This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown round #2”. Read more about that here.
Stalker
I'm not exactly sure how to begin this review. Stalker is a movie that leaves you contemplating so many different things for so long. Probably even more than Andrei Rublev or Solaris which are the two other movies I've seen by Andrei Tarkovsky and could be described in the same way.
I feel like it's a film that in a way is very difficult to discuss with other people, especially to try to describe if you haven't seen it. The discussions this movie will cause you to have is more of a contemplation within yourself. And it's hard to describe because what it evokes doesn't come about because of the simple events that could be given in a synopsis. There are a lot of long takes and the dialogue is often sparse and philosophical. Some of the images are truly captivating and I for one was grateful to be able to have so much time to take them in.
I can't remember if it was on the special features for this film or just in reading elsewhere about the film online, but I discovered (as was no surprise from observing how different his films feel from any other you've seen) that he has published some specific theories on how he sees film. I'm very interested in picking up his book Sculpting in Time. Apparently Tarkovsky rejects the theories of earlier seminal Russian film theorists like Kuleshov and Eisenstein who placed so much importance on editing and the relationship of different shots and how they are put together. Tarkovsky uses a term called time-pressure to refer to the rhythm of the film. Seeing as I've been rather unaffected by many older Russian films (maybe just because they are so propagandistic) compared to the wonder I'm filled with watching a Tarkovsky film, I'm very interested in reading more of his theory. Has anyone read his book?
Reading discussion boards regarding this movie, there are many people who consider this the height of movie making. While many other are angered by the fact that so many people sing its praises so highly because these people find the film to be slow, boring, and pretentious. They believe that the people who talk about it so highly cannot truly enjoy it and talk so highly of it to make themselves seem smart or cultured. I wonder if these people actually gave the movie the benefit of the doubt and sat down to absorb the whole thing. I know my mood can of course affect whether I can be as absorbed in a movie like this or not, but at the same time the images were so captivating and there honestly was a real feeling of tension that cannot be rivaled by even some fast paced thrillers. But it wasn't until the movie was over and I really let the images play over in my mind that I appreciated it as much as I do. There are many more movies out there that would warrant the tag of being pretentious over this one.
Recommended for those people who aren't afraid of referring to movies as spiritual or as art. And I'm not being pretentious by saying that!
Rating: 9/10