structure is so unusual as to make a synopsis impractical -- it's analysed almost scene-by-scene in the body of the book) as an appendix -- an essential aid, considering that all of them are subtitled in English, and, as the authors point out in several places, those subtitles are of varying accuracy from edition to edition. It's also very difficult for even the most adept subtitle artisan to convey things such as sarcasm and irony -- very often viewers who don't speak the language in which the film was shot are left in the dark where such subtleties are concerned. The knowledge the authors have accumulated of the Russian language and culture are put to good use here in helping the Western viewer of Tarkovsky's incredible films come to a more complete understanding of them -- an understanding that will always, given the unique nature of this director's work, be tempered by the viewer's own soul and spirit. These films speak to me on that deep level, as I know they do to many, many others -- this is part of what Tarkovsky had in mind, I believe, when he stated that he wanted the audience to work as hard as the director in 'creating' the finished product.

Individual films are brought into focus in chapters devoted to them -- Tarkovsky's work-path of creation is followed in detail, outlining conception, planning, struggles with the authorities, critical and public responses, and the director's reflections on the finished works.

Some of the other reviewers take exception to the critiques offered by the authors -- and indeed, it's easy to see where their own opinions enter into the writing process. I believe this is going to be a natural part of any book on film, and has to be taken by the reader with a healthy grain of salt. I didn't agree with everything they wrote -- perhaps some of their speculations as to Tarkovsky's psychological and emotional components are based on more information than they were willing to include in detail in this work. Where the authors and I diverge on our views and opinions in no way tainted my enjoyment and appreciation of their efforts.

I would recommend this volume very highly -- alongside Tarkovsky's own work, SCULPTING IN TIME -- both valuable keys to unlocking the treasure that is the work of this artist.

Fantastic Resource.......2001-07-31

Johnson's and Petrie's work is an absolute essential resource for any student of film and any fan of Tarkovsky's wonderful work. When I bought the book, I was hoping that it would help me better understand the Russian context of Tarkovsky films and to help make some of the "murkier" parts of the films a little more lucid. The work does all this and more. This book offers a great deal of background on Tarkovsky's life, the Soviet film industry in which he worked, the people he worked with, and the cinematic style that made Tarkovsky's works so memorable. This is an absolute treasure of a book. Ignore those people who complain about the poor analysis of the films; they're wrong or stupid or both. The book's main focus is to help make Tarkovsky's work easier to understand and to provide background on Tarkovsky himself.

Decent Source of Background Info, but Flawed Critique.......2001-01-19

I also think that this book is too full of academic theory and techniques, and this may be the reason it comes off as so cynical. It works best in providing factual background that would be difficult to find otherwise. But when the book shades into critique, the tone becomes dry and pre-occupied, if not positively dispiriting - particularly when the co-authors subject Tarkovsky to their brand of Freudian analysis. The result is a disjointed collection of facts and vexing speculations, which on balance does a disservice to the poetry of the films. I personally much prefer Maya Turovskaya's book, which doesn't have the encyclopedic range of facts one finds in "Fugue" (a friend of mine described "Fugue's" method as "trainspotting") but is a far more inspired and illuminating combination of intelligent insight and love of its subject.

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Nostalgic, Evocative Images: Tarovsky's Polaroids
so so purchase
treasure
Polaroids From One Of The Greatest Filmmakers To Have Lived

Instant Light: Tarkovsky Polaroids

Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Photobook: A History - Volume 2

ASIN: 0500286140

Book Description

An elegiac collection of sixty Polaroid photographs by the late Soviet film director Andrei Tarkovsky.

"Tarkovsky often reflected on the way that time flies and wanted to stop it, even with these quick Polaroid shots. The melancholy of seeing things for the last time is the highly mysterious and poetic essence that these images leave with us. It is as though Andrei wanted to transmit his own enjoyment quickly to others. And they feel like a fond farewell."—Tonino Guerra, from the Introduction

This beautifully produced book comprises sixty Polaroid photographs of Andrei Tarkovsky's friends and family, taken between 1979 and 1984 in his native Russia and in Italy, where he spent time in political exile.The size of the Polaroids is exactly as presented in the book, including the frame. The book may therefore be viewed as a facsimile edition. 60 color illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Nostalgic, Evocative Images: Tarovsky's Polaroids.......2006-07-27

Tarovsky's polaroid photos, many of them landscapes, are evocative and nostalgic, while exhibiting a style of composition that is fresh, inventive, and thoughtful. He manages all this without the need for costly equipment, using only inexpensive polaroid cameras. The photos made me feel as though I had been there and seen his subjects for myself--although I've never been to Russia. Or perhaps Tarovsky's images simply have the power to evoke nostalgic longings in us, without being able to identify where they come from.

