time and the film aesthetics of andrei tarkovsky

8/18/2019 Time and the Film Aesthetics of Andrei Tarkovsky

1/6

HV,A t\I t ,,,,

as not. the athletic and artistic alibi would merge, as with

the

otullipresent reproductions

o

classical statuary, discus-throwers and the

liJ ;e tbat would remain a k ey term of tile gayimagiuary tOr generations.

Similarly, it

was

no

accident that, as early

as

the 1880s, the classical statue

ora

maratllOner

in

Berlin s Tiergarten became the focus of an important

g y

cruising

re

(Andreas

Stemweile>t,

Kunst

w

schwiiler Alltag

in

Micl me B o U ~ e d EI4of {ulo;

Homosexuelle

Frauen

und

Manner in Berlin

/{J50·1950. GeschieJue Alltag wuf Kullur (Berlin: FrOHch Kaufnmnn,

1984), p. 76).

course, the artistic alibi had remarkable staying: power

despite

its

sub.mersionby the athletic alibi, supported

its

own crypto-gay

publishing mini-industry

in

the 1950s and 1960s, and continues

to have

clear judicial n cultural

Weight,

as evidenced

by

the recent Mapplethorpe

trial

in

Cincinnati.

1

Ricl:uud Dyer, Now You See it: Studies nLesbian ndGay Film

London:

Routledge, 1990),

pp. 17-27.

18 Linda Williams, Hardcore: Power Pleasure and

tile

Frenzy of the

Visible (Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress, 1989), pp. 34-57.

He

describes time

in

tenns of human

memory

and life-processes. This scts

up a duality where time is cormected to memory and consciousl1ess and

intimately

expressed through

nature, This notion of li me a s memflI Y

will

lead to a brief discussion of Henri Bergson s concept of duration as a

comparative term to help understand Tarkovsky s aesthetics. The

connection to a now neglected early 20th century philosopher is not

obscurantism if one remembers the impact Bergson s thoughts had on

modern art. With Bergsonism in tbe ai r modem

art

becamehaunted by the

quest for

an

aesthetic to represent the

flux

of time and m.emory.

A nd as Erwin Panovsky, Arnold Hauser and others bavc noted,

film is the quintessential time-space art beeause time and space acquire

qualities of the other. Througb

montage

time

loses

its irreversibility, it is

Time, printed

in

its factual forms aod manifestations:

such b the supreme idea of cinema as an art.. O n th at I

bui ld my working

hypothesis,

both practical and

theoretical (63)

Time

and the

Film Aesthetics

of

Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei

Tarkovsky was born in

1932, in

Laovrazhe, the

lvanova

dislrict of

the

Soviet

Union.

He ie tIfty-four

years

later

in

1986,

only

months after the release of his last film, The Sacrifice. His prior films are

iv ll s Childhood

1962,

Andrei Rublev 1966, Solaris 1971,

The

Mirror

975 Stalker 1979, and Nostalghia 1983. Tarkovsky s films form an

intensely personal

and

consistent oeuvre that

have accumuhHed

a loyal

following

in

the West and

(slOWly)

in the

East.

Tarkovsky s written

thoughts

on

film and art stm

remain

little

discussed.

This essay

will

look

into Tarkovsky s aesthetics through both hisfUms and his scattered

theoretical conjectures collected in Sculpting ill

Time:

Reflections on the

Cinema (from

which all

subsequent quotes

by

Tarkovskyare

taken) .

As the title

oftbe

book indicates, time is the most important

working principle

for

Tarkovsky:

Donato Totaro


2/6

Tarkovsky also likens the time-pressure in a shot metaphorically

to the rhythms of a brook, spate, river, waterfall, or ocean. This now of

time can range from, quoting Tarkovsky, lazy and soporific to

stOUtly

and

swift:

