Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky

8/10/2019 Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky

1/14

ustralia and New Zealand Slavists ssociation

New Zealand Slavonic Journal

Russia and the West in the films of Andrey TarkovskyAuthor(s): DAVID GILLESPIESource: New Zealand Slavonic Journal, (1993), pp. 49-61Published by: Australia and New Zealand Slavists AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40921464.

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2/14


3/14

West:

his

use

of fire nd

water,

lowing

water

nd

its

patterns

nd de-

signs, he uxtaposition fcolourandsepia/black-and-whitehotogra-

phy

re all

distinctivend individualised

ouches.

His narrativesmake

no

allowances for the

casual

observer,

nd

a

Tarkovsky

ilm s

re-

garded

as

'difficult'

'elitist'

by

administrators

nd official

ritics

n

the

former

oviet

Union)

because it

often

equires

everal

viewings

and

contains ittle f

what s

seen as conventional

nd

logically

oher-

ent

narrative

hread.His

poetic

vision

s

deeply

rooted n

personal

x-

perience,

specially

hat

f

his

childhood,

nd

questions

f thehistori-

cal

destiny

f

Russia and

its

relationship

withthe

West here

play

a

major

part.

The

history

f

Russia,

both

ancient

nd

modem,

s of course

a

major

part

of

Tarkovsky's

films.

Andrey

Rublev

1965)

is set in the

early

fifteenth

entury,

time

of

wanton

brutality

nd violence

-

especially

that

f

the

rulers nflicted

n

the

population

civil

war,

foreign

nvasion

nd

occupation.

But

it

is

also

a time

of

high

artistic

achievementn

the

form

f Rublev

s

frescoes

nd

icons,

culminating

in

the

Trinity

fresco

we

see

in

full

colour

at the end of the

film.

(Significantly,

he

momentous attle f

Kulikovo field

of

1380,

when

the

Russians

under

Dmitry

onskoy

defeated

he

Tartars

or he

first

time,

s

not

mentioned

r referredo

in the entire ourse of the

film.)

Tarkovsky ilmed is storynandaround he ncient ities ofRussia:

Pskov,

Novgorod,

Vladimir,

nd the Andronnikov

monastery.4

he

film

ontains

everal

metaphors

f

civil

strife: he two drunken

eas-

ants

brawling

n

the

mud and

the rain

an

image

which

points

us for-

ward

to the

struggle

or

power

between he unnamedPrince

and

his

brother

hat

erves s the

background

or

he

film5),

nd

dogs fighting

each

other.

he

film

s

particularly

arked

y

ts fluid

magery:

water,

milk,

paint,

blood,

mud,

rain

swirl

and

eddy, splash

and

spurt,

nd

suggest

he

constant

hedding

f

blood in

thisviolent

ge.

AndreyRublevis primarilybout therole of the artist n a re-

pressive

ime,

nd

the

creative

rocess

tself.6

Moreover,

we never ee

Rublev

actually

paint;

rather,

he film

concentrates

n his innerre-

sponse

to

external

situations.

ndeed,

the film's

original

title was

Strasti

po Andreyu

The

Passion

of Andrey

Rublev).1

The

balloon

flight

f

the

opening

equence

can be

seen as

a

mtonymie

eference

to the

theme of

creativity,

s

the

successful

take-off

epresents

he

flight

f

man's

ambition nd

imagination.8

he fate

of the

creative

artist n

a

repressive

ociety

s

symbolised

urther

hen the

balloon

crashes,

epresented

y

the

mage

of a

woundedhorse

hrashing

bout

on the

ground.

The

bawdy ester skomorokh)ntertaining

he

crowd

50

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


4/14

in

the avern n

which

Rublev

and his

friends ake

helter

rom herain

is also an artist.The camera followshim as he moves in a circle

around he

tavern,

making

people

laugh

with

his

irreverentnd there-

fore

ubversive

ongs.

Through

aughter,

e subverts

he

ustere

ecu-

lar and

ecclesiastical

uthority,

ocking

he

boyars

nd

themonks.

As

Andrey's

ompanion

Kirill

says:

"God

gave

the

priests,

nd

the

Devil

gave

the

buffoon."9

he

ester

s denounced

y

the

monk

Kirill

nd ar-

rested

by

soldiers.

We see the

ester

later

n the

film,

with

half

his

tongue

ut out.

The

blinding

f the stonemasons

n

the

forest

y

the

Grand

Prince's

men

s a further

xample

of the fate

of the

artist

n a

repressive

ge.

