Weekend at Bernie's ftw

I think it's safe to say that among our generation Tarkovsky has officially arrived. The appreciation of Tarkovsky here is more than just a DDD or cinephile bandwagon. Just look at RYM's rankings for the best science fiction films of all time. Stalker has the highest score on the page, with 2001 above it only because it has roughly three times as many ratings because of some weighting algorithm. That's a long way for it to come in comparison to even five years ago when he was still relatively obscure.
http://rateyourmusic.com/films/chart?pa ... countries=

And it's all because of George.

yet another documentary is about to come out, apparently... and yes, it's also because of me

http://a-bittersweet-life.tumblr.com/po ... vil-a-film

Haven't gone through all the pages carefully here. But I have noticed that the Tarkovsky discussions seem to lack mention of Nostalghia. Went to see it at the local theatre a few ays ago and that shit's still on my mind. Watching a Tarkovsky film in the cinema is something really special. I have no idea how he does it and I have no idea what to make of the film but all I can say is this movie has no business being so fucking amazing. Why are all the shots in this film so cool? I found this one the most visually interesting (although that's perhaps due to the big screen effect) but definitely also the most difficult to relate to. I gave up following the plot after about fifteen minutes and I must say that was a wise choice because otherwise I would have been scratching my head all the way through instead of sitting there with a smile on my face that just did not go away.

Nostalghia also seemed to have the most comic relief in any Tarkovsky film so far. I doubt very much that Tarkovsky intended us to laugh at the parts I thought were funny, but still they were to me and I cherish those moments.

Great, great film and up there with Andrei Rublev for my favourite Tarkovsky film. Still have Offret to go and then I will start with the rewatches. Looking forward to those.

I'm through all of them now. While I agree that Nostalghia is visually stunning I thought all of his films were, with Andrei Rublev, Stalker, The Mirror and Offret being at least as great on a purely visual level as Nostalghia. It probably has to do with seeing it on the big screen that you single out Nostalghia. I've watched them all in the cinema and I think Andrei Rublev is probably the greatest from a visual point of view.

lucky fucker

Haha, yes!

I've only seen Nostalghia once and it kind of baffled me at the time, but having seen The Sacrifice, I think it's, structurally at least, very similar, so a rewatch would be more rewarding at this point in time. Both have incredibly simple explicit plots, with the "protagonist" (if such a thing exists in Tarkovsky films) receiving a task about halfway through the film, which is not completed till near the end of the film. The tasks are different in both movies, for different purposes, and in vastly different circumstances, but The Sacrifice has lit up in my mind despite being inscrutable on first watch, and hopefully Nostalghia will do the same. It is indeed one of his prettiest films.

Nostalghia is the most humbling film I have ever seen. It is so totally foreign and other to me. It is totally ineffable to me and in a way that makes it the most important of Tarkovsky's films for me.

Really? I thought that the plot was quite straightforward and easy to follow. It's the mood, the emotion of the film that baffles me and astounds me.

You are confusing me. Could you please clarify all above statements?

I thought your favourite Tarkovsky film was Zerkalo? Can you explain how the film that is most important to you is not the same as your favourite? What is different to you about this film's mood and emotion compared with those of his other films? What I mean by that is why were you baffled this time? I'm not calling you out or anything, I'm really just curious...

Sorry to bug you with all these questions but I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.

My favorite Tarkovsky film, film sans phrase, work of art, is Zerkalo. Nostalghia is in a way, i.e. not in all ways, the most important Tarkovsky film to me, right now, at this very specific moment of my life (I watched it last night, perhaps an important piece of information). It is important both for what I do understand (the longing for one's homeland to such an extent that it becomes a disease) and for what I don't (which a huge part of this bafflement is that I cannot even say in any detail just what it is that so confuses me). Nostalghia reaches tendrils into my life, it wraps around and entwines with things I have been thinking, worries I have been obsessed with. My temporary mood is: understanding Nostalghia (or failing to do so after extended effort) is the single most important thing in my life right now (once that is accomplished it may or may not become my favorite of his films, I can't say, but Zerkalo I know has enduring resonance that is not so locally rooted and that is why I still call it my favorite). This is scattershot and confused and I'm not sure it helps any. I really don't know how to describe my confusion with this film. Here is another attempt: in other Tarkovsky films even where I may not completely understand them intellectually, I feel spiritually at home in them. Watching Nostalghia I feel like I am in a foreign land where I don't know the language. There is something "other" about the film and a significant feature of this otherness is that I can't wrap my tongue around it, can't get a handle on it. Which is why I need to break down the film into parts and put it back together, and either dissolve that otherness or leave it intact but come to grips with it in a way I have not come to grips with it yet—and it is that failure in coming-to-grips-with-the-otherness that currently is leaving me so confused and rambling, rambling that I should now cease because my ability to put together even flimsily meaningful sentences about the film is totally spent.

The Mirror was probably the most frustrating viewing experience I've had in a while. I don't even...

Some reflections on The Sacrifice: http://dyssebeia.wordpress.com/2012/08/ ... in-cinema/

If anyone bases their response on the superlative rather than on the content of the post I will personally ensure that there is a hysterical woman screaming within 15 feet of you for the rest of your life.