Highly recommended.

so so purchase.......2006-07-19

lots of religious references in the text. the pictures were fairly satisfying. was not the greatest gift i've ever given someone.

treasure.......2006-05-12

Ingmar Bergman is quoted as saying that '..for me, Tarkovsky is the greatest filmmaker' -- not bad, considering that the source is numbered among the most respected directors in the history of cinema. Tarkovsky made a 'scant' 7 films over the course of his career -- but each one of them is outstanding. His philosophy of art and spirituality pervades all of his work -- including the incredible photographs reproduced in this thoughtfully assembled, lovingly printed volume.

Tarkovsky's son, along with Tonino Guerro (a close friend and collaborator of the filmmaker) and Giovanni Chiaramonte (a wonderful Italian photographer whose comments at the end of the book show that he shared a great deal of Tarkovsky's spirit and concerns) have put together this collection -- and I have no doubt that it will not only be treasured by those who are already admirers of the director, but that it will serve as a fitting introduction to those who have as yet missed out on him.

The strength, depth of spirituality, transcendent beauty and wisdom contained in and conveyed by the images and thoughts here are timeless. One of the driving forces in Tarkovsky's work was to 'stop time' so that the viewer might better understand not only the events depicted in his images, but also, upon reflection, better view his own soul, personality and place in the scheme of things. There are many photographs in this book that have that very time-stopping effect.

This is a collection that I will treasure -- I can't recommend it highly enough.

Polaroids From One Of The Greatest Filmmakers To Have Lived.......2006-03-18

If anyone remembers polaroid pictures from back in the day, it's truly amazing that Tarkovsky captured the beautiful & haunting images he did. This collection gives the world a postmortem gift from one of the most important filmmakers/artists that has ever graced this earth. We should all give thanks to his son, Andrey A. Tarkovsky, for publishing this collection of pictures and letting us all see these images of mysterious and poetic beauty.

Collected Screenplays (Faber and Faber Screenplays)

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The notes, not the music
magic
Take time for Tarkovsky

Collected Screenplays (Faber and Faber Screenplays)
Andrei Arsenevich Tarkovsky
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Sculpting in Time: Tarkovsky The Great Russian Filmaker Discusses His Art

ASIN: 0571142664

Book Description

Since his death, Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-86) has become increasingly recognized as one of the true masters of world cinema. In the Soviet Union of his era, where the collective was of the utmost importance, Tarkovsky dared to create his own provocatively original style of filmmaking. His nonrealistic, highly charged images continued to be a source of inspiration-not only for a new generation of filmmakers but also for poets, musicians, and painters-even after he defected to the West, where Nostalgia was shot in Italy in 1983. His last film, The Sacrifice, was filmed in Sweden with Ingmar Bergman's collaborators. This volume collects his great works, including Solaris, Mirror, Stalker, Nostalgia, The Sacrifice, and Ivan's Childhood. These scripts deepen and expand our understanding of Tarkovsky's films, for they map out the early stages and personages (some never embodied on the screen) and help to clarify the obscure characters, images, and sequences that are so central to this great filmmaker's unique work.

Filmography

Andrei Tarkovsky died in Paris in 1986. William Powell previously translated The Selected Writings of Sergei Eisenstein. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews:

The notes, not the music.......2001-03-19

In "Sculpting in Time" Tarkovsky says: "The literary element in a film is *smelted*; it ceases to be literature once the film has been made." Reading his screenplays, one has the sense of looking at a blueprint or a musical score. The two strongest elements of Tarkovsky's artistry--the extraordinary visuals, and the highly original conception of time--are necessarily missing.

So what is the value of this collection? For one thing, it includes the scripts of several unrealized projects, which allow you to imagine what these films might have looked like, or just to regret that they were never made. Similarly, you'll also find ideas and scenes that didn't make it into the finished films, or were altered from their original conception. The book also, in an indirect way, points out the relentlessly visual and indiosyncratic nature of AT's work. For example, reading the script of "Stalker", perhaps AT's most mesmerizing film, I thought that it could easily have been made into an episode of "Twilight Zone" by a lesser director. In other words, the plot is not the point; what makes the film a masterpiece lies beyond words and storylines. I suppose the same could be said for any great director, but with Tarkovsky I feel this even more strongly. Finally, the book also includes a fair amount of analysis and commentary. One serious omission: "Andrei Rublev" is not included, due to its length.