Tarkovsky

was

undoubtedly

lso aware

that he artist

led a far from ecure

existence

n his

own

age,

and

in

the recent

Stalinist

ast

was

equally

subject

o

torture

nd

summary

xecution.

The

role art

plays

in the life of the

people

is a concomitant

theme,

nd

Andrey

nd

Theophanes

heGreek

disagree

n

this

mpor-

tant

oint.

For

Andrey

as

with he

ester),

rt

hould remove he

fear

from

eople's

lives,

t should

give

their

ives some colour and mean-

ing.

Above

all,

Andrey

eeks

to

provide

his

people

with

mages

of

beauty.

He

is

unable to

paint

sinners

boiling

in

pitch

in the Last

Judgment,

e

refuses

o

accept

that rt hould

errify

r

keep people

in

their

gnorance.

owever,

o

Theophanes

rt nhances

God's

authority

andman's fearoftheLastJudgment.heophanes ees man as sinful,

the

world

as

imperfect

nd

a

punishment

or

his

sins.

The more

knowledge

man

gets,

he

more

sorrowhe

learns.

Furthermore,

an

is

capable

only

of

stupidity,

nd

Russia's

ignorance

s

punishment

or

its

sin.

Andrey

ossesses

the

nner,

piritual

reedom o

create

mages

of

beauty,

while

Theophanes

seeks

to

terrify

nd

enslave. In

short,

Andrey's

rt

s

democratic,

heophanes'

rt

s

obscurantist.10

Moreover,

t is in

the

episode

entitled

Strasti

po

Andreyu'

('The

Passion

of

Andrey')

that he

crucifixion

cene

occurs.

Andrey

agrees withTheophanes that the Russian people are "ignorant"

("temen"),

but

asks:

"But

who

is

guilty

f

that?"

Andrey

hen

peaks

of the

Russian

people

bearing

heir

ross,

enduring

ll

of life's

mis-

eries

silently,

nd

the

crucifixion

hat

ppears

before s

on

the screen

is

set not n

the

Holy

Land,

but n

medieval

Russia,

n

winter,

nd

the

Christ-figure

s

dressed

s a

Russian

peasant.

This is

Andrey's

vision

not

only

of

Russia,

but

of the

artist,

nd

Taikovsky's

clear

dentifica-

tion of

the

suffering

f

the

artist

nd

that

f

Christ. n

the

following

episode

Prazdnik'

'The

Festival')

Andrey

s

himself

ied

to a

post

by

pagans

who

fear

he will

denounce them

n

an

image

reminiscent

f

crucifixion.

Also,

in

the

earlier

episode

the

soldiers who

arrest he

51



5/14

jester

bash

his head

against

a

tree,

having

splayed

his arms

out in a

posture f mockcrucifixion.

Theophanes

recognises

that

Andrey's

views are subversive.

Andrey's

aith

s

tested,

o

more

o than

during

he

ttack n Vladimir

by

the

Tartars.Here the

brutality,

ain

and

treachery

f

the

world

seem

to

support

heophanes'

view

of

man's

baseness,

and it

is here

that

Andrey speaks

with the

latter'

ghost.

Andrey

admits

that

Theophanes

s

right

nd

thathe is

wrong,

nd he vows

neverto

paint

again.

He also

takes

a vow of silence

after

illing

man. His

despair

at the

senselessness

of the world

s

heightened

when the idiot

girl

whomhe hadprotectedater eaveswith heTartars.

Paradoxically, Tarkovsky

n

his

diaries

shares the

view of

Theophanes.

He

writes hat:11

...people

re

not

apable

of

governing

thers.

hey

re

only

apable

ofde-

stroying.

nd materialism naked

nd

cynical

is

going

o

complete

the

destruction....uman

history

ooks

ll

too

ike somemonstrous

xper-

imentwith

people,

set

up by

a cruel

being

ncapable

of

pity.

A

kind

of

vivisection....

umanity

as suffered

oo

much,

nd

man's

sense

of suffer-

ing

has

atrophied.

hat s

dangerous;

ecause

t means

hat t

s

no

longer

possible

now to

save

humanity

y

means

of blood and

suffering.

od,

what time o be alive

Tarkovsky

husbemoans a

general

ack of

spirituality

n the

modern

world,

yet

n

his films e

strives o create

mages

of

beauty.

