russia and the west in the films of andrey tarkovsky
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ustralia and New Zealand Slavists ssociation
New Zealand Slavonic Journal
Russia and the West in the films of Andrey TarkovskyAuthor(s): DAVID GILLESPIESource: New Zealand Slavonic Journal, (1993), pp. 49-61Published by: Australia and New Zealand Slavists AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40921464.
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8/10/2019 Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky
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8/10/2019 Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky
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West:
his
use
of fire nd
water,
lowing
water
nd
its
patterns
nd de-
signs, he uxtaposition fcolourandsepia/black-and-whitehotogra-
phy
re all
distinctivend individualised
ouches.
His narrativesmake
no
allowances for the
casual
observer,
nd
a
Tarkovsky
ilm s
re-
garded
as
'difficult'
'elitist'
by
administrators
nd official
ritics
n
the
former
oviet
Union)
because it
often
equires
everal
viewings
and
contains ittle f
what s
seen as conventional
nd
logically
oher-
ent
narrative
hread.His
poetic
vision
s
deeply
rooted n
personal
x-
perience,
specially
hat
f
his
childhood,
nd
questions
f thehistori-
cal
destiny
f
Russia and
its
relationship
withthe
West here
play
a
major
part.
The
history
f
Russia,
both
ancient
nd
modem,
s of course
a
major
part
of
Tarkovsky's
films.
Andrey
Rublev
1965)
is set in the
early
fifteenth
entury,
time
of
wanton
brutality
nd violence
-
especially
that
f
the
rulers nflicted
n
the
population
civil
war,
foreign
nvasion
nd
occupation.
But
it
is
also
a time
of
high
artistic
achievementn
the
form
f Rublev
s
frescoes
nd
icons,
culminating
in
the
Trinity
fresco
we
see
in
full
colour
at the end of the
film.
(Significantly,
he
momentous attle f
Kulikovo field
of
1380,
when
the
Russians
under
Dmitry
onskoy
defeated
he
Tartars
or he
first
time,
s
not
mentioned
r referredo
in the entire ourse of the
film.)
Tarkovsky ilmed is storynandaround he ncient ities ofRussia:
Pskov,
Novgorod,
Vladimir,
nd the Andronnikov
monastery.4
he
film
ontains
everal
metaphors
f
civil
strife: he two drunken
eas-
ants
brawling
n
the
mud and
the rain
an
image
which
points
us for-
ward
to the
struggle
or
power
between he unnamedPrince
and
his
brother
hat
erves s the
background
or
he
film5),
nd
dogs fighting
each
other.
he
film
s
particularly
arked
y
ts fluid
magery:
water,
milk,
paint,
blood,
mud,
rain
swirl
and
eddy, splash
and
spurt,
nd
suggest
he
constant
hedding
f
blood in
thisviolent
ge.
AndreyRublevis primarilybout therole of the artist n a re-
pressive
ime,
nd
the
creative
rocess
tself.6
Moreover,
we never ee
Rublev
actually
paint;
rather,
he film
concentrates
n his innerre-
sponse
to
external
situations.
ndeed,
the film's
original
title was
Strasti
po Andreyu
The
Passion
of Andrey
Rublev).1
The
balloon
flight
f
the
opening
equence
can be
seen as
a
mtonymie
eference
to the
theme of
creativity,
s
the
successful
take-off
epresents
he
flight
f
man's
ambition nd
imagination.8
he fate
of the
creative
artist n
a
repressive
ociety
s
symbolised
urther
hen the
balloon
crashes,
epresented
y
the
mage
of a
woundedhorse
hrashing
bout
on the
ground.
The
bawdy ester skomorokh)ntertaining
he
crowd
50
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in
the avern n
which
Rublev
and his
friends ake
helter
rom herain
is also an artist.The camera followshim as he moves in a circle
around he
tavern,
making
people
laugh
with
his
irreverentnd there-
fore
ubversive
ongs.
Through
aughter,
e subverts
he
ustere
ecu-
lar and
ecclesiastical
uthority,
ocking
he
boyars
nd
themonks.
As
Andrey's
ompanion
Kirill
says:
"God
gave
the
priests,
nd
the
Devil
gave
the
buffoon."9
he
ester
s denounced
y
the
monk
Kirill
nd ar-
rested
by
soldiers.
We see the
ester
later
n the
film,
with
half
his
tongue
ut out.
The
blinding
f the stonemasons
n
the
forest
y
the
Grand
Prince's
men
s a further
xample
of the fate
of the
artist
n a
repressive
ge.
Tarkovsky
was
undoubtedly
lso aware
that he artist
led a far from ecure
existence
n his
own
age,
and
in
the recent
Stalinist
ast
was
equally
subject
o
torture
nd
summary
xecution.
The
role art
plays
in the life of the
people
is a concomitant
theme,
nd
Andrey
nd
Theophanes
heGreek
disagree
n
this
mpor-
tant
oint.
For
Andrey
as
with he
ester),
rt
hould remove he
fear
from
eople's
lives,
t should
give
their
ives some colour and mean-
ing.
