Stalker
Deep within the Zone, a bleak and devastated forbidden landscape, lies a mysterious room with the power to grant the deepest wishes of those strong enough to make the hazardous journey there. Desperate to reach it, a scientist and a writer approach the Stalker, one of the few able to navigate the Zone’s menacing terrain, and begin a dangerous trek into the unknown. Tarkovsky’s second foray into science fiction after Solaris is a surreal and disturbing vision of the future. Hauntingly exploring man’s dreams and desires, and the consequences of realising them, Stalker has been described as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.
| Credits | |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrei Tarkovsky |
| Cast | Aleksandr Kaidanovsky, Alisa Frejndlikh, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko |
| Country | West Germany-Soviet Union |
| Year | 1979 |
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Stalker
This movie is visually stunning and extremely profound; quite different from any other film I have seen.
Tarkovsky
I agree with Cate Blanchett. This film helped changed my beliefs as to what was possible with cinema. This was the first Tarkovsky film I saw and I was unprepared for the experience. The sequence that moves over objects in the water is profoundly moving, as is the sudden rain outside the room. Although this film may seem impenetrable to some, I believe it pays huge dividends to those who open themselves to it.
Although I think it is an incredible, beautiful film, 'Mirror' holds more resonance with me personally. Perhaps this is because I saw it after 'Stalker', so I was more prepared for the type of film I was about to watch, or perhaps it was because the film seems to be more a reflection on the past, so I found it easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of it. I found 'Mirror' difficult to follow and I was often confused, but as it ended I found myself crying, suddenly and unexplainably. Somehow, through a combination of pictures and sounds, something had touched me very deeply. That, I suppose, is the magic of cinema.
I am happy that this film has been included on the list, and very happy that 'Silent Light' is here too. I believe in cinema as an Art and films like these are testament to its power as an art form.
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