The

extent to wbich these metaphors are reflected in his films

varies, but in mos t eases , l ike Andrei Rublev The

Mirror

Stalker and

NQstalgllia the mise-en-scene works with and against tbe rhythmic How of

natural phenomena, For example, the slow-motion tracking shot in le

Mirror whicb follows tbe right to left direction of a fierce wind blowing

a(:ross bushes and toppling over objects on a table (this shot appears tWt

i n t be film); the shot in n rei Rubley_wbere a lef t to r ight camera

movement follows the incidental background aclion of a stranded canoe

Hoating downstream while the central action oc{;urs in the foreground; the

scene

follOWing

the raid in AndreiRublev where the spiritual energy of an

exchange between Rublev and the ghost of Theophanes is subtly

underscored

by

hellish steam rising from the deatb-infcsted floor and

descending dandelion seeds; Nostalghia s stunningopening scene where all

the elements of the time-pressure (camera and figure movement., tnist, mm

speed) come to a halt in a freeze frame. In the same m the eonstal1t

sound of rainfall on windows, ceilings and puddles creates an aural rhythm

that reflects tbe solitude and overwbelming nostalgia that suffocates the

transplanted Soviet.

Hence the appearance

of l i f e ~ p r o c e s s e s

in Tatkovsky s mise-cn

scene form a powerful visual tapestry that goes beyond theme

or

imagery to

form and aesthetics. Tarkovsky relies

on

nature and natural phenomena to

Rhythm, expressed

by

tbe time-pressure within lit shot, and not editing is the

main formative elementof Tarkovsky s cinema.

Time-pressure is p erhap s i mp ossi bl e t define in precise,

analytical terms,

but

we c an c om e to a closer understanding of

t

by

examining how t

is

manifested, We know tbat the time that flows through

a sbot is Tarkovsky s guide to film form, but is there a source point for this

time-pressure? Is there SOlllctbing that TarkoYsky consistently relies on as a

temporallrh

y

1bmic foundation? Tbe rhythm Tarkovsky spe.1ks of,

the

time

tbrust that shapes each shot and consequently the editing, is predic. ited on

the spont.:weous rhythms of nature and its forces: water, rain, wind, fire,

tbg,snow, vegetation:

Time andthe

Film Aesthetics olAn/kef

T lrkovsKy

Rhythm in cinema is conveyed by the life of the object

visibly recorded in the frame. Just as from the quivering

of a reed you can

teU

what sort of current, what pressure

t he re i s in a river, in the same wa y we know the

movement of t ime from the flow

of

Ihe lift>process

reproduced in the shot

120

ve time running through the shots makes the

is

no t

determined·by the lengtb of tbe

but by the pressure of the time that fUns

17).

No r can I

accept

t be n ot io n t ba t e di ti ng is t he m ai n

formative element o f film, as th e protagonists o f

montage cinema , following KulesboY and Eisenstein,

maintained in the twenties, as if film was made on tbe

editing table

114 .

spatUHized.

Through th e m ov in g c am er a s pa ce l os es i ts static,

homogeneous quality, it is temporalized (as in Cubist painting). Bergson

was a major f igure of tbis time-based zeitgeist and influenced countless

a rt is ts w ho w er e searching for ways to articulate

time

and

memory

aesthetically. Briefly then, Tarkovsky s aesthetics will be explained in

terms o f

time,

duralion

an d

nature,

My

conclusion

will

hold

that

Tarkovsky s film aesthetic challenges viewer perception and cognition by

shifting between

or

simultaneously representing inner

and

outer states

of

reality.

rn charting the course of Soviet film history one will find a series

of importaor connections between filmmaker and theorist The names

Kulesbov, Eisenstein, Puoovkin, and Vertov stand oot as prominent ngures

in the evolution of filln language. theory, film/politics. Although these four

fllmmaker/thoorists are not singular

in

their visions they held the common

belief that montage is cinema s main formative principle. Tarkovsky can

be seen as continuing in this rich tradition of Soviet filmmaker/theorist, but

changing its course,

This opposition is best defmed against tbe early Eisenstein.

In

the

essay T he Cinematogaphic Principle and the Ideogram, written in 1929

Eisenstein states: Cinematography is. first and foremost, montage,,2 .