For these reasons, I recommend this book not to Tarkovsky neophytes, but to those who already know his films. The genius is up there on the screen; this book contains the sketches, jottings and blueprints that helped to put it there.

magic.......2000-09-29

Just saw The Stalker last night. Possibly the best movie I've seen in my life. Tarkovsky is a master of magic/symbolism/the human condition. No wonder he was Bergman's favourite. I really look forward to reading this book.

Take time for Tarkovsky.......2000-06-02

Unanimously hailed by the intellectual crowd as the greatest poet of modern cinema Tarkovsky's Collected Screenplays provides a blueprint into the mind of this genius. The density of his films typically filled with a cannon of symbolism and metaphors are revealed to us in a new light through his screenplays by lucid and coherent writing providing yet a distinctly new approach in understanding and appreciating his deeply felt themes on life. Without the element of time so inherent in film, the ability to rest on a thought or a remark by this incredible film-maker is what makes reading this book such a pleasure. In addition to this book I would recommend Sculpting in Time.

Andrei Tarkovsky: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series)

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Essential Reading for any Tarkovsky Fan
The Greatest Director To Have Lived, Period!

Andrei Tarkovsky: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series)

Manufacturer: University Press of Mississippi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1578062209

Book Description

Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) is one of Russia's most influential and renowned filmmakers, despite an output of only seven feature films in twenty years. Revered by such filmmaking giants as Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa, Tarkovsky is famous for his use of long takes, languid pacing, dreamlike metaphorical imagery, and meditations on spirituality and the human soul. His Andrei Roublev, Solaris, and The Mirror are considered landmarks of postwar Russian cinema.

Andrei Tarkovsky: Interviews is the first English-language collection of interviews with and profiles of the filmmaker. It includes conversations originally published in French, Italian, Russian, and British periodicals. With pieces from 1962 through 1986, the collection spans the breadth of Tarkovsky's career.

In the volume, Tarkovsky candidly and articulately discusses the difficulties of making films under the censors of the Soviet Union. He explores his aesthetic ideology, filmmakers he admires, and his eventual self-exile from Russia. He talks about recurring images in his movies—water, horses, fire, snow—but adamantly refuses to divulge what they mean, as he feels that would impose his own meaning onto the audience. At times cagey and resistant to interviewers, Tarkovsky nevertheless reveals his vision and his rigorous devotion to his art.

Customer Reviews:

Essential Reading for any Tarkovsky Fan.......2007-03-08

This book is an absolutely fascinating read for any Tarkovsky fan. It gives a real insight into the individual films but more significantly it also helps you understand much better where Tarkovsky himself was coming from. It will also be of interest to people interested in modern cinema, but it is probably best to have seen most of Tarkovsky's films first (there are only about 7 of them). One amusing aspect of the book is seeing different interviewers ask the same, often stupid, questions over a twenty-year period. However, there is plenty of rich material in the book so the repeated questions do not really detract from it, indeed, it is amusing to watch how Tarkovsky deals with them in different times and different contexts.

The Greatest Director To Have Lived, Period!.......2006-11-01

This book of interviews with the master is a must for all who love great film, and especially fans of Russian Cinema (and of course Tarkovsky). Thanks Mr. Gianvito!

Average customer rating:

Great for Tark Fans but Needs Better Edition

Andrei Tarkovsky (Pocket Essentials S.)
Sean Martin
Manufacturer: Oldcastle Books, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1904048498

Book Description

Pocket Essentials is a dynamic series of books that are concise, lively, and easy to read. Packed with facts as well as expert opinions, each book has all the key information you need to know about such popular topics as film, television, cult fiction, history, and more. In addition to an introduction to the subject, each topic is individually analyzed and reviewed, examining its impact on culture or history. There is also a reference section that lists related web sites and weightier (and more expensive) books on the subject. For media buffs, students, and inquiring minds, these are great entry-level books that build into an essential library.

Customer Reviews:

Great for Tark Fans but Needs Better Edition.......2006-08-09

This is great summary of the life and works of Tarkovsky. His life, thoughts about film, and summaries of his movies are included in separate chapters as well as few useful appendices.