Above
all,
Andrey
eeks
to
provide
his
people
with
mages
of
beauty.
He
is
unable to
paint
sinners
boiling
in
pitch
in the Last
Judgment,
e
refuses
o
accept
that rt hould
errify
r
keep people
in
their
gnorance.
owever,
o
Theophanes
rt nhances
God's
authority
andman's fearoftheLastJudgment.heophanes ees man as sinful,
the
world
as
imperfect
nd
a
punishment
or
his
sins.
The more
knowledge
man
gets,
he
more
sorrowhe
learns.
Furthermore,
an
is
capable
only
of
stupidity,
nd
Russia's
ignorance
s
punishment
or
its
sin.
Andrey
ossesses
the
nner,
piritual
reedom o
create
mages
of
beauty,
while
Theophanes
seeks
to
terrify
nd
enslave. In
short,
Andrey's
rt
s
democratic,
heophanes'
rt
s
obscurantist.10
Moreover,
t is in
the
episode
entitled
Strasti
po
Andreyu'
('The
Passion
of
Andrey')
that he
crucifixion
cene
occurs.
Andrey
agrees withTheophanes that the Russian people are "ignorant"
("temen"),
but
asks:
"But
who
is
guilty
f
that?"
Andrey
hen
peaks
of the
Russian
people
bearing
heir
ross,
enduring
ll
of life's
mis-
eries
silently,
nd
the
crucifixion
hat
ppears
before s
on
the screen
is
set not n
the
Holy
Land,
but n
medieval
Russia,
n
winter,
nd
the
Christ-figure
s
dressed
s a
Russian
peasant.
This is
Andrey's
vision
not
only
of
Russia,
but
of the
artist,
nd
Taikovsky's
clear
dentifica-
tion of
the
suffering
f
the
artist
nd
that
f
Christ. n
the
following
episode
Prazdnik'
'The
Festival')
Andrey
s
himself
ied
to a
post
by
pagans
who
fear
he will
denounce them
n
an
image
reminiscent
f
crucifixion.
Also,
in
the
earlier
episode
the
soldiers who
arrest he
51
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jester
bash
his head
against
a
tree,
having
splayed
his arms
out in a
posture f mockcrucifixion.
Theophanes
recognises
that
Andrey's
views are subversive.
Andrey's
aith
s
tested,
o
more
o than
during
he
ttack n Vladimir
by
the
Tartars.Here the
brutality,
ain
and
treachery
f
the
world
seem
to
support
heophanes'
view
of
man's
baseness,
and it
is here
that
Andrey speaks
with the
latter'
ghost.
Andrey
admits
that
Theophanes
s
right
nd
thathe is
wrong,
nd he vows
neverto
paint
again.
He also
takes
a vow of silence
after
illing
man. His
despair
at the
senselessness
of the world
s
heightened
when the idiot
girl
whomhe hadprotectedater eaveswith heTartars.
Paradoxically, Tarkovsky
n
his
diaries
shares the
view of
Theophanes.
He
writes hat:11
...people
re
not
apable
of
governing
thers.
hey
re
only
apable
ofde-
stroying.
nd materialism naked
nd
cynical
is
going
o
complete
the
destruction....uman
history
ooks
ll
too
ike somemonstrous
xper-
imentwith
people,
set
up by
a cruel
being
ncapable
of
pity.
A
kind
of
vivisection....
umanity
as suffered
oo
much,
nd
man's
sense
of suffer-
ing
has
atrophied.
hat s
dangerous;
ecause
t means
hat t
s
no
longer
possible
now to
save
humanity
y
means
of blood and
suffering.
od,
what time o be alive
Tarkovsky
husbemoans a
general
ack of
spirituality
n the
modern
world,
yet
n
his films e
strives o create
mages
of
beauty.
In
Andrey
Rublev art s
finally
riumphant,
quated
with
the
miracleof creation. n
the
final
pisode
of the
film,
Andrey's
faith
n
the
essential
eauty
f
the
world s restored hen
youngboy
creates
a
huge
bell
without ver
having
earnt
he secret f
bellcasting
rom
his dead
father.
he film
shows
in
detail the
various
stages
of the
bell's
creation,
nd
the
boy's
prayers
o God are
finally
nswered.
Andreybreakshis silenceto comfort heboywho is overcomewith
emotion,
nd he
resolves
o
paint
nce
more.12
In
subsequent
works
he heme
f art nd the rtists
a
recurring
one: n
both
erkalo
Mirror)
1974)
and
Nostal'giya Nostalgia)
(1983)
Tarkovsky
makes use
of his own father's
oems,
and the atter
film n
particular
ocuses on
the inner
confusion nd doubts of a
writer.
ne of thethree
major
characters
n
Stalker
Stalker) 1979)
is
a
writer,
ho in
one scene
crownshimselfwith
knotof barbed
wire
in a
sardonic
ounter-image
f
Christ's rown f thorns.