Many decades laterTarkovsky states:

Leaving aside other important cultural and political variables, with

this quote Tarkovsky is dearly severing himself from the Soviet tradition

of montage hierarchy,

Tarkovsky

g oe s b ac k

to

Lumiere s

rrivle

a un

Train

as

the

momentWhen a new aesthetic principle in art was born:

Uthe

ability to take

~ i m p m · f l \ i o n

of time (62), Out of

thL \

ability to imprint time grows the

\ lClIDtJ fStJDflC of Tarkovsky s aesthetks: what he calls rhythm. This rhythm

by calculated editing

but

by the sense

of

t ime, wbich

calls

t i m e ~ t h r u s t or t i m e ~ p r e s s u r e

flowing tbrouglu shot:


3/6

Time as memory is simllar to

bow

Bergson explains duration: the

flux of states

within

consciousness. For Bei'gs nthis signifies above aU

else, indivisibility.

Indivisibility can be interpreted cinetmlticaIly as a long take style

that

records

real time

or a

simultaneous

representation of different points

in

Time and memory merge

into cach

other; they

are

Ul of wind

are staged,

r e ~ s o o t

or recreated there still remains

the

spontaneous element

Of nature'stimet within the filmic time. Each·

of

the natural events and

elements *water, wind, fire,

s n o w ~

bave tbeir own sustained rhythm,

Tarkovsky uses·tbese natural rhythms to express his own, that

of

bis

characters and

the

tempornlshape

of

tile film.

Editing stiU plays an important part in TarkoYsky's aesthetics

but

creative eletnenl comes from matching the varying t i m e ~ p r e s s f c s

already estabHshed in each shot and not from clever or conceptual

juxtapositioning. For example, in Tile Mirror bis most complex film

structurally, Tarkovsky combineS bistorical and personal time y

intereutting childhood memory and political and culturnI history:

the

Spanish Civil War\ Russia-Germ.any in VlW2, Ibe Cultural Revoluliofl, the

atomic bomb. Tbe surface separation between the personal and the

historical is shattered

by

editing tbat carefully joins the various rhythms of

the stock shots to staged shots

In

one

segment

he

uses stock

footage

of Soviet soldiers crossing

Lake Sivasb

on

fool. The integration of this documentary-time with

Tarkovsky's time was so convincing that

many

people believed that

the

found footage was staged by Tarkovsky. The reason for this is because

Tarkovskywas conscious of

tbe

time·pressure

in

this shot and

took

care in

lin:k:iojt

it to contiguous shots ofa similar

rhytbm.

Tafkovsky refers to film as if it were a living, breathing entity:


4/6

Time alUi tite FilmAesthetics Andrei ] arlwvsky

27

Andrei looks into a room and from his point of view we see a pile of dirt

and wateeon the middle of the floor. The image zooms in doser

to

the

rubble, flattening the space which nowbccomes clearer.

t

is a Russian

landscape, with mountains, earth and pockets of water. A zoom*in

abstracts the size perspective and places us into Andrei's psychological

state. The camera tilts up a mountain, A cut brings us out of this memory

image

and back

to

physical reality.

The second example

is

tbe fanlous final shot of

Noswighia.

As the

shot begins we

see

Andrei lying down

in front

of what appears

1

he

his

Russian bOlne.

The

camera slowly tracks

back

10 reveal that

the

Russian

landscape is nestled

wIthin an

open

Roman

cathedral. To complete

the

power Of this fantastic image, rain and snow begin to faU

in

different planes

of

the frame. The camera is now static but the illusion

is

not complete.

Somehow, perhaps through nuances in lighting or post-production work,

the

cathedral seems to shift in tone to match tbe grey/whiteness of the

falling snow. The image progresses to a tonal harmony that echoes

Andrei's earlier flashbacks to his homeland. Rhythm. the time-pressure

within the shot, reaches perfection through the tonal harmony and the

merging

of

dreanHime and real-time, The eudresull of this staggering

shot is, aesthetically, the perfect marriage

of

form and content, and

emotionally, a hauntingly beautiful and moving coda,

A consequence of duration is

that

shifts between realms of

reaUty

make it difficult to be certain of the ontological nature of certain events,

Happenings occur in Tarkovsky'.s ftlms thai eitber defy or stretch natural

explanation: levitations, telepathic acts, temporalJspatial discontinuities,

inexplicable natural phenomena. Ohjects, people, and events arc

represented with mimetic accuracy yet something remains askew, pressing

on

tlte

edge of natural and supernatural, dreanHimc

and

real-tUne. With

TarkoYsky's duration there is a constant pull between Inner and outer

worlds and few conventional cues to clearly separate

the

ontological status

of events, Petrie in tile quoted essay believes that these ontological

ambigui ties arc meant to shift tbe

viewer s

attention from the

representational to the transcendental meaning of the recorded event

..

:

4

In the general sense this

is

true,

since many of these ambigoous moments

are Tarkovskian testimonies of faith in the spiritual and creative act.

In

a

many eases the'se moments are also based

in

shifting states of

consciousness,

The play that exists

in

Tarkovsky'sfilms with interiors and

exteriors reflects the inner/outer, mentallphysicaJduaUty of his aeslhetics.

His films contain countless examples of locations that are in a state of

limbo between interior and exterior. Rain and stlOW ~ p o n t n e o u s l y fall

inside churches, houses, hotel rooms and makeshift dwellings. In an

outstanding

st Cne

in

The

Mirror a ceiling begins to crumble into a shower

of real-time and memory-lime, is

TarkoYsky's durauOfkbased aesthetics.

of

t in Nostalglna. In the

fm t

example

here

are

other

ways in

which Tarkovsky's

camera

style

reproduces dWdUon: tbe moving camera as a visual expression

of

dreams

~ l ; m m ~ ~ s io flux; static long takes and agoniZingly slow movements

orality; long takes that capture

tbe

same real-time

in the shooting of a shot (like the

cUmax

in The

ouage burns

to

the ground

in

one take); camera

PSycbological time; and the moving camera that

Dimato Totaro

Bazin

did), but a complete cinematic interpretation of Bergson

s

dt ratl


5/6


6/6

3 ema O

T laro

Sergei Eisenstein, Film Form Jay Leyda, ed. , t rans ., (New York:

MeridallBooks, Inc 1957), p. 28.

3 VladaPetric, hTarkovsky's Dream lmagery, ilm Quarterly voL 43,

no.2, (Winter 8 9 ~ 9 Q p. 29,

4 Petrie, 1 .32 .

33

Spectacles of

Daily

ife

Up o

oint

Cuba 1983

Tomas Gutierrez Alea)

Zuzana M.

Pick

To Tit60 with my best wishes for a prompt and

u

recovery, and in the hope you will soon challenge uS with

many other wonderful films. Salud yabrazos

To creme

a revolutionary cinema

was probably one of

the

most

resolute slogans

of

the New Cinema of Latin America. Often

misunderstood as a utopian and prescriptive formulation,

it

reflected the

promise

of

a radical practice capable of breaking from dominant modes of

filmmaking modeled on Hollywood cinema, Revolutionary cinema was

conceived as always open, never complete, and capable of fostering links

between filmmaker and spectator, between ideology and social change,

Therefore, the movement developed participatory sWdtegies of production

and reception in accordance to existing conditions within its diverse

national cinemas.

Tomas Gutierrez Alea is a Cuban filmmaker bes t known for

Memories

Underdevelopment (1968). His prestige as a director, bOlh

within and outside his country, has been the result

of

a distinguished career

spanning over

the

three decades. Tempting as it might to rank him as an

author, the well·deserved reputation

of

Gutierrez Alea furnishes only one

critical key to appro.lch his films. His work can equally projected into a

broadened perspective tbat engages colleclive and subjective positions. I

will

look at Up to a Point 983 by taking into account its simultaneous

inscriptions within

the

institutional and aesth.etic features of contemporary

Cuban film, In other words, will consider how the establishment of a

statl.>funded agency bas structured production strategies, and howcbanges

in the aesthetic conceptualization of Cuban filmmaking have affected the

production and reception of tbis feature film.

The production of

Up

to a Point wall preceded by the publication

of a critical study written by Gutierrez Alca entitled The Viewer s Dialectic

and fol lowed by a s tructura l re-organization within the Cuban I 'i lm

time and the film aesthetics of andrei tarkovsky

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