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[Gustav]

The game is more similar to the book (Roadside Picnic) although all three versions are unrelated.

Many people boil down the film to "brooding Russians walking around a forest babbling nonsense" but if you're in the right mood it's an absolutely beautiful film. Mood is very important for any Tarkovsky; if you don't go in with the right expectations his movies can be excruciating to watch.

What? The dialogue is second to none!

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

I'm only missing Andrei Rublev from his filmography (apart from his pre-Ivan's Childhood stuff).

The mirror is like magic. The film opens up so much on a re-watch.

The Soderburgh version is pretty decent, I haven't seen the original however.

It might be a rough transition.

What? The dialogue is second to none!

Stalker's dialogue is great. I also found it to be his most touching movie,

Spoiler

the scene where he breaks down was heartbreaking

.

 

[Sub_Level]

What? The dialogue is second to none!

I liked it too, but a lot of people don't care for it.

Lines that stand out for me include the main character talking about how adults are already hardened whereas children can be molded and are more free to branch out to different trains of thoughts. Also I remember this writer or artist constantly debating this teacher or scientist, and that was pretty interesting too.

 

[BlueTsunami]

The dialog in Stalker (and I'm sure his other films) can be off putting if you haven't experienced it first or had no idea how it would be like. Once that passes you either continue to hate it or become personally involved in the conversation which I did.

 

[HiResDes]

No Nostalghia in the OP, for shame:

 

[SLV]

Damn, i am trying to find a certain soviet movie, i saw it as a small child once or twice, but cant seam to find it now. I think it was a sci-fi movie, and the plot of the movie was that there were only women, one guy was posing as a woman, and another one was found by the amazons, or something like that, i remember the scene where the next batch of artificial babies were born, and one of the care takers of the machinery screamed in shock as she saw that the baby was male. Looked like a 60-80 movie i think, couldn't find much in amazon :/ I also think it was the final scene.

 

[Thug Waffle]

People better recognize... this man has contributed more to the medium by himself than pretty much any 50 other filmmakers (consider how many people are out there making movies... there are countless folk none or few of us have ever even heard of).

 

[Gloam]

He's always struck me as quite underrated in terms of when people try to bring together some sort of pantheon of great directors. I suppose people jump to other Soviet directors first.

Really? I feel like outside of Eisenstein he's the most well known.

Yeah, Tarkovsky definitely comes up more often that not in discussions of great filmmakers. Might be an American thing? Anyhow, Mirror is my favourite of his films, I also enjoy Nostalgia a great deal.

Fans of Tarkovsky, don't forget to check out Sokorov's filmography also, he is heavily influenced by Tarkovsky and makes incredible films.

 

[HiResDes]

Those are my favorites as well ♥

 

[Vox-Pop]

Ivan's Childhood is great.

 

[Porcile]

Yeah, Tarkovsky definitely comes up more often that not in discussions of great filmmakers. Might be an American thing? Anyhow, Mirror is my favourite of his films, I also enjoy Nostalgia a great deal.

Fans of Tarkovsky, don't forget to check out Sokorov's filmography also, he is heavily influenced by Tarkovsky and makes incredible films.

For me Eisentstein, Vertov and Pudovkin are more referenced and regarded when it comes to Soviet filmmaking. Perhaps because Tarkovsky is the least political.

 

[7Th]

Stalker is one of the prettiest movies of all time.

 

[StriKeVillain]

I still have not seen any of Tarkovsky's work. STALKER and Solaris look to be the most interesting to me. Soderbergh's version of Solaris was decent (although I admit I liked Cliff Martinez's soundtrack more than the movie).

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

Those are my favorites as well ♥

Nostalghia is really great, usually underlooked.

 

[Porcile]

Stalker is one of the prettiest movies of all time.

It could of looked better. An original shoot of the film was ruined by a laboratory If I remember, and entire portions had to be reshot on a lower budget. It almost never got made, as Tarkovsky was so devastated by the original loss.