52
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Russia's
twentieth
entury
estiny
s also
referredo
in
Zerkalo,
whereRussia is the homeforrefugees rom heSpanishCivil War,
and its Asian
border with
China
is
threatened
uring
the Cultural
Revolution
by
zealots armed
with
Mao's
littlered
book,
rather
ike
medievalRussia
attacked
y
the
Tartar
ordes.
erkalo s
Tarkovsky's
most
personal
film,
elies
heavily
on
memories
f his childhood
nd
even
featureshis own
mother.
Furthermore,
t is full of
newsreel
footage
nd
private
memories
rom hat
ime.
t
remains
ery
much a
subjective
film,
nd
yet
t
provoked
hundreds f Russians
who
had
seen
the
filmto remark
hat
he
film
had also
seemingly
cted
as a
mirror f
their wn
experience.13 arkovsky
ucceeds
n
making
in-
ema
the art
form hat eflects
he national
xperience hrough
he
n-
dividual ife.
Stalker
s
very
much
an
allegory,
with
he
Stalker
of the title
living
n a hovel
in
the
middle
of an industrial
wasteland
shot
in
sepia/black-and-white
hich
emphasises
ts
dreariness)
hat
can be
seen
to
represent
modern
Russia,
who
travels
with heWriter nd the
Scientist
o
the
forbidden one
(in
colour)
to
get
to the
Room,
where
wishes
come
true.The
Zone
is
closely
guarded,
nd
to
get
nto
t
and
also
out
of
the
wasteland)
involves considerable
personal danger.
However,
having
raversed
he
Zone and come to
the
threshold f the
Room,neitherhewriter orthescientist anbring hemselves o en-
ter,
much to
the
despair
of
the
Stalker.
The Zone
is for
he
Stalker
place
of
peace
and
freedom,
here
he
ndividual an
discoverhis true
nature.
We know
of a
former
talker,
orcupine
Dikobraz),
who tra-
versed
the
Zone
and
entered
he
room,
sking
forhis
brother o
be re-
turned
o
life. On
returning
ome,
he
found
hathis
brother
was
still
dead,
but
he
himself
ad
become
nordinately
ealthy.
n
other
words,
the
room
had
granted
is
true
wish.
Porcupine
hen
hanged
himself. t
is
exactly
because
the
Writer
nd
the
Professor
annot
face the truth
about
themselves
hat
hey
refuse o
enter he
room,
nd,
ndeed,
the
Professorventries odestroyt.
Stalker,
hen,
s
a film
bout
elf-discovery,
ut lso
about
spiri-
tual
impoverishment
n
a
materialistic
world.
The
Stalker s
one of
Russia's
'holy
fools'
who
renounces
material
oods
and
prosperity
or
spiritual
enlightenment
thus
the
emphasis
on the
poverty
of
his
home).
The
cross
he
has to
bear n
thisUfe
s
his
nvalid
daughter,
ho
possesses
inexplicable
elekinetic
owers;
his
comforts
the
devoted
love
of
his
wife.
His
feat
has
been
to
guide
the
Writer
nd
the
Professor
o
self-knowledge;
is
despair
s
their
efusal
o
countenance
it.
Furthermore,
t
is
not
unreasonable
o see in
the
portrayal
f
the
53
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world
Stalker
eaves behind
he
Russia of the
prison amp,
an
impres-
sionreinforcedytheStalker'szek-like havenhead,thehighfence
and
watch-towers
round he
Zone,
and
the rmed
guards.
Thus,
n
his
'Soviet'
period
Tarkovsky aints
his own
country
n
dark,
ppressive
colours
black-and-white,
ith he
figure
f the rtist
fferingpiri-
tual
guidance
and
salvation.
The
promise
of
freedom,
e
it
through
contact
with he
West or
the
soothing
ower
of
childhood
memories,
is
conveyed
n
glorious
ull olour.
The West in a
historically
r
geographically
oncrete
form s
also
present
n
Tarkovsky's
ilms,
nd here t
may
be
apt
to
point
out
that,ikemanyRussians,TarkovskyreatstheWest' not as a collec-
tion
of
separate
states
withtheir
wn
culture
nd
identity,
ut
as a
compositebody
consistently
pposed
to
Russia.
Germany
n
his
first
film,
vanovo Detstvo
Ivan's
Childhood) 1962),
is
thefascist
nemy
that s
faceless,
threatening,
ltimately
estructive.
ven in his
most
'Russian'
film,
Andrey
Rublev,
the
seemingly legant
and
refined
Italian
ambassador is
contrasted
unfavourably
with the Russians
aroundhim.He
discussestheRussia
he
sees
before
him,
s dismissive
of
its
squalor
and
brutality
ut
can
appreciate
ts achievements.14
n
particular,
e
wonders t the massive human ffort
nd
toil
required
for
asting
he
bell,
with
nly
themost
primitive
quipment,
hatnow
stands bovethe own o warn f attack rannounce estivities.
In
Mirror he
boy
gnat
reads
aloud a
letter
rom ushkin o the
nineteenth-century
issident
hinker
yotrChaadayev.