I only wish it wasn't a cheap mass market paperback. This is the kind of book you want to have around for years. Too bad it will probably yellow and fall off the spine in 10 years like most cheap editions.

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Tarkovsky: Cinema As Poetry
Maya Turovshaya
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0571147097

About Andrei Tarkovsky (Memoirs and biographies)

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About Andrei Tarkovsky (Memoirs and biographies)

Manufacturer: Progress Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 5010019736

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Dreary, hard to watch.
Tarkovsky's Archetypal Imagery
An Antti Keisala Comment: He That Dwelleth in the Secret Place of the Most High
Holy.
The Long Journey of an Artist

Andrei Rublev
Andrei Tarkovsky
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0571163769

Customer Reviews:

Dreary, hard to watch. .......2007-04-07

Given high acclaims this film has collected over time, I was glad to pick up a VHS copy at my local library sale. Began to watch it last night. I was able to sit thru the part 1. When the tape ended, I was actually glad. I felt a sense of acomplishment in finishing the part 1! The movie is DREARY to the max. People portrayed are irrational, lost, uncommunicative, and subject to random and cruel violence by soldiers and rulers. In some way, this movie reminded me of the dreary winter (lasting 6 months!) I spent in Russia a couple of years ago...

To me, the movie reflects the psychological breakdown that happened after the decades long terror policy of Soviet state (1920-1956). For survivors, nothing made any sense anymore, except perhaps fear and evil, as people in this dreary film reflects. People have been already destroyed in their souls. They are psychologically shattered beyond repair and only occasional readings of the Bible verses give them any sense of permanence in their chaotic daily experience.

Maybe that is the real meaning of this movie. To really reflect what happened to people's psyche after Lenin and Stalin's UNLIMITED TERROR, they found a parallel in Mongol's devastation and oppression of medieval Russia. In both cases, people were left shattered, helpless, irrational, withdrawn, and autistic.

Tarkovsky's Archetypal Imagery.......2007-02-19

I suppose it's a tribute, to the profound strength, of Tarkovsky's Imagery, that they stayed in my mind, for about 3, or 4 years. During this span of time, various images, from the movie "Andrei Rublev" would keep rising from the depths of my psyche. Some stressful event would occur, in my life, and images, from that strange movie, that I had seen, would automatically arise.

I just happened to run across a showing of "Andrei Rublev", on one of those "artsy" cable channels, given to foreign films... I think it was "The Sundance Channel". Through the years, I had forgotten the name of the movie. It was just, recently, within the last month, that I really started to search for the movie.

One of the outstanding images captures the sheer terror, and helplessness, of being in Medieval Russia, during the invasion of Tator, or Mongol Tribes (this distinction is not clear).

The images unwind, in dreamlike fashion, and Tarkovsky leaves us to our own inner meanings. There is the eternal battle, of good v.s. evil. There is the misery of the downtrodden, then, the triumph of the human spirit. In the end, I think we gain a new appreciation, of the human need, for ritual, and iconic imagery, found in all civilizations. Upon these images we infuse our hopes, our dreams, and the very future of humanity.

An Antti Keisala Comment: He That Dwelleth in the Secret Place of the Most High.......2007-01-01

I have spent my time watching films, and along the way moulded a way of thinking about cinema; it has become a way of enriching my life more than just in the function of entertainment and passing time; indeed, it has driven me to discover things about myself and about the surrounding world, and it has urged me to create my own film cosmologies to make sense. And each time I come full circle, it all ends here, in this film. And it all starts here.

Considering you are here reading about a Tarkovsky film, it's likely that you might already know this and that. You might know the common words to describe his work such as 'transcendental', 'spiritual' and such. My own logic of film, sort of a chain of irrationalities, is a mix of some Kabbalah, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, with all sorts of things meshing and clashing in between. So I think of cinema in highly subjective terms, truth be told; I dare say these writings are most likely useless to most, but I guess there is an urge in each of us to participate in creating ourselves. This I shall elaborate further in time.

In common language things like spirituality mean not much, but in subjective worlds they become uplifting terms, something that brings a strange, abstract clarity to your thoughts. But when we put these feelings and theories to words, the words themselves seem meaningless and unable to contain any of the original thought. The words themselves become graveyards of thought. Yet the fascinating and rewarding paradox is that half the fun in watching cinema is thinking and rewinding them and writing about them afterwards.