In

Andrey

Rublev art s

finally

riumphant,

quated

with

the

miracleof creation. n

the

final

pisode

of the

film,

Andrey's

faith

n

the

essential

eauty

f

the

world s restored hen

youngboy

creates

a

huge

bell

without ver

having

earnt

he secret f

bellcasting

rom

his dead

father.

he film

shows

in

detail the

various

stages

of the

bell's

creation,

nd

the

boy's

prayers

o God are

finally

nswered.

Andreybreakshis silenceto comfort heboywho is overcomewith

emotion,

nd he

resolves

o

paint

nce

more.12

In

subsequent

works

he heme

f art nd the rtists

a

recurring

one: n

both

erkalo

Mirror)

1974)

and

Nostal'giya Nostalgia)

(1983)

Tarkovsky

makes use

of his own father's

oems,

and the atter

film n

particular

ocuses on

the inner

confusion nd doubts of a

writer.

ne of thethree

major

characters

n

Stalker

Stalker) 1979)

is

a

writer,

ho in

one scene

crownshimselfwith

knotof barbed

wire

in a

sardonic

ounter-image

f

Christ's rown f thorns.

52



6/14

Russia's

twentieth

entury

estiny

s also

referredo

in

Zerkalo,

whereRussia is the homeforrefugees rom heSpanishCivil War,

and its Asian

border with

China

is

threatened

uring

the Cultural

Revolution

by

zealots armed

with

Mao's

littlered

book,

rather

ike

medievalRussia

attacked

y

the

Tartar

ordes.

erkalo s

Tarkovsky's

most

personal

film,

elies

heavily

on

memories

f his childhood

nd

even

featureshis own

mother.

Furthermore,

t is full of

newsreel

footage

nd

private

memories

rom hat

ime.

t

remains

ery

much a

subjective

film,

nd

yet

t

provoked

hundreds f Russians

who

had

seen

the

filmto remark

hat

he

film

had also

seemingly

cted

as a

mirror f

their wn

experience.13 arkovsky

ucceeds

n

making

in-

ema

the art

form hat eflects

he national

xperience hrough

he

n-

dividual ife.

Stalker

s

very

much

an

allegory,

with

he

Stalker

of the title

living

n a hovel

in

the

middle

of an industrial

wasteland

shot

in

sepia/black-and-white

hich

emphasises

ts

dreariness)

hat

can be

seen

to

represent

modern

Russia,

who

travels

with heWriter nd the

Scientist

o

the

forbidden one

(in

colour)

to

get

to the

Room,

where

wishes

come

true.The

Zone

is

closely

guarded,

nd

to

get

nto

t

and

also

out

of

the

wasteland)

involves considerable

personal danger.

However,

having

raversed

he

Zone and come to

the

threshold f the

Room,neitherhewriter orthescientist anbring hemselves o en-

ter,

much to

the

despair

of

the

Stalker.

The Zone

is for

he

Stalker

place

of

peace

and

freedom,

here

he

ndividual an

discoverhis true

nature.

We know

of a

former

talker,

orcupine

Dikobraz),

who tra-

versed

the

Zone

and

entered

he

room,

sking

forhis

brother o

be re-

turned

o

life. On

returning

ome,

he

found

hathis

brother

was

still

dead,

but

he

himself

ad

become

nordinately

ealthy.

n

other

words,

the

room

had

granted

is

true

wish.

Porcupine

hen

hanged

himself. t

is

exactly

because

the

Writer

nd

the

Professor

annot

face the truth

about

themselves

hat

hey

refuse o

enter he

room,

nd,

ndeed,

the

Professorventries odestroyt.

Stalker,

hen,

s

a film

bout

elf-discovery,

ut lso

about

spiri-

tual

impoverishment

n

a

materialistic

world.

The

Stalker s

one of

Russia's

'holy

fools'

who

renounces

material

oods

and

prosperity

or

spiritual

enlightenment

thus

the

emphasis

on the

poverty

of

his

home).

The

cross

he

has to

bear n

thisUfe

s

his

nvalid

daughter,

ho

possesses

inexplicable

elekinetic

owers;

his

comforts

the

devoted

love

of

his

wife.

His

feat

has

been

to

guide

the

Writer

nd

the

Professor

o

self-knowledge;

is

despair

s

their

efusal

o

countenance

it.

Furthermore,

t

is

not

unreasonable

o see in

the

portrayal

f

the

53



7/14

world

Stalker

eaves behind

he

Russia of the

prison amp,

an

impres-

sionreinforcedytheStalker'szek-like havenhead,thehighfence

and

watch-towers

round he

Zone,

and

the rmed

guards.