This letter
is-
cusses in
length
the
backwardness of
Russia,
but also states
that
Russia
saved
Western
Europe
by
absorbing
he Tartar
onquest
and
serving
s a
shieldfor
heWest. But
significantly,
ussia remained
Christian
ountry,
nd n
Pushkin'sview
theTartar
yoke
saved
Russia
from
Catholicism.
ndeed,
the
mages
from
documentary
ewsreels
show
Soviet
soldiers on the
Sivash,
and
pushing
back
Chinese Red
Guardsfrom he Sovietborderduring heChineseCulturalRevolu-
tion.
Both
mages
can
be
seen as an
illustration
f Russia's mission o
save
Europe
from
he
barbaric
hordesof its
enemies.
Chaadayev
de-
plored
the
Russia of
backwardness,
erfdom nd
ignorance,
whichhe
associated with
Orthodoxy,
nd
admired
he
enlightened
nd
progres-
sive
Western
urope
of
Roman
Catholicism. or
Chaadayev,
Russia
was cut
offfrom he
emerging
modern,
ndustrialworld.
Tarkovsky
undoubtedly
hares
Pushkin's
view,
as stated urthern
the
etter:15
The
Tartarnvasions
a sad
and
mpressivepectacle.
he
wakening
f
Russia,
he
mergence
fher
ower,
er
rogress
owards
nity
Russian
54
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8/10/2019 Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky
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unity,
f
course),
he wo
vans,
he ublime
rama
begun
n
Uglish
nd
brought
o
completion
n
the
patiev
monastery
all this s
surely
istory,
and not omehalf-forgottenream?And Peter heGreat,who s a univer-
sal
history
n himself?
And
Catherine
I,
who
brought
Russia
to the
threshold
f
Europe?
And
Alexander,
ho
ed
you
to Paris?
And
hand
on heart do
you
not
discern
omething
mposing
n the
present
ituation
of
Russia,
omething
hat
will strike
he
future
istorian?
o
you
think e
will
put
us outside f
Europe?
Devoted
hough
am
personally
o the m-
peror,
do
not
by
any
means dmire
ll
that see
around
me;
as
a manof
letters,
feel
mbittered;
nd as
a
man
of
prejudice,
am
vexed;
but
swear
o
you
that otfor
nything
n
thewhole
world
would
changemy
country
or
nother,
orhave
anyhistory
ther
han hat f our
ncestors,
such s
it
has been
given
s
by
God.
The factthat he ambassadorat theend ofAudreyRublev is
Italian
s
significant,
or
taly
s
the
home of
Roman Catholicism
ea-
tures
everal
times
n
Tarkovsky's
ubsequent
work.
n Zerkalo and
Offret
The
Sacrifice)
he
artof
Leonardo
da Vinci
is featured.16
taly
is
the
ctual
etting
or
No
tai'
giy
,
where he
ituation f
Gorchakov,
the
writer
ndertaking
esearch
n
Italy,
mirrors hatof the director
himself,
oon afterwards
o
make
taly
his
home.
However,
n
Tarkov-
sky's
West
there
s
no
faith,
s
in
NostaVgiya
no one
responds
o self-
sacrifice: talians
watch
indifferently
s Domenico makes
his last
address
o theworld
nd
setshimself
light.
But whereas n
his
earlier, oviet,
films
Tarkovsky
s
flirting
with
he dea
of
Russia's
European
dentity y
emphasising
he cul-
tural ies and
Russia's
historical
estiny,
n
NostaVgiya
he is
repelled
by
notions
f
closeness
and
affinity.
he Italian
andscape
s desolate
and
bleak
by
being
observed
through
he
eyes
of a
melancholy
nd
homesick
Russian.
Its
religion
s
lampooned
n
the
scene
where a
flock
of
birds
burst
rom he
womb
of
the
Madonna in
a church.
His
beautiful
talian
guide
Eugenia,
who
tries
o
appreciate
Russian cul-
ture n
the
form
f
the
poetry
f
Arseny
arkovsky,
s shown
o be in-
capable
of
penetratingeyond
the
iteral
meaning
f the
words.Gor-
chakovhimself eemsunsure s tohisownidentity,nd inthecourse
of
thefilm
peaks
a
mixture
f
talian
and
Russian,
ometimes
within
the
ame
sentence.
Gorchakov s
unable
to
establish
ny
bonds
-
sex-
ual or
intellectual
with
Eugenia,
and
only
with
he
crazed
Dome-
nico
can he
form
ome
sort
of
attachment.
omenico,
to be
sure,
s a
figure
rom
Russian
literary
ulture,
yurodivyy,
he
holy
fool
who
warns of
imminent
isaster.
Domenico
is
regarded
by
locals
as an
idiot,
but he
believes he
has
the
gift
f
foresight
nd
predicts
he
end
of
the
world
Alexander
n
Offret
s
also a
kind
of
latter-day
urodi-
vyy).
