Stalker
by Andrey Tarkovskiy
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Alisa Freyndlikh, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Natasha Abramova, Nikolay GrinkoDirector: Andrey Tarkovskiy
Cinematographer: Aleksandr Knyazhinsky
Cinematographer: Georgi Rerberg
Cinematographer: Leonid Kalashnikov
Writer: Andrey Tarkovskiy
Editor: Lyudmila Feiginova
Producer: Aleksandra Demidova
Producer: Willie Geller
Writer: Arkadiy Strugatskiy
Writer: Boris Strugatskiy
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Swedish (Subtitled); Chinese (Subtitled); Russian (Subtitled); Dutch (Subtitled); Arabic (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled); Russian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, Digital Video Transfer, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 163 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-15
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Stalker
Movie Review: Arguably the best of Tarkovsky's oeuvre
Summary: 5 Stars
As with all of his other films, Tarkovsky is the true author of Stalker. This film is loosely based on Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Road Side Picnic, and Tarkovsky tried, as he did with Solaris (1972), to downplay the science fiction aspect of Stalker. Except for a brief explanation at the beginning of the film, Tarkovsky chooses to ignore the speculations as to what could have created The Zone, and the changes within it. He changed the Strugastsky brother's characters and events almost unrecognizably, as he had done previously with the characters and events in Lem's Solaris, and he shifted the philosophical implications of the story in a more pleasant direction. Nevertheless, many of the original details of the novel remain. Stalker is definitely a science fiction film, but its style is unlike that of the pulp and high-tech films, such as the Star Wars Trilogy (1977 - 1983). It is a very demanding and sometimes inaccessible viewing experience.
This magnificent film almost did not see the light of day. As the exteriors were being shot (for some three and a half months in Tallinn, Estonia, beginning in May 1977, Tarkovsky encountered a number of problems, starting with some serious disagreements with key members of his crew, but mostly from the bad processing of the apparently out-of-date film stock. These events led to a serious financial problem, which somehow, almost miraculously, got resolved. Eventually, in June 1978, a second shooting in Tallinn took place, with the interiors being shot in Moscow, and the premiere took place in May, 1979, to total official disapproval. The film met with some recognition in the USSR, toward 1981, following its success at the Cannes Festival in 1980, where it was awarded the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.
With Stalker, Tarkovsky marks the shift toward his later style, with the long takes throughout the film averaging one minute in length, with many which are four minutes or longer. The scene in the "telephone room" lasts almost seven minutes. These long scenes in turn rely heavily on the talent of the actors to sustain the mood, like Writer's long monologue in the sand mogul room. Even in a succession of single shots, the Director wants to give the impression of a long take, such as in the ride into The Zone on the flatbed car, which lasts three and a half minutes and actually consists of five shots.
In Stalker, Tarkovsky is definitely more systematic with his use of black-and-white (sepia) and color stocks than he had been in his previous works. A sickly black-and-sepia is reserved for the polluted and sterile reality of the world of the future, while color represents the escape from this world provided by The Zone. In the swamp scene and "Stalker"'s dream, Tarkovsky reverts to is more usual convention, where dreams are shown in black-and-sepia-tones, and reality in color. However, the last scene is in color, implying a leakage of the powers of The Zone into the outside reality.
As always in Tarkovsky's films, the natural world is present. Water, which used to be the source of life, a redemptive force and a center of regeneration, is now mostly a symbol of decay and pollution. Often, the men wade through stagnant water, and when clear water flows, it flows over the rusting, decaying remnants of props of civilization: coins, weapons, religious images, hypodermic needles. The only exception is in the dream scene in the swamp, where the water is somewhat restored to its positive, life-affirming symbols. In the last scene in The Zone, the men, resigned to their limitations and weakness, sit outside The Room as the rain falls inside, gently blocking them from entering.
The wind, often associated with the spiritual aspects of life, ominously rises when Writer walks directly toward The Room, and he is told to stop. The earth is a positive force, and upon arriving in The Zone, "Stalker"'s first act is to lie down and embrace it, and in the swamp, all three men lie upon it. Like a miracle, there is the luxuriant, if dangerous, Nature ever-present in the Zone, in contrast to the polluted outside world, where it is totally absent. Birds are part of this Nature: the call of the cuckoo bird is heard numerous times in The Zone.
There is also the mysterious dog, which first appears in the swamp scene, when all three men are lying down, becoming intimately close to the earth. Up to this point, the men felt totally alienated from their environment, outside and inside The Zone, and it is at the very moment when they start to meditate and remember, that the dog appears: The Zone is its territory. But at the end of the film, the dog has followed "Stalker" outside the Zone, showing that even there, the hope that the men were looking for inside The Zone must somehow also exist here, outside, as the dog establishes its own space even though he becomes domesticated in the process.