 

[Gloam]

For me Eisentstein, Vertov and Pudovkin are more referenced and regarded when it comes to Soviet filmmaking. Perhaps because Tarkovsky is the least political.

Interesting, I suppose it depends on what you're reading or who you are listening to. Most of the folks I know have a soft spot for Tarkovsky. You may be on to something about the political elements, certainly discussion of the other directors tends towards political/ideological readings, whereas, with Tarkovsky you have aesthetics, human achievement etc. Though, having said that Ivan's Childhood and Mirror certainly raise political issues, I suppose it's about the aspect that people choose to value when reading the films.

 

[Thug Waffle]

It could of looked better. An original shoot of the film was ruined by a laboratory If I remember, and entire portions had to be reshot on a lower budget. It almost never got made, as Tarkovsky was so devastated by the original loss.

This little tidbit of truth is terribly heartbreaking.

 

[SLV]

Ah, found it afterall ;P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexmission

 

[Sapiens]

Special effects in solaris sucked.

 

[leroidys]

My favorite director.

Mosfilm has released some (all?) of Andrei Tarkovsky's films on YouTube for free, such as:

The Mirror

Solaris (part 1) (part 2)

Ivan's Childhood

Andrei Rublev (part 1) (part 2)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (part 1) (part 2)

The Mosfilm YouTube channel is a treasure trove of Russian cinema, all free.

EDIT: I've only watched The Mirror and Solaris so far, but The Mirror is one of the best films I have ever seen. You may want to read a little about it beforehand to learn about what his intentions were with the film, as it doesn't follow a conventional, narrative flow. Or don't, and just go along for the ride.

WOW thank you!

 

[Zia]

Nearly every frame of any Tarkovsky film could be hung on a museum wall.

 

[SamVimes]

Special effects in solaris sucked.

Yes, Transformers 3 was better.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

Special effects in solaris sucked.

Thankfully that wasn't the focus at all.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Special effects in solaris sucked.

What would you do on a budget dedicated mostly to one big set? Knowing anything, I would have used multiple film stocks too.

 

[Anton Sugar]

It could of looked better. An original shoot of the film was ruined by a laboratory If I remember, and entire portions had to be reshot on a lower budget. It almost never got made, as Tarkovsky was so devastated by the original loss.

I thought they reshot the whole thing?

I liked it too, but a lot of people don't care for it.

Lines that stand out for me include the main character talking about how adults are already hardened whereas children can be molded and are more free to branch out to different trains of thoughts. Also I remember this writer or artist constantly debating this teacher or scientist, and that was pretty interesting too.

Yes!

Let everything that's been planned come true. Let them believe. And let them have a laugh at their passions. Because what they call passion actually is not some emotional energy, but just the friction between their souls and the outside world. And most important, let them believe in themselves. Let them be helpless like children, because weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing. When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible. When he dies, he is hard and insensitive. When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being. Because what has hardened will never win.

It's around this mark.

 

[Starfish_Oxide]

Stalker is a beautiful film, the setting, atmosphere and dialogue amazing on all 3 fronts.

Must check out some of his other work.

 

[BlueTsunami]

The B&W segments of Stalker are seriously a marvel. And saddened that we'll never see a high budget film really utilizing B&W film and all its strengths that Stalker showcased. The color segments were so lush though and used just as effectively.

Looking up Alexander Knyazhinsky on Google (Stalkers Cinematographer) brought up this interesting ebook excerpt in regard to the B&W scenes...

In Stalker the strange, almost-but-not-quite black and white scenes in the bar and the Stalker's house (of which Knyazhinsky was particularly proud) were created by printing a color negative in black and white. In both cases Tarkovsky knew the overall effect that he wanted, but trusted the expertise of his cinemtographer to realize it for him.

Wow!

 

[Grenouille]

Watched Solaris today (thread reminded me that I had to watch it). wow. I expected something difficult and boring and, yes, it is pretty slow at times. But still, loved the story.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

edit: I'm not good at telling this stuff sometimes lol, sorry.