Gorchakov
ays
that
he
wants o
tear
down
the
barriers
etween
55
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8/10/2019 Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky
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states,
and
seeks to
recreate Russian home
on the
Italy
he sees
aroundhim.He juxtaposeshiswife, he mageof MotherRussia,and
Eugenia,
the
talian
Madonna,
and
in the
final ake
of
the
filmwe
see
him
sitting
n
a
recognisably
Russian
rural
environment,
omplete
with
dacha,
but framed
y
the
arches of a
ruined
talian
cathedral.17
Gorchakov
ies because
he can
findno real
home.
t is
not fanciful o
see
that
Gorchakov
s a
projection
f
Tarkovsky
imself,
eflecting
he
fears nd
longing
f his
creator.
Whenever
we see
the
Russian
coun-
tryside
n
this
film,
here re
snatches
of
Russian
folk
music
heard
alongside
Verdi's
Requiem.
Gorchakov ooks
into
a
mirror
nd
sees
the
reflection f
Domenico,
and
at
the
end
of the
filmfulfils he
at-
ter' wishofcarrying candle acrossa pool.This is
his
act
ofspiritual
sacrifice,
nd we are
reminded
hat he
subject
of
his
research,
avel
Sosnovsky,
n
eighteenth entury
erf
composer,
killed himself
on
returning
o Russia
after ome
years
n
Italy.
Domenico
foresees
he
end
of the
world,
nd
in
theact of
self-immolation
by
which
method
the Old
Believers in
Russia
also committed
mass
suicide as
they
feared he
coming
f
the
Antichrist).
MNostal'giya
is
doom-laden nd reflects
arkovsky
s increas-
ing
despair
with
whathe
saw as
mankind's
headlong
rush
to
Apoca-
lypse,
henhis last
film
s his
catharsis. he
subject-matter
f Tarkov-
sky's astfilm,Offret1986), shot nSweden, s an impending uclear
catastrophe,
here
war
betweenRussia and the West is the
ultimate
confrontation,
he nd of
any
historical
nd cultural
elationship.
The
Apocalypse
s a
major
aspect
of Russian
cultural nd his-
torical
thought,
nd
one that
goes
back
to
the time of
Kievan Rus'.
Anna
Lawton also
notes
Tarkovsky's
ision of "an
Apocalypse
about
to
befall
society
devoid
of
spirituality,
eparated
rom
God and
from
Nature".18 t
is
perhaps
ronic hat
while
making
films n
Russia and
about
Russia,
Taikovsky
s
engaging
n
ideas of
kinship
withWestern
Europe,butwhen he actuallymoves to Europe,theprospect f such
kinship
rouses
melancholy
nd
despair.
We
shouldnote
here
that
aikovsky
s view
of the
West as
soul-
less
and
lacking
values is
similar o
that f
othermodern
neo-Slavo-
philes
such
as
Alexander
Solzhenitsyn,
Vasily
Belov
and Valentin
Rasputin.19
arkovsky
iffers rom
hese
writers,
owever,
n
thathe
is
explicitly
nfluenced
y
the
cultural inks
between
ast and
West. n
his
diaries
and
other
writings,
here
re
numerous
eferences
o the
worksnot
only
of
Dostoyevsky,
ushkin nd
Tolstoy,
ut lso to
Tho-
56
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8/10/2019 Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky
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mas
Mann
and Hermann
Hesse,
as well
as to
Japanese
and Chinese
philosophynd art.
Western
European
music and
art,
for
example,
are used
fre-
quently
by Tarkovsky
n
his
films,
not
simply
s a
backdrop,
but a
structural
nd
compositional
motif.Drer' Four Horsemen
of
the
Apocalypse
is
featuredn
Ivanovo
Detstvo,
n
oblique
statement
ot
only
about the
destructive
ature
of
war
but also
of the
imminent
death
of
thehero.
n
Solyaris
Solaris) (1969)
Kelvin
and his 'resur-
rected'
wife Hari
are
surrounded
y Brueghel
paintings
s
they
float
weightlessly
n
the
spaceship,
seeminglydancing
to
the
music
of
Bach.
There s also
a
memorable
equence
n
Zerkalo
reminiscentf a
Brueghel
andscape
whenthecamera ooks downon a snow-covered
slope,
with
figuresmoving
n
both
the
foreground
nd
background,
thus
stablishing epth
nd
perspective,
sense of
space
and diverse
human
ctivity.
nNostaVgiya
the
mad'
Domenico
sets
himself
light
to
the
distortedtrains f
Beethoven'sNinth
ymphony.
urthermore,
Western
lassical music s
often sed:
in
Solyaris
the music of
Bach;
in
Zerkalo that f
Bach
and
Purcell;
n
NostaVgiya
thatof
Debussy,
Verdi,
Wagner
and
Beethoven;
in
Offret
hat of Bach
as well
as
Swedish
and
Japanese
olk
music.20
Ultimatelyarkovsky' treatmentf theRussia-West hemes a
confirmation f
his love
and
longing
for
his
native
and,
his
roots.
Although
is
was not
a
happy
hildhood,
e
presents
t
in
Zerkalo
for
instance)
n
terms
f a
rural
dyll.
His
love of
the earth
becomes a
physical
presence
n
his
films:
he
Stalker
mmediately
mbracesthe
earth
when
he
arrives n
the
Zone,
and
the
success of
the
bell-casting
in
Andrey
Rublev
s
dependent
n
finding
he
right
ort
of
clay.
