#34: TARKOVSKY, Andrei: Andrei Rublev (1966)
TARKOVSKY, Andrei (Soviet Union)
Andrei Rublev [1966]
Spine #34
Blu-ray
Commentary
Extras Rating (0-40):
Andrei Rublev [1966]
Spine #34
Blu-ray
Tracing the life of a renowned icon painter, Andrei Tarkovsky's second feature vividly conjures the murky world of medieval Russia. This dreamlike and remarkably tactile film follows Andrei Rublev as he passes through a series of poetically linked scenes — snow falls inside an unfinished church, naked pagans stream through a thicket during a torchlit ritual, a boy oversees the clearing away of muddy earth for the forging of a gigantic bell — gradually emerging as a man struggling mightily to preserve his creative and religious integrity. Appearing here in the director's preferred 183-minute cut as well as the version that was originally surpressed by Soviet authorities, the masterwork Andrei Rublev is one of Tarkovsky's most revered films, an arresting meditation on art, faith, and endurance.
183 minutes
Black & White/Color
Black & White/Color
Monaural
in Russian
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2018
Director/Writers
Screenplay by Andrei Konchalovsky and Andrei Tarkovsky.
Tarkovsky was 34 when he directed Andrei Rublev.
Other Tarkovsky films in the Collection:
#397: Ivan's Childhood (1962)
#164: Solaris (1972)
#1084: Mirror (1975)
#888: Stalker (1979)
Other Tarkovsky films in the Collection:
#397: Ivan's Childhood (1962)
#164: Solaris (1972)
#1084: Mirror (1975)
#888: Stalker (1979)
The Film
Merriam-Webster:
ICON
(in Eastern Orthodox Christianity): a representation (as in a mural, a mosaic, or a painting on wood) of sacred events or especially of a sacred individual (such as Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a saint) used as an object of veneration or a tool for instruction.
As Tarkovsky himself says (see below), he was totally uninterested in making a typical historical or biographical film about Rublev. Instead, he paints on his cinematic canvas in broad strokes, exploring the human condition and ideas about belief, the creation of art — and with his typical long takes, a deeper exploration of reality.
Plot is certainly of no concern to Tarkovsky in this magnificent, sprawling film — his second (after Ivan’s Childhood [1962], Spine #397). The work is episodic, constantly seeing a violent, macabre world from Rublev’s point of view.
Religious faith must implicitly recognize doubt, and this concept is what makes up Rublev’s journey. After all he experiences and witnesses, God’s silence is too deafening to bear, and Rublev takes a vow of silence and gives up painting.
**
Tarkovsky and his DP (Vadim Yusov) take full advantage of the stark — yet razor-sharp — image of the black and white stock (the introduction of color near the very end is thus shocking and visually delightful). The long takes and dreamy, hypnotic camera movements give gravitas to the subject matter and sweep the viewer along, as if in a kind of trance.
The bookending of the creation of the bell ties up the entire saga.
Anatoliy Solonitsyn (Rublev) embodies the character completely, under- rather than overplaying the role.
Nikolay Burlyyaev (Boriska), a character who somehow parallels Rublev, is young and inexperienced, yet always striving for greatness.
Naturally, the Soviet authorities gave the whole thing a big thumbs-down — but ultimately were unable to prevent the art-house circuit from discovering this masterpiece.
Transcendent filmmaking at its best.
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
58
The ExtrasThe Booklet
1998 DVD: Six-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman.
2018 DVD: Eight-panel poster with Hoberman essay plus remarks from Tarkovsky originally published in 1962.
Hoberman:
“Its greatness as moviemaking immediately evident, Andrei Rublev was the most historically audacious production made in the twenty-odd years after Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible (1945/58). Tarkovsky’s epic — and largely invented — biography of Russia’s greatest icon painter, Andrei Rublev (circa 1360-1430), was a super-production gone ideologically berserk. Violent, even gory, for a Soviet film, Andrei Rublev is set against the carnage of the Tatar invasions of Russia in the Middle Ages and takes the form of a chronologically discontinuous pageant. The otherworldly hero wanders across a landscape of forlorn splendor — observing suffering peasants, hallucinating the Scriptures, working for brutal nobles until, having killed a man in the sack of the city of Vladimir, he takes a vow of silence and gives up painting.”
Tarkovsky:
“I am interested in the theme of the artist’s personality in its relationship to his time. The artist, on the strength of his natural sensitivity, is the person who perceives his epoch most profoundly and reflects it most fully … This will be neither a historical nor a biographical film. The process of the artist’s creative maturation and the analysis of his talent are what fascinate me. Andrei Rublev’s art and life are fertile material for such a film. Rublev was the summit of the Russian resistance, one of the most colorful figures in the history of our culture.”
Commentary
1998 DVD: with Tarkovsky, with a video essay on the filmmaker’s work by Petrić.
Timeline
Timeline
1998 DVD: Featuring key events in Russian history, plus the lives and works of Andrei Rublev and Tarkovsky.
2018 DVD only: The Passion According to Andrei
2018 DVD only: The Passion According to Andrei
The original 205-minute version of the film.
The Steamroller and the Violin
The Steamroller and the Violin
Tarkovsky’s 1961 student thesis film.
A
The Three Andreis
The Three Andreis
1966 documentary about the writing of the film’s script.
On the Set of Andrei Rublev
On the Set of Andrei Rublev
Archival footage of the making of the film.
Documentary
By filmmakers Louise Milne and Seán Martin featuring interviews with actor Burlyaev, cinematographer Yusov, and more.
Interview 2
With film scholar Robert Bird.
Video essay
By filmmaker Daniel Raim.
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