Andrei RublevI discovered Andrei Tarkovsky in film school when I was invited to watch the Director's Cut of Solaris, hailed as an even better take on 2001. It was a brand new theater print and I was very excited. The film opens with a lengthy shot of tall grass that didn't go with the dialogue at all. Early on is an endless shot behind a car driving through a city. I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, what was I supposed to be getting from this? I blamed it on the extended cut and left the theater before the film even left Earth.
Thanks to Filmspotting (then Cinecast) I ventured to watch Andrei Rublev, which baffled and bored me in equal measure. I still have no idea what I saw except a filmmaker who really knew how to use a camera and had no idea how to tell a story.
And that's half of what this marathon is all about, giving myself a second chance with highly-acclaimed films. Post Stalker I was willing to retry this monster, and I gave it my full attention. I would not be stopped. I was wide awake and ready to be challenged. The results were a heck of a lot better. I checked out so hard last time I would consider this my first official viewing of Rublev. And while I didn't really dig it, I understood it and I understood its acclaim.
Everyone says that my big fault is I'm too hung up on narrative. I have a hard time letting that go. Looking at the three Tarkovsky I've seen, I'd peg him not so much as a filmmaker as I would a philosopher. (And that is not a slam on his visual technique at all.) He likes to make you think and question your belief of emotions, spirituality, just your whole belief system. All three films feature a lead in great crisis over what their life was and now is. Rublev spans the most amount of time. Had we met Andrei at the same time as the other two it would've been after the raid, after his vow of silence.
When do I get to say this film was way too long? I mean you all know it's coming. This isn't simply 1 film, it's a trilogy or a miniseries and while I was actually okay with the overall pace there were too many stories and too much time spent walking around the woods or a burned out building listening to Theophanes. What's interesting is the best character is the bellmaker's son, who we don't meet until the last hour. He's so passionate, so young that he electrifies the film right when it should start to feel like death. His moments of self-doubt further drive him and up the tension considerably.
So I've now watched 3, and his 3 longest films at that. I can say that I am not done watching Tarkovsky. I'm all up for adding Ivan's Childhood, Mirror, Nostalghia and The Sacrifice to my queue. Not anytime soon and I'll probably rewatch Stalker beforehand. But I don't hate Tarkovsky anymore.
GRADE: **1/2