The
moods,
colours
and
topography
f
the
Russian
countryside
re lov-
ingly
caught
n
colour n
Zerkalo,
where
the
fields
stretch
ndlessly
on,
and
the
few
houses we
see
are
traditional
ooden
zby.
The
forest
itself eems to breathewith ts own life,and indeed thefinalscene
sees
the
camra
itself
recede
into the
depth
of
the
forest.Until
his
travels
o
the
West,
Tarkovsky
iews
the
natural
world
as
he
views
time:
live and
in
motion,
mbued
with
pirituality
nd
framing
man's
life
and
human
history.
Once in
the
West,
though,
Tarkovsky
ees
history
nd
nature
s
threatened
y
the
coming
Apocalypse,
but
as
in
the
final
hoot
of
Offret,
hen
a
tree
prouts
nto
ife
-
nature
s
capable
of
rebirth.
he
fate
of
man
s
not
so
optimistic.
Tarkovsky
s
an
artist
who
transcends
wentieth
entury
de-
ologies
and
politics.
Freedom
to
him
is not
a
political concept,
but
57
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rather
spiritual
ne.
Hope
lies in
spiritual
chievements,
uch as
the
ability fan individual o sacrifice imself,ike Domenico n NostaV-
giya,
ike Christ n
Andrey
ublev.
He is
profoundly
nfluenced
y
the
eschatological
natureof Russian
spiritual
eaching,
nd
decries the
lack
of
values
in
the
materialist
ociety
he sees
around
him in the
West.
He
remains
deeply
religious
Russian,
appalled
at the oss
of
spiritual
alues and the
victory
f consumerism
which
he
associates
with
he
West,
and
whichhe
sees
leading
to
disaster.21
t
is
not
acci-
dental
hat
his
greatest
ultural
nfluence
s
Dostoyevsky,
ho was
not
averse
to
decrying
he
corruption
f
the
West,
nd
throughout
is
life
he
wanted
n
particular
o
filmThe
diot.22
There
are
many
points
f interest
n
Tarkovsky's
work
nd
ca-
reer,
nd
the
study
f the
tylistic
nd
thematic
eatures
f his
films
s
farfrom
xhausted.
Tarkovsky
was
no doubt
fascinated
y
the
West
and its
various
freedoms nd
excesses,
but as
a Russian
he remained
deeply
suspicious
of it. n his
films ommunication
etween
Wester-
ners
and
Russians is
difficult,
f not
impossible,
nd
the two
sides
remain
rreconcilable.
ore
mportantly,
hough,
arkovsky
s seen
by
many
film-makers
n Russia
today
s a
symbol
f resistance
o
tyran-
ny,
rather
ike Boris
Pasternak; nd,
ike the
great
oet,
his
response
o
the
tyrants
f his
age
was
the ssertion f an
inner
reedom,
ot bound
by ideologies. Tarkovsky emains great rtist, ut one who will be
remembered ithin he context
f his
time
s
embracing
conserva-
tive
Slavophile
outlook
nd
ultimately
ejecting
heWestern landish-
ments
with
whichfor
enturies is
countrymen
ave been
fascinated.
Notes
1.
Andrey
arkovsky,
culpting
n Time:
Reflections
n the
Cinema,
ranslated
by
Kitty
unter-Blair,
niversity
fTexas
Press,
Austin,
hird
dition,
991,
p.
193.
2. Intherecentlyublishedorrespondence1969-1972)withGrigory ozin-
tscv,
Tarkovsky
alks n some detail
aboutthe
difficultiese encountered
over
hedistribution
nd
screening
f
Andrey
ublev nd
Solyaris.
ee
A.M.
Sandler
ed.),
Mir
filmyAndreya
arkovskogo,
skusstvo, oscow,
1991,
pp.
343-58. n
his
diaries f 1970-1986
Tarkovskyxhaustively
etails he
pressures
n him o
cut
scenes nd
reviseversions f
Solyaris,
erkalo nd
Stalker,
s well
as his
struggles
ith
Goskino n
theform f ts chairman
Filipp
Yermash nd his
predecessor
ikolay
izov. The
diaries
re
also
im-
portant
or
he
nsight hey
rovide
nto
Tarkovsky's
mmediate
esponses
o
the vents f
his
day:
the
olzhcnitsyn
ffair f the
arly
970s,
nd the m-
prisonment
f
his
fellow
ilm-maker
ergey
aradzhanov.
They
lso contain
harsh
riticism f the
Soviet
government,
ts
leaders and its
diplomats
abroad.
ee
Andrey
arkovsky,
ime
Within ime:The
Diaries
1970-1986,
translatedyKitty unter-Blair,eagullPublishers,alcutta, 991.
58
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3. V.
Golovskoy,
ehind
he
oviet
creen:
The
Motion icture
ndustry
n the
USSR, 1972-1982,
Ardis,
Ann
Arbor,
986,
p.
93.
4. JeanneVronskaya, oung ovietFilmMakersAllen andUnwin,London,
1972,p.
35.
5.