So is it any wonder that I begin my task, whatever that may be, from the film that in itself transcends all description, in my weary words? What is so fascinating about Tarkovsky is that he reaches so far, goes so beyond us in images that we cannot no longer comprehend the emotions in a way that would be comprehensive to another human being. His films, and especially this one, then 'Mirror', 'Nostalghia' and then 'Solaris' (in this order) transcend any possible way to categorise them, but they open infinite possibilities not only to the film at hand but to life itself: existential cinema so profoundly it makes the word itself useless.

And there is the question why to write? I am, as many people are, building a whole life, a 'visual' personality upon the best of cinema, so in a way watching films isn't only about being the viewer--it is also about being actively involved in the process of viewing, and in many ways we become so enchanted in the film that we find a place from within, from a character or a situation. And in Tarkovsky's world we find a place for ourselves in the camera, which slowly unfolds all sorts of cosmic doors (another graveyard of a word). And it doesn't only move, it lingers. And it lingers all the way to our souls. (I use the plural to make you a participant as well)

I don't think we can share too much of an experience, especially when they become as deep as they can. Thus a film looks never the same to two pairs of eyes, as I also think that a film seems different every single time we watch it again. So it is with 'Rublev': it has changed just as I have changed, and it has become more of a mirror into my soul than anything else. This is one of the functions of a great film, that they become so integral to our lives that we take it as being part of ourselves. Perhaps, I have none other a function or motif to give for my writings, I could say that I could handle these comments as a diary, a way to reveal something of an anonymous self in virtual space through an experience that might be completely incomprehensible to some, yet familiar to others.

And I believe in an abstract place in our minds which I call visual cognition. I use it to describe a sort of an empty space in the borders of our conscious mind, a white space, infinitely expansive, to which the greatest films can lead us, giving us a broader visual imagination in all ways imaginable. And this film is one of those. In fact, as any other self-respecting Amazon and IMDb user, I too have all sorts of lists and categories to enrich my life with, and as the most precious of them, a sort of a best of list, which I call 'Nero-Antico', or 'The Cinematic Sublime'. This film is on that list, obviously. I don't know any deeper experiences in cinematic realms.

As for the DVD, Criterion bodes for excellence, and this release really must have been a revelation; but please do consider that this is a 1999 release, a 200 minutes long film on a single disk. And most importantly, it's not anamorphic. So basically you have a few choices, at least until the dream of every Tarkovsky fan comes true, an Andrei Rublev DVD box-set. Highbrow fantasy, you say. Comedy, at least.

So, your choices. If you're not already aware, there are several versions of the film that have been travelling the world for the last 40 years. The two versions nowadays are the version 180 and 200 minutes in length. This edition at hand is the only edition that gives you the longer version and offers you a chance to look at the film as it was in 1966, three years before it was trimmed down by Tarkovsky into the three-hour shape it nowadays embraces the DVD editions. So basically you aren't buying exactly the same film if you opt for the R2 Artificial Eye release; the AE is the three-hour version, although anamorphic. The jury is out whether it is that much better a transfer.

I have seen both versions, yet I do not own the shorter one. It isn't worse; in fact, it could be the version Tarkovsky was happier in the end, although this could the talk of a politician. It isn't about the quality of the film, but about the resources you have in your disposal. For North American buyers the Criterion shouldn't be that much of a brainer, and if you are a European seriously thinking of purcashing a Criterion Collection DVD, you are likely deeper into these things than where I'm coming from.

There isn't yet really a DVD release truly worthy of the film itself, so the definitive edition should be a possible Criterion re-issue. And of course even more so if it was to include both versions. But for now we must go with what's given.