Thus,

n

his

'Soviet'

period

Tarkovsky aints

his own

country

n

dark,

ppressive

colours

black-and-white,

ith he

figure

f the rtist

fferingpiri-

tual

guidance

and

salvation.

The

promise

of

freedom,

e

it

through

contact

with he

West or

the

soothing

ower

of

childhood

memories,

is

conveyed

n

glorious

ull olour.

The West in a

historically

r

geographically

oncrete

form s

also

present

n

Tarkovsky's

ilms,

nd here t

may

be

apt

to

point

out

that,ikemanyRussians,TarkovskyreatstheWest' not as a collec-

tion

of

separate

states

withtheir

wn

culture

nd

identity,

ut

as a

compositebody

consistently

pposed

to

Russia.

Germany

n

his

first

film,

vanovo Detstvo

Ivan's

Childhood) 1962),

is

thefascist

nemy

that s

faceless,

threatening,

ltimately

estructive.

ven in his

most

'Russian'

film,

Andrey

Rublev,

the

seemingly legant

and

refined

Italian

ambassador is

contrasted

unfavourably

with the Russians

aroundhim.He

discussestheRussia

he

sees

before

him,

s dismissive

of

its

squalor

and

brutality

ut

can

appreciate

ts achievements.14

n

particular,

e

wonders t the massive human ffort

nd

toil

required

for

asting

he

bell,

with

nly

themost

primitive

quipment,

hatnow

stands bovethe own o warn f attack rannounce estivities.

In

Mirror he

boy

gnat

reads

aloud a

letter

rom ushkin o the

nineteenth-century

issident

hinker

yotrChaadayev.

This letter

is-

cusses in

length

the

backwardness of

Russia,

but also states

that

Russia

saved

Western

Europe

by

absorbing

he Tartar

onquest

and

serving

s a

shieldfor

heWest. But

significantly,

ussia remained

Christian

ountry,

nd n

Pushkin'sview

theTartar

yoke

saved

Russia

from

Catholicism.

ndeed,

the

mages

from

documentary

ewsreels

show

Soviet

soldiers on the

Sivash,

and

pushing

back

Chinese Red

Guardsfrom he Sovietborderduring heChineseCulturalRevolu-

tion.

Both

mages

can

be

seen as an

illustration

f Russia's mission o

save

Europe

from

he

barbaric

hordesof its

enemies.

Chaadayev

de-

plored

the

Russia of

backwardness,

erfdom nd

ignorance,

whichhe

associated with

Orthodoxy,

nd

admired

he

enlightened

nd

progres-

sive

Western

urope

of

Roman

Catholicism. or

Chaadayev,

Russia

was cut

offfrom he

emerging

modern,

ndustrialworld.

Tarkovsky

undoubtedly

hares

Pushkin's

view,

as stated urthern

the

etter:15

The

Tartarnvasions

a sad

and

mpressivepectacle.

he

wakening

f

Russia,

he

mergence

fher

ower,

er

rogress

owards

nity

Russian

54



8/14

unity,

f

course),

he wo

vans,

he ublime

rama

begun

n

Uglish

nd

brought

o

completion

n

the

patiev

monastery

all this s

surely

istory,

and not omehalf-forgottenream?And Peter heGreat,who s a univer-

sal

history

n himself?

And

Catherine

I,

who

brought

Russia

to the

threshold

f

Europe?

And

Alexander,

ho

ed

you

to Paris?

And

hand

on heart do

you

not

discern

omething

mposing

n the

present

ituation

of

Russia,

omething

hat

will strike

he

future

istorian?

o

you

think e

will

put

us outside f

Europe?

Devoted

hough

am

personally

o the m-

peror,

do

not

by

any

means dmire

ll

that see

around

me;

as

a manof

letters,

feel

mbittered;

nd as

a

man

of

prejudice,

am

vexed;

but

swear

o

you

that otfor

nything

n

thewhole

world

would

changemy

country

or

nother,

orhave

anyhistory

ther

han hat f our

ncestors,

such s

it

has been

given

s

by

God.

The factthat he ambassadorat theend ofAudreyRublev is

Italian

s

significant,

or

taly

s

the

home of

Roman Catholicism

ea-

tures

everal

times

n

Tarkovsky's

ubsequent

work.

n Zerkalo and

Offret

The

Sacrifice)

he

artof

Leonardo

da Vinci

is featured.16

taly

is

the

ctual

etting

or

No

tai'

giy

,

where he

ituation f

Gorchakov,

the

writer

ndertaking

esearch

n

Italy,

mirrors hatof the director

himself,

oon afterwards

o

make

taly

his

home.