The
rivalry
f the
princes
s
based on
that
f
the ons
of
Dmitry
onskoy,
Yury
nd
Vasily,
for he
crownwhen
heir ather ied
n
1389.
L.
Khoro-
shev,
n
editor
n
the
film,
ecalls
hat
n
the
creenplay
he
peasants
were
sober,
nd
that
he motif f
internecine
trife
was
heightened
n
their x-
change:
"I'll
teach
you
o
prattle
n,
Smolensk
wine."
"Even
women
augh
t
you
Muscovites."
L.
Khoroshev,
"Andrey
ublev":
paseniye
ushi'
in Mir
filmyAndreya
Tarkovskogo,
.
49.
The whole
original creenplay,
ncluding
cenes
that
were
omitted
rom he
final
version,
s
now available
n
English:
Andrey
Tarkovsky, ndreyRublev,
ranslated
yKittyHunter-Blair,
aber and
Faber, ondon ndBoston, 991.
6.
Compare
arkovsky
s own
words:
The main
hing
or s
is the
problem
f
the
rtist,
heman
standing
mid
a concentrationf the
truggles,
he
pas-
sions,
he deas of his
epoch,
nd his
nter-relationships
ith he
people,
he
authorities,
is
colleagues.
n Rublev
we want o
express
he
process
f
an
artist's
elationship
ith he
world,
o showhow
real emotional
xperience
helps
him o
determine
is
attitudeo
theworld nd
to himself."
Quoted
n
Vronskaya,.
34.)
7.
L.
Khoroshev ellsus that he
riginal
ilm
Strasti
o Andreyu)
as
3
hours
15
minutes
ong,
lmost alf
n
hour
onger
han heversion
ventually
e-
leased
n
1971.
Although
he
hanges
were
forced
rom
bove,
they
were t
least carried ut
by
him,
nd
so the
finished
roduct
was not too farfrom
Tarkovsky'own ntentions.hesechangeswould seem to havebeendic-tated
by
matters f
taste,
ather han
deological
propriety,
nd
involved
certain
cabrous' linesof
dialogue
nd
scenes of
excessive
ruelty
o ani-
mals.See L.
Khoroshev,
"Andrey
ublev":
paseniye
ushi',
n Mir
fil
my
Andreya
Tarkovskogo,
p.
42-3.
Tarkovsky
imself
eems
blissfully
na-
warethat
xcessive
Naturalism'n the
depiction
f the
blinding
f
the
ma-
sons
or the
ack of
Vladimir
may
lienate
udiences. ee
Sculpting
n
Time,
p.
186.
8.
Maya
Turovskaya
ays
that his
cene s "the
mage
of
man's
potential,
nd
of
his
spiritual
triving
o
go
beyond
he
ordinary
ounds
of his life on
earth...
he
rest f
the ilm
s
an
embodiment,
n
various
lanes,
f
that
pir-
itual
triving
nd ts
victory
ver
he
obduracy
f
matter".
aya
Turovska-
ya,
Tarkovsky:
inema
s
Poetry,
ranslated
y
Natasha
Ward,
Faber
and
Faber, ondon ndBoston, 989.d.78.9.
Andrey
arkovsky,
ndrey
ublev,
.
15. n
the
cript,
he
ester's
words
re
made
deliberately
nclear,
ut
he
becomes
otally ngrossed
n
his
perfor-
mance.
Andrey,
ike
the
other
easants,
s
captivated
y
his
songs,
which
also
include
sad,
yrical
allad. n
the
film,
he
words
re
clearer,
he
per-
formance
nergetic,
nd
Andrey's esponse
more
iffident.
10.
Tarkovsky
imself
eclares:
"Unlike
Theophanes
he
Greek,
who
pro-
pounded
he
dea
of
Judgment
ay,
who
found
n
Man
only
he
mbodiment
of
sin
and
vice,
and n
God a
vengeful,
unitive
eing,
Rublev
placed
man
first.n
Man
he
sought
God,
he
regarded
im
s
the
house n
which
God
lived. n
other
words,
Rublev
was
a man
who
reacted
o
everything
round
which
ther
eople
would
tend
o
find
ommonplaces."
Quoted
n
Vron-
skaya,
.
34.)
11. TimeWithinime, p. 15-7.
59
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12. For
further
iscussion
on the themeof
faith,
specially
n Stalker and
Nostalgiya,
see Peter
Green,
The
Nostalgia
of the
Stalker',
ight
and
Sound,Winter 984-1985,
p.
50-4.
13. In
Sculpting
n
Time
pp.
8-12)
Tarkovsky
uotes
from ome
of the
re-
sponses
he
received
both
ood
and
bad.
Oleg
Yankovksy,
ho
appeared
in
bothN
ostai
giya
and
Zerkalo,
remarks
hat he atter
ilm
was
Tarkov-
sky
s "civic
nd rtisticchievement
hich roused
ur
memory,
robed
ur
wounds nd our
unwitting
nd
nevitable
uilt".
ee
his
Tarkovsky
A
Truly
Russian
Artist',
n M.
Tarkovskayacomp.),
About
Andrey
arkovsky,
Progress,
oscow,
1990,
p.
219.
14. In
the
cript,
he
plendour
fthe mbassador
dress
s
emphasised,
s
is the
drabness ll
around;
ee
Andrey
ublev,
.
179.
15.
Quoted
n
Sculpting
n
Time,
.
195.
16.
Furthermore,
ohn
.
Dunlop
hears choes
of Dante
n
Zerkalo.
See
his es-
say Nationalist hemes n SovietFilm
of the
1970s',
n
A.
Lawton
ed.),TheRed Screen:Politics,
ociety,
rt n SovietCinema,
Routledge,
ondon
and
New
York, 992,
pp.
241-3.
17.
Usually
oth o see
metaphors
nd
symbols
n
any
of his
mages,
arkovsky
admits hat his cene
has an
element
f
metaphor
..which macks
f iter-
ariness:
model
of thehero's
state,
f thedivision
within
imwhich
pre-
vents
im
rom
iving
s
he
has
up
tl
now.
Or
perhaps,
n
the
ontrary,
t s
his new
wholeness
n which
he
Tuscan hills
and
the
Russian
countryside
come
togetherndissolubly;
e is conscious f them
s
inherently
is
own,
merged
ntohis
being
nd
his
blood,
but
t the
ame
time
eality
s
enjoining
him
o
separate
hese
hings
y
returning
o
Russia".
Sculpting
n
Time,
p.
213,216.)
18.
Anna
Lawton,
Kinoglasnost:
ovietCinema n our
Time,
Cambridge
ni-
versityress, 992,p. 192.19. Lev
Anninsky
lso remarks
ith
eference
o
Andrey
ublev
hat
arkovsky
"was
one of
the irst
o
detect
he ardinal hi
n
thenational
onsciousness
which
ook
hape
n themid-1960s
the
hift owards
ational
memory,
o
beginnings,
oots,
he
oil",
placing
him
longside
he
writers
elov,
Ras-
putin,
iktor
Astafev,
Nikolay
Rubtsov
nd thedirectornd
writer
asily
Shukshin. ee L.
Anninsky,
Apokalipsis o "Andreyu"',
n
Mir
filmy
An-
dreya arkovskogo,.
84.
20.
Compare
he
words f PeterGreen: It
was his ambition o raise the rtof
film o
the evel
of the
great
works f
poetry, ainting
r
music,
o that f
Dostoyevsky,
eonardo r Bach
-
and t
was with hishumanist-Christian
traditionhathe
identified.
espite
his
essentially
ussian
upbringing
nd
temperament,
twas
the
universal
spects
f
European
ulture hat nterested
him nd that ltimately akehiswork o widely ccessible." PeterGreen,
Andrey
arkovsky:
he
Winding
uest,
Macmillan,
asingstoke,
993,
p.
136.)
21.
Tarkovsky:
In
this
espect,
he ituationn
theWest
gives
us
ample
oodfor
thought.
ncontrovertible
emocratic
reedoms xist side
by
side with
monstrousnd
self-evident
piritual
risis
ffecting
free* itizens.
Why,
e-
spite
he
freedom f
the
ndividual,
oes the onflict
etween
he
person
nd
society
xisthere n
such n acute
form?.. reedoms not
omething
hat
an
be
incorporated
nto
man's life once
and for ll: it has to be
constantly
achieved
hrough
oral
xertion."
Sculpting
n
Time,
. 236.)
22.
Tarkovsky
gain:
"Of
great ignificance
o me
are those raditionsn
Rus-
sian culture hich
have
their
eginnings
n
thework f
Dostoyevsky.
heir
development
n
Russia
s
patentlyncomplete,
n
fact
hey
end o be looked
downupon, reven gnored ltogether.here re several easonsfor his:
60
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14/14
first
heir
otal
ncompatibility
ith
materialism,
nd then
hefact hat he
spiritual
risis
xperienced y
all
Dostoyevsky's
haracters
which
was
the
inspirationfhis work nd that fhisfollowers)s also viewed withmis-
giving."
Sculpting
n
Time,
.
193.)
On
his nterest
n The
Idiot,
he
says
elsewhere:
Central
o
Dostoyevsky's
isionof the
book was the
figure
f
Prince
Myshkin
n
relation o
post-reform
ussia.
Dostoyevsky
as not
a
writer
ho
would hatter
he
quilibrium
f ife
hrough
is
character's
uf-
fering,
nd fail
to
charge
he
upheaval
with
meaning
f
equal magnitude,
he
was bound o
respond
o the
tormy
ontemporary
cene,
heferment
f
ideological
rguments,
henew
social
phenomena,
hich ould be summed
up
as
the
ttraction
nd
repulsion
f three
roups:
ollapsing
anded
gentry,
emerging
ourgeoisie,
nd
the
adicals
seminarian
nd
democratic."
ar-
kovsky
urther
ees
that
n
the
novel
Rogozhin
becomes
the mostrobust
social
and
moral
type
f
contemporary
ussia".
(Diaries
1970-1986,
pp.
372-3.)
61