Holy........2006-09-19

Like the review I just read, Tarkovskies' ANDRE RUBLEV is the movie that I keep coming back to over the years. It is my favorite film and has been until something as special comes along.
More than any filmmaker in any country, in any language, this movie has imparted and impressed it's viewpoint into my perception. I have incorporated it into my vision. I resonate with it... It plays me like a bell.
It is not an entertainment really though much of it is entertaining. This film transcends both entertainment and mere artistic success - the images and themes are so spiritually charged and archetypically strong that one may have the sense while watching it, that he or she is remembering half forgotten dreams.
Like the person whose review I just read, I often pause in simple wonder after a chapter just to let it ring.
The film chronicles the life and spiritual development of Russian artist, Icon painter
Andre Rublev. The epic unfolds in 6 chapters the last of which introduces another artist, a young Church bell maker. The chapter reveals aspects and components of the creative process both literally and in allegory ...one senses that the filmmaker Tarkovsy and the young bell-maker may have a great deal in common and that he may have written himself into this section....this last chapter "Spring" is shot through with a narrative vitality, an energetic quality to the expression that is simply colossal - there is a joy in the unfolding and discovery of this bell-makers own creative powers...all of which is witnessed by the aging jaded Andre Rublev who is, as a witness, transformed by what he sees, as will be anyone who has eyes to see and apprehend the naked wonder of this last chapter.

Andre Tarkovsky made this film in what used to be the USSR during a period of rigid and scrutinizing censorship. He used the artistic restraints and the hoops he had to jump through to a brilliant advantage carefully codifying individual artistic and spiritual themes into the chapters of this epic. The constraints seem to have served to discipline and streamline the narrative...the result is golden ...more truth per foot of film than any I can compare it to.
I saw it first on video in college in a russian art history class, later bought the dvd, and more recently attended a screening at Disney Studios that colleague was given the invite to but couldn't make. I brought someone who just didn't get it.
Tarkovsy is not for everyone though you should give yourself the benefit of the doubt because, if he IS for you, you may very well be changed and touched and rewarded again and again by this truly timeless gem.

The Long Journey of an Artist.......2006-08-03

Andrei Rublyov (1969) by Andrei Tarkovsky is my number 1 (shares with Tarkovsky's Zerkalo) film of all time. It is a pinnacle of film-making for me - one of few most visually beautiful films as well as one of the deepest films ever. The beauty of every frame is exquisite - I have to pause film very often just to admire it.There are only couple of more films that have touched me as profoundly as Andrei Rublyov did. I am always surprised to hear that it is very slow film - for Tarkovsky, it is very well paced, and I am never tired of its 3+ hours running time.

Film based on life of the 15-th century monk and icon painter Andrei Rublyov who wanders through the country torn by barbarism, and later by Tatar invaders. Tarkovsky explores several very important topics in his film: what is talent and how an Artist is responsible for it? The Man and God, the Artist and the Power.

The final 20 minutes of the film are the best and most inspiring I've seen in the cinema. For me, the last chapter of the film, "The Bell" is perhaps the greatest in its emotional impact piece of cinema ever made. I can't stay calm and collected when I see it. Boriska sobbing like a child after his Bell rings - and he is a child, a boy, lonely and lost; Andrei breaking his vows of silence, his words to Boriska of hope, of many roads they would walk together. Andrei's icons that we are finally allowed to behold and admire, their breathtaking divine beauty and serenity, their melodic lines and pure joyful colors, the faces of the saints and angels with their eternal mystery, quiet knowledge and sadness, looking inside themselves and inside our very souls; the music that literally takes you somewhere above this Earth, to the heights of such purity and beauty that you could hardly breath and where even the "swiftest birds" of pain and death can't reach you...

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Andrei Tarkovsky: Elements of Cinema
Robert Bird
Manufacturer: Reaktion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1861893426

Book Description

The masters of Russian arts and letters are a prestigious fraternity that includes such renowned artists as Tolstoy, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich. But alongside these luminaries stands a lesser-known but equally revered figure, filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Robert Bird offers in Andrei Tarkovsky an unprecedented investigation of Tarkovsky’s oeuvre and its far-reaching influence on world cinema.

Bird brings a novel approach to his dissection of Tarkovsky’s wholly original techniques and sensibilities, arranging the films into elemental categories of Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. Solaris, Ivan’s Childhood, Mirror, Nostalgia, Andrei Rublev, and Sacrifice all get their due here; through them, Bird explores how the filmmaker probed the elusive correlation between cinematic representation and a more primeval perception of the world. Though the book also considers Tarkovsky’s work in radio, theatre, and opera—as well as his work as an actor, screenwriter, and film theorist—Bird throughout keeps his focus firmly on Tarkovsky as a consummate filmmaker.

Anchored by a wealth of film stills and photographs, Andrei Tarkovsky is a must-read for all film buffs and admirers of European cinema.

The Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky (British Film Institute)

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The Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky (British Film Institute)
Mark Le Fanu
Manufacturer: British Film Inst
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0851701949

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