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MIRRORANDREI TARKOVSKYS15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWII would use the means of cinema to talk of all that was most precious to me, and do so directly, without playing any kind of tricks- Andrei Tarkovsky(in The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky A Visual Fugue, ed., Vida T Johnson & Graham Petrie)13EPKAJIO - ZERKALO - ETYMOLOGYZret, zerkat, zorkii, zrenie lookingbeholdinggazinglooking vigilantly, intently, perspicaciously at somethingto ripen to matureZerkalo way of looking, and by association a process of maturing and ripening

15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIGenrE & THEMESocial drama, Womans Film, Biopic/semi-autobiographical, Art Film (Story, McKee)The central concern of exploring the relationship between past (epitomised by memories, dreams of Alexei) and the present.It's about childhood and memory and the intensely personal interplay of the twoExclusion, longing, sense of lossRelationship between Mother and sonRelationship between Father and sonHistorical perspectives

15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI14 Minute sequence (19min 10sec to 33 min 10 sec)FIRST PART (ALEXEIS FLAT 2min 13sec)SECOND PART (MEMORY SEGMENT - 11min 47sec - MARIA RUNNING TO HER WORKPLACE)15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIREASONS FOR CHOOSING THIS SEQUENCEThe intense conversation over phone (Alexeis apartment) of a mother and a dying sonThe turmoil (internal and external) and agitation of the mind that a working woman like Maria undergoes especially in a hostile political environment and the challenges she confronts are clearly outlined through this sequence.Arsenii Tarkovskys poem and Directors picturization of the poemTarkovskys unique style vis--vis - Scorcese (Can I trust you sequence Casino) or Ingrid Bergman (Autumn Sonata) or Mizoguchi (Ugetsu) or Shyam Benegal (Ankur)Yet another film that I could relate to - on a deeply personal level even though the Soviet History has no bearing on my self15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIALEXEIS FLAT SEQUENCE PRESENT TIMEThe camera starts exploring the space through a slow pan and and extremely slow track-in over an off-screen conversationA French poster of Tarkovskys Andrei Rublev seenThe off-conversation is between the narrator (Alexei) and his motherThe preceding black and white dream sequence as well the countryside sequence are now well-placed for the audience through retrospective understanding of this on-going off-screen conversationAlexei tells his mother he has just dreamt about herHe further asks if father left in 1936 or 1937 leading a Soviet viewer to think he may have been arrested during the Stalinist purges and when was it the barn burned down. She tells him it was 1935 clearly situating the events when the narrator Alexei was a 5-year old child15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIALEXEIS FLAT15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

ALEXEIS FLAT MES ELEMENTSFlat is filled with textures: darkly painted walls, tiles, polished floors, old, torn wall paper, splitting plaster, lace, glass jar with flowers, drapes in a thick wooden frameThrough the large windows, we catch glimpses of the run-down corridor outside the front door and the courtyard, where Ignat is later seen stoking the bonfire he has madeIt is a place weighed down by painful memories, conflicts, arguments and impending deathThe mother refers to Lisa and her death Alexei asks why they fight all the time and asks his mother to forgive him even as she hangs up the phone triggers the Memory segment (POINTING DEVICE)The slow track-in towards the window carries an off-screen sound of a bus/tram announcing the stop for the printing press even as we cut to see Maria running towards the press - in the memory segment (flashback)15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIMARIAs RUN TOWARDS THE PRINTING PRESS15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

MARIAS RUN TO THE WORK PLACE contd15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

MARIAs WORK PLACE15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

REAL TIME TO SLOW MOTION TO REAL TIME TRANSITION15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

Heightens Strangeness, The imperceptible slow motion used in these scenes retards her movement, thus prolonging her mute fear, sense of urgency, making them more palpable time living in the frame 12MARIA CHECKS THE PROOFS15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

PRINTING PRESS MES ElementsStalins terror recreated in the printing works - sequence filmed in Black & WhiteIt is dominated by rows of desks, large black rhythmic presses and long mostly empty corridors.Unnaturally shining light bulbs fill the roomThe heavy metallic mechanical presence of the presses is offset by the plants a fixture of every Soviet workplace filling the window sills and hanging from the ceilingOn the walls are posters with slogans of the time and more disturbingly portraits of the most two feared men of the system Felix Dzerzhinsky, the notorious head of the Cheka (Bolshevik Secret Police) from 1919 until his death in 1926 and Stalin himself

15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIPRINTING PRESS MES ELEMENTS ContdThe camera does not linger on these portraits but it registers them as it tracks through these spaces following Marias nervous movements through endless corridors strewn with large rolls of paper in search of the proofs.Everything is understated, internalised until Lisas sudden eruption which provides an outlet for the tension the two women have experienced in this potentially life threatening situation.Tarkovsky communicates everything through the sound track, MES elements, terse dialogue, camera movements

15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIArsenii TARKOVSKYs POEM I waited for you since yesterdays morningThat you wont come, they probably guessedRemember what a beautiful weather it wasA Holiday WeatherAnd I walked coatlessToday youre hereAnd they have arrangedAn utterly gloomy and cloudy dayIt rains And its getting unusually lateThe rain drops run down the cold terrainUnsoothable by word, unwipable by hand15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWITalks about a belated meeting on a gloomy, rainy dayThe poem clearly reflects Marias unhappy marriage, as also the frightening situation she just experiencedPICTURISATION OF THE POEM15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

MARIA whispers to lisa the word she thought she had misprinted15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

UNEXPECTED MOOD CHANGE RAPID BEAT CHANGES15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

COMIC FRUSTRATION IN MARIA AS THE SOVIET PLUMBING FAILS15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

MEMORY OF FIRE?15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI

Printing press episode - Whose MEMORY is it?The mention of Lisas name on phone triggers this flash backIt is clearly a flash backThe perspective is that of the mother Maria and not the narrator who plays no part in it but can only know of it from hearsayIt could also be a memory of Alexei as Marias memoirNevertheless, this event forms part of the context of fear and suspicion that has shaped his own and his mothers lives and the lives of their contemporaries

15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIPRINTING PRESS TRIVIATarkovskys mother worked as a proof reader all her life at First Obraztsavo Printing works very near their flatThe events described did not happen to his mother but to another proof reader who was fired for making the mistake and was corrected while still in the proofs.Her fate could have been much worse since mistakes in official publications was considered a political crime during Stalins reignQuestions about - Whose memory is it? Alexei? Or Marias?

15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWITarkovsky after making MIRROR (1975)Childhood memories which for years had given me no peace suddenly vanished, as if they had melted away, and at last I stopped dreaming about the house where I had lived so many years before15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWIThank You15-04-2012Devulapalli, C., Junior Term, WWI