Although Tarkovsky usually favors classics by such composers as Bach, Pergolesi, or Purcell, the musical score in Stalker consists almost exclusively of Eduard Artemiev's electronic music mixed with some folk melodies, contributing efficiently to the eerie atmosphere of the film. There are also few distorted musical fragments from Wagner, Ravel, and Beethoven.
Two of Tarkovsky's favorite actors are Nikolia Grinko and Anatoly Solonitsyn. They appear in five (Grinko) and four (Solonitsyn) of Tarkovsky's Russian films, including Stalker. Their performances as two lost souls in search of an answer are convincing. Aleksandr Kajdanovsky is outstanding in his role of a tormented and somewhat pathetic "Stalker". Although Alisa Frejndlikh's appearance in the film is restricted to only few scenes, she is a powerful presence, especially with her monologue at the end of the film.
In Stalker, Tarkovsky juxtaposes a world in decline, polluted and sterile, with a verdant Zone, which has overtaken all human enterprises, as shown by the remnants of rusting cars and tanks, dilapidated buildings, which have been taken over by the luxuriant vegetation. He portrays a society which has severed all links with nature, with its own past, and, as a result, lost its spiritual and moral bearings.
Stalker explores the conflict between science, rationalism, materialism, and cynicism versus spirituality, faith, art, and love. The three men embody different philosophical principles. In the beginning of the film, Professor justifies his going into The Zone as pure scientific curiosity, and probably also to reassure himself that The Room's so-called "miracles" can, if they ever happened, be examined through the scientific method and explained in a logical, reasonable way. Professor is a rational being who tries to understand the world according to the law of physics. However, when he arrives at The Room, Professor divulges his ulterior motive, which is to destroy it with the bomb he was carrying all along in his knapsack. In doing so, he would remove the incentive for people to visit The Room with irrational hopes, and because "this place obviously won't bring anybody happiness." By blowing up the Room, Professor will stop gangsters, tyrants, megalomaniacs, and all "the self-appointed benefactors of the human race" from misusing The Room's power. But his main reason to blow up The Room is that he does not understand it.
Writer belongs to those people who cannot accept the world as it is. He is well aware of humanity's decay and of his own as well, but he abhors science, which he does not understand, and would rather look for answers in the supernatural. Writer believes in the redemptive power of art, but he has lost his inspiration. He would like to believe in the potential of The Room to restore it, but because of his cynicism and self-loathing, he cannot be sure. He has lost faith in himself and in his writing's capacity to help other people. Besides, he hates writing, which is for him a torture.
"Stalker" is alone in showing an inclination toward faith, with his comments regarding Nature and his prayer for his companions to "become helpless like children." "Stalker" knows The Zone, and he has total faith in The Zone. He speaks about it as if it were a living being. "Stalker" simultaneously respects and fears The Zone, as he recognizes its potential to provide comfort to the wretched ones who, like himself, have lost all hope, but at the same time it punishes whoever transgresses its rules. This is, of course, how most religious people see their own Gods. The film contains many Christian images and biblical references, but it would be a mistake to take them in a Christian context: they stand in a general framework of faith and spirituality.
The redemptive power of love is personified by "Stalker"'s wife. Her love and devotion is the final miracle which opposes cynicism and the emptiness of the modern world. All these ideas are clearly expressed at the film's end, as she addresses the audience with her heartfelt monologue, while at the same time asking her husband to remember the love she feels for him.
As the three characters reach The Room, they can ask for their dearest wishes to be granted, but this would require a painful and searching self-examination, with the realization that what they thought they wanted was not exactly what they now really want. "You dream of one thing but you get quite another," observes Writer. The film began with the question, "Will the three men enter The Room?" and it ends with, "Why won't the three men enter The Room?" Professor's true aim was to destroy The Room, which was beyond his scientific understanding. Now he is forced to consider that there may be a mystery that his Cartesian mind cannot account for. He shows some humility and acknowledges that it is not up to him to save humanity from itself. Writer had said that the purpose of his journey was to regain his genius, his inspiration. However, on the threshold of The Room, he realizes that he may not worthy of accepting The Room's gift. While he had previously expressed his unworthiness, he now for the first time truly feels it. As a result of their journey, both men have changed -- some would say for the better -- and although they do not enter The Room, they nevertheless receive its gifts, something quite different than what they expected. "Stalker", however, asks for nothing of The Room because he is a stalker, and stalkers do not enter The Room. However, "Stalker" has faith in The Zone, and does not need reassurances. He is in touch with his "self," aware of his own wretchedness, and his only purpose in making the trip is to guide to faith and hope those more wretched than he.
Musical fragments of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," in the last sequence, struggling to be heard over the rumble of a passing train, imply a society in decay and the unsettled nature of the film's resolution. This ending of the film is typically Tarkovskian, in so far as it is open-ended, and deliberately ambiguous, leaving the viewer to create his or her own meaning of the film.
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