The Mirror

The Mirror
by Andrei Tarkovsky

The Mirror
List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $24.99
You Save: $4.96 (17%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $16.25 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Alla Demidova, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Ignat Daniltsev, Larisa Tarkovskaya, Margarita Terekhova
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Russian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-04-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kino Video

Movie Reviews of The Mirror

Movie Review: The Force of Memory
Summary: 4 Stars

'The Mirror' is Tarkovsky's autobiographical masterpiece about which there is both little and a lot to say. As all his work, seeing this movie is something one must experience as it is such a different kind of cinema as that of any other director. Not a movie for those with a short attention span one could argue that The Mirror is about the overwhelming power that memories can have on our lives. As stated the movie more or less is autobiographic as we see Tarkovsky's childhood years in the country, to which many Russians fled from WWII, brought there by his mother. His father, the famous Russian poet Arsenii Tarkovsky is not present, except through citations from his poetry by means of a voice over, while we look at beautiful Russian scenery or archive images of soldiers walking through swamps. Apart from a visual feast the movie also offers an auditorial banquet not only of recited poems but also wonderful music, which plays a crucial part (as always in Tarkovsky's movies).
The story timeline of the movie at first viewing may prove to be somewhat confusing, as there is continuous interplay between past and present. In the present time of the movie the main character is a divorced man, obviously an intellectual, who both spiritually as well as emotionally is in a crisis. In this state he has a series of childhood recollections and the movie throws in an extra free of charge bit of 20th century Russian history into the mix. It is shown how he grew up in the country, how Spanish civil war survivors fled to Russia, how he was military trained in Leningrad as a boy during WWII and got to know his first love, how his mother lived in a printing shop under Stalin's censorship, Soviet-Chinese border tensions after the Chinese revolution etc.
Confusing in all this is that his mother in the flashbacks is played by the same actress as the main protagonist's current ex-wife, even though he says as much in a phonecall with his ex that when he has childhood recollections of his mother she always looks like his ex. The story itself is pretty simple, but it's complex through the way it is structured, especially the first time one sees the movie, but this is true for any Tarkovsky movie. Each movie should be watched at least three times to get any kind of understanding of what they are about, which however doesn't mean one can't immensely enjoy them first time around. What worked for me on first viewings was not over analyzing too much and simply let the movie take me along, the perfect acting, the beauty of the images, the musical splendor and magnificent poetry.
This was the first Tarkovsky movie I ever saw a long time ago and it changed the way I looked at art in general and cinema in particular.
It's my sincere wish to any Tarkovsky 'newbie' to have a similar wonderful experience.
The one star missing in my judgment is due to the rather bad visual quality of this release, which is quite a shame and, as a Russian friend assured me, quite bad translation. (Luckily Moskwood did a better job on both counts.)


Art House & International DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in Appreciating the Works of Andrei Tarkovsky (or Tarkovski, Tarkovskij)
Solaris - Criterion Collection ImageSolaris - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2002-11-26; DVD
Best price: $25.99
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Steamroller and the Violin ImageThe Steamroller and the Violin
STEAMROLLER AND THE VOLIN, THE (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2002-06-11; DVD
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
Ivan's Childhood - Criterion Collection ImageIvan's Childhood - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $18.14
Price in other shops: $29.95
Nostalghia ImageNostalghia
Release date: 1998-10-07; DVD
Best price: $150.00
Stalker: A Film by Andrei Tarkovsky ImageStalker: A Film by Andrei Tarkovsky
Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $16.15
Price in other shops: $29.95
Andrei Rublev (Criterion Collection Spine #34) ImageAndrei Rublev (Criterion Collection Spine #34)
Release date: 1999-02-02; DVD
Best price: $27.74
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Mirror ImageThe Mirror
Release date: 2000-04-10; DVD
Best price: $18.76
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Sacrifice ImageThe Sacrifice
Release date: 2000-03-07; DVD
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops: $39.95
Similar DVD Movies
Breathless - Criterion Collection ImageBreathless - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $27.22
Price in other shops: $39.95
L'Avventura - Criterion Collection ImageL'Avventura - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops: $39.95
Battleship Potemkin (The Ultimate Edition) (2pc) (Full B&W) ImageBattleship Potemkin (The Ultimate Edition) (2pc) (Full B&W)
Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $16.14
Price in other shops: $29.95
Sculpting in Time: Tarkovsky The Great Russian Filmaker Discusses His Art ImageSculpting in Time: Tarkovsky The Great Russian Filmaker Discusses His Art
by Andrey Tarkovsky
University of Texas Press; Published: 1989; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.75
Price in other shops: $28.95
Nostalghia (Original Italian) ImageNostalghia (Original Italian)
Published: 2003; DVD
Best price: $12.61
Ivan's Childhood - Criterion Collection ImageIvan's Childhood - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $18.14
Price in other shops: $29.95
Solaris - Criterion Collection ImageSolaris - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2002-11-26; DVD
Best price: $26.74
Price in other shops: $39.95
Andrei Rublev (Criterion Collection Spine #34) ImageAndrei Rublev (Criterion Collection Spine #34)
Release date: 1999-02-02; DVD
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Sacrifice ImageThe Sacrifice
Release date: 2000-03-07; DVD
Best price: $22.25
Price in other shops: $39.95
Stalker: A Film by Andrei Tarkovsky ImageStalker: A Film by Andrei Tarkovsky
Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $16.32
Price in other shops: $29.95
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners