RECOMMENDED FILM #9
Stalker by Andrei Tarkovski
Loosely based on the Strugatsky brothers' novella Roadside Picnic, Tarkovsky’s 1979 sci-fi masterpiece leads us into 'The Zone', which is a mysterious, restricted wasteland where the laws of physics seem to bend. We follow three men: the Writer, looking for inspiration; the Professor, looking for scientific discovery; and the Stalker, their guide, a man of profound and desperate faith. They are searching for 'The Room,' a place where it is said one’s deepest, most secret wish will come true.
Don’t expect high-tech gadgets or alien encounters. Stalker is a slow, meditative journey through damp tunnels and overgrown landscapes. It moves from a bleak, sepia-toned industrial reality into the lush and treacherous greens of the Zone. It is a film about the agony of hope and the necessity of belief in a world that has turned its back on the spiritual. Like Wenders' Paris, Texas, it demands your absolute patience, but it rewards you with a cinematic experience that feels less like a movie and more like a prayer.
To watch a trailer of it, click here
You can actually find it high quality on YouTube directly provided by the production company here
After you watch it,
To read my review of it, click here
Still from Stalker (1979), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky.
Who is Mirror and Stalker’s director Andrei Tarkovski?
Born in April 1932, the Russian Andrei Tarkovsky inspired many contemperory auteurs including Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Jia Zhangke. He described cinema as Sculpting in Time, a philosophy where the filmmaker takes a block of time and carves away the excess to reveal the poetic truth within. His films are more than mere stories; they are spiritual experiences on faith, memory, and hope. For Tarkovsky, cinema was never a matter of entertainment, but a metaphysical mission and a way to understand the human soul. His influence, including his biggest films Stalker, Mirror, Solaris and Andrei Rublev remains a North Star for any filmmaker who believes that cinema can, and should, be a mirror for the human spirit.
RECOMMENDED FILM #10
Mirror by Andrei Tarkovski
Often described as a cinematic poem, Mirror is described by many as Tarkovsky’s most personal, intricate and complex work. It is not a story told in a straight line, but rather a non-linear collage of memories, dreams, and newsreel footage. It reflects the childhood of a dying man—his mother’s face, the rustle of the wind in the trees, the weight of the Second World War, and the echoes of his father’s poetry.
In Mirror, the past and the present bleed into one another. It captures those fleeting moments of childhood that stick in your mind for no reason—the way a glass falls off a table or the smoke rises from a fire. It is a movie you don’t "watch" so much as you "feel." It’s a hauntingly beautiful investigation into the soul of Russia and the fragility of human memory. If you’ve ever sat alone and let your mind wander through the rooms of your childhood home, you will find a piece of yourself in Mirror. It remains one of the most visually stunning films ever made, where every frame could be hung in a gallery.
To watch a trailer of it, click here
You can actually find it high quality on YouTube directly provided by the production company here
After you watch it,
To read my review of it, click here
Still from Mirror (1975), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky.