#34: TARKOVSKY, Andrei: Andrei Rublev (1966)
TARKOVSKY, Andrei (Soviet Union)
Andrei Rublev [1966]
Spine #34
DVD/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) of his seven films. Only the final two (Nostalghia [1983] and The Sacrifice [1986] are not on Criterion.] The work is episodic, constantly bringing the violent and macabre world into sharp focus from Rublev’s point of view.
The nine chapters:
- Prologue (~10 min)
- The Jester (~25 min)
- Theophanes the Greek (~25 min)
- The Passion (~30 min)
- The Raid (~30 min)
- The Silence (~15 min)
- The Bell (~15 min)
- Epilogue (Color) (~3 min)
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 in the last chapter 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 stunning bookending of the balloon ride and the creation of the bell tie up the entire saga with its parallel themes of invention, creativity and nose-to-the-grindstone ethic …
All of the subdivisions in the filmmaking process seem touched by Tarkovsky’s genius. The massive sets, the camera work, the editing … and especially the music (Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov) … all superb.
The final shot:
The actors:
The three monks:
Anatoliy Solonitsyn (Rublev), Kirill (Ivan Lapikov) and Danil (Nikolai Grinko) … Solonitsyn embodies his character completely, never overplaying the role. Interestingly, we get a deeper insight into Rublev’s character from some of Kirill and Danil’s dialogue. The screenplay is never gratuitous; never strained or unnatural.
The bell maker:
Boriska (Nikolay Burlyyaev), a wonderful character who somehow parallels Rublev — although young and inexperienced, he strives for greatness and achieves it despite the massive obstacles.
Does he also mirror the director, himself? An artistic spirit at odds with the powers-that-be and perhaps even having convinced himself that he — and he alone — knows the “secret.”
**
Ovchinnikov’s score for the last section is magnificent. He uses a symphony of bells (beginning the transition to color) dissolving into spooky cues for full chorus and orchestra … wonderful little motifs which beautifully decorate the visual image.
The Skomorokh (a fantastic Rolan Bykov)
Like Ozu, Tarkovsky is a master at elision. What happens to this gregarious skomorokh? This long shot fills in some gaps and we later see the confrontation between the monk and mocking clown:
**
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
Both DVDs: Selected-scene commentary featuring film scholar Vlada Petrić.
The tension is white-hot as they prepare to pour the bell ...
"Throughout Andrei Rublev, the clash of the earthly and spiritual aspects of human existence is visually expressed most effectively through lighting ... in this sequence, the earthly is spiritualized as the dark-robed peasants and silhouetted bell tower are flooded in sunlight ..."
- Introductory flying sequence. How he achieves tension with the long shot. Subjective POVs, shooting through frames within frames … how this draws the viewer into the film; landscape as filmic ingredient; the wonderful musical underpinning …
- Crucifixion sequence. So heavy with visual symbolism and audaciously effective long shots like this one:
- Pagan orgy. Again, the way Tarkovsky seduces the viewer, using water and torchlight to paint such a “diaphanous veil”. Solonitsyn is magnificent here — all facial acting. Petrić gets pretty deep here, speaking of the “Dostoevskian dilemma of conflicting feelings of love and hatred towards God.”
- The whiteness of the church walls, yet unpainted. The feathers that fall like snow inside the church (like the rain that falls inside Kris Kelvin’s house in Solaris) … another wonderful composition, utilizing the scaffolding as a powerful vertical force:
- These series of shots which open Part 2 — rich in atmospheric texture — also surprise the viewer as the Tartar army pops into the lower part of the frame on the opposite side of the river.
- The “idiot-girl” Duroshka (Irma Raush) — mirroring the incident with the skomorokh — and the stunning sequence of her wearing the cloak and helmut and dancing with joy!
- The bell. In a film loaded with fantastic aerial shots, this is one of the best:
"Boriska ... can be seen as a youthful reflection of Rublev himself."
The tension is white-hot as they prepare to pour the bell ...
"Throughout Andrei Rublev, the clash of the earthly and spiritual aspects of human existence is visually expressed most effectively through lighting ... in this sequence, the earthly is spiritualized as the dark-robed peasants and silhouetted bell tower are flooded in sunlight ..."
"What unfolds (the color sequence) is a cinematic condensation of semi-abstract chromatic excerpts from Rublev's paintings. Through cuts and dissolves, the shots become more representational of various biblical events, gradually evolving into a documentary segment; the only episode in the film directly related to the
work of Andrei Rublev."
- Such subtle duplication!
- Watch for the scene where Rublev is cleaning an icon which had been burned in a fire (indeed, the only time we see Rublev touching an icon!) … it is St. George slaying the dragon, and we will see it again (watch carefully) on the bas-relief of the bell!
Interview 1
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
| 183 | 205 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Opening credits 0:00:00-0:03:20 |
0:00:00-0:02:24 | Credits are white on black (205), changed to black on white (183) / Music different / Status of balloonist in question in both versions! / longer shots of horse |
| Part one 0:03:21-0:07:55 |
0:02:25-0:08:01 | |
| “The Jester (1400)” 0:07:56-0:19:09 |
0:08:02-0:21:25 | 0:12:33 censored shot of skomorokh’s painted buttocks 0:19:37 Kirill comes in from the rain; definitive proof that he turned the skomorokh in to the authorities. [see above] |
| “Theophanes the Greek (1405)” 0:19:10-0:27:10 |
0:21:26-0:33:47 | Download |
| An invitation to Moscow 0:27:11-0:32:30 |
0:33:48-0:37:04 | Download |
| Parting from Danil 0:32:31-0:35:21 |
0:37:05-0:39:59 | Download |
| Kirill’s rant 0:35:22-0:38:21 |
0:40:00-0:43:27 | Download |
| “Andrei’s Passion (1406)” 0:38:22-0:45:11 |
The Passion 0:43:28- |
Download |
| Crucifixion 0:45:12-0:50:08 |
-0:56:48 |
Download |
| “Holiday (1408)” 0:50:09-0:58:56 |
“The Holiday (1408)” 0:56:49-1:06:09 |
Download |
| Escape 0:58:57-1:04:18 |
1:06:10-1:12:16 |
Download |
| “The Last Judgment (1408)” 1:00:19-1:16:01 |
1:12:17-1:25:53 |
Download |
| Ambush 1:16:02-1:19:04 |
1:25:54-1:29:40 |
Download |
| Sergei reads 1:19:05-1:25:00 | 1:29:41-1:36:29 |
Download |
| Part two: “The Raid (1408)” 1:25:01-1:40:41 |
1:36:30-1:53:30 |
Download |
| Torture 1:40:42-1:48:18 |
1:53:31-2:03:59 |
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| Andrei’s vow 1:48:19-1:57:45 |
2:04:00-2:13:49 |
Download |
| “Silence (1412)” 1:57:46-2:11:21 | “The Charity (1412)” 2:13:50-2:31:57 |
Download |
| “Bell (1423)” 2:11:22-2:20:51 |
“The Bell (1423-24)” 2:31:58-2:42:06 |
Download |
| Molding the bell 2:20:52-2:26:28 |
2:42:07-2:47:14 |
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| The jester returns 2:26:29-2:30:32 |
2:47:15-2:52:06 |
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| The furnaces 2:30:33-2:33:47 |
2:52:07-2:55:39 |
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| Breaking the mold 2:33:48-2:36:34 |
2:55:40-2:59:10 |
Download |
| Kirill’s confession 2:36:35-2:39:59 |
2:59:11-3:02:40 |
Download |
| Raising the bell 2:40:00-2:53:40 |
3:02:41-3:17:01 |
Download |
| Epilogue 2:53:41-3:03:10 |
3:17:02-3:25:51 |
Download |
The Steamroller and the Violin
Tarkovsky’s 1961 student thesis film.
A revealing look at his very first attempt at cinema. Everything seems to already be in place — the dreamy landscapes, the long takes, the ethereal music (DP and Composer same as Rublev!) …
The Three Andreis
1966 documentary about the writing of the film’s script …
… and the three Andreis: Tarkovsky, Konchalovsky and Solonitsyn (playing Andrei).
On the Set of Andrei Rublev
Archival footage of the making of the film (color).
Documentary
By filmmakers Louise Milne and Seán Martin featuring interviews with actor Burlyaev, cinematographer Yusov, and more.
Excellent doc. Great extra.
Interview 2
With film scholar Robert Bird.
Informative, concise video essay. Bird helpfully deconstructs many of Rublev’s mysteries and compares the two versions of the film and ponders the whys and wherefores of Soviet censorship.
Video essay
By filmmaker Daniel Raim.
This short opens with two quotes, both pithy, but essential gateways towards understanding the work of Tarkovsky — first, the great Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is quoted:
“Tarkovsky’s works separate me completely from physical life, and are the most spiritual films I have seen. I think movies and art should take us away from daily life, should take us to another state.”
… followed by Tarkovsky’s own words:
“Children understand my pictures well, and I haven’t met a serious critic who could stand knee-high to those children.”
Raim juxtaposes images over a voice-over from Tarkovsky’s writings.
Gorgeous.
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