However,

n

Tarkov-

sky's

West

there

s

no

faith,

s

in

NostaVgiya

no one

responds

o self-

sacrifice: talians

watch

indifferently

s Domenico makes

his last

address

o theworld

nd

setshimself

light.

But whereas n

his

earlier, oviet,

films

Tarkovsky

s

flirting

with

he dea

of

Russia's

European

dentity y

emphasising

he cul-

tural ies and

Russia's

historical

estiny,

n

NostaVgiya

he is

repelled

by

notions

f

closeness

and

affinity.

he Italian

andscape

s desolate

and

bleak

by

being

observed

through

he

eyes

of a

melancholy

nd

homesick

Russian.

Its

religion

s

lampooned

n

the

scene

where a

flock

of

birds

burst

rom he

womb

of

the

Madonna in

a church.

His

beautiful

talian

guide

Eugenia,

who

tries

o

appreciate

Russian cul-

ture n

the

form

f

the

poetry

f

Arseny

arkovsky,

s shown

o be in-

capable

of

penetratingeyond

the

iteral

meaning

f the

words.Gor-

chakovhimself eemsunsure s tohisownidentity,nd inthecourse

of

thefilm

peaks

a

mixture

f

talian

and

Russian,

ometimes

within

the

ame

sentence.

Gorchakov s

unable

to

establish

ny

bonds

-

sex-

ual or

intellectual

with

Eugenia,

and

only

with

he

crazed

Dome-

nico

can he

form

ome

sort

of

attachment.

omenico,

to be

sure,

s a

figure

rom

Russian

literary

ulture,

yurodivyy,

he

holy

fool

who

warns of

imminent

isaster.

Domenico

is

regarded

by

locals

as an

idiot,

but he

believes he

has

the

gift

f

foresight

nd

predicts

he

end

of

the

world

Alexander

n

Offret

s

also a

kind

of

latter-day

urodi-

vyy).

Gorchakov

ays

that

he

wants o

tear

down

the

barriers

etween

55



9/14

states,

and

seeks to

recreate Russian home

on the

Italy

he sees

aroundhim.He juxtaposeshiswife, he mageof MotherRussia,and

Eugenia,

the

talian

Madonna,

and

in the

final ake

of

the

filmwe

see

him

sitting

n

a

recognisably

Russian

rural

environment,

omplete

with

dacha,

but framed

y

the

arches of a

ruined

talian

cathedral.17

Gorchakov

ies because

he can

findno real

home.

t is

not fanciful o

see

that

Gorchakov

s a

projection

f

Tarkovsky

imself,

eflecting

he

fears nd

longing

f his

creator.

Whenever

we see

the

Russian

coun-

tryside

n

this

film,

here re

snatches

of

Russian

folk

music

heard

alongside

Verdi's

Requiem.

Gorchakov ooks

into

a

mirror

nd

sees

the

reflection f

Domenico,

and

at

the

end

of the

filmfulfils he

at-

ter' wishofcarrying candle acrossa pool.This is

his

act

ofspiritual

sacrifice,

nd we are

reminded

hat he

subject

of

his

research,

avel

Sosnovsky,

n

eighteenth entury

erf

composer,

killed himself

on

returning

o Russia

after ome

years

n

Italy.

Domenico

foresees

he

end

of the

world,

nd

in

theact of

self-immolation

by

which

method

the Old

Believers in

Russia

also committed

mass

suicide as

they

feared he

coming

f

the

Antichrist).

MNostal'giya

is

doom-laden nd reflects

arkovsky

s increas-

ing

despair

with

whathe

saw as

mankind's

headlong

rush

to

Apoca-

lypse,

henhis last

film

s his

catharsis. he

subject-matter

f Tarkov-

sky's astfilm,Offret1986), shot nSweden, s an impending uclear

catastrophe,

here

war

betweenRussia and the West is the

ultimate

confrontation,

he nd of

any

historical

nd cultural

elationship.

The

Apocalypse

s a

major

aspect

of Russian

cultural nd his-

torical

thought,

nd

one that

goes

back

to

the time of

Kievan Rus'.

Anna

Lawton also

notes

Tarkovsky's

ision of "an

Apocalypse

about

to

befall

society

devoid

of

spirituality,

eparated

rom

God and

from

Nature".18 t

is

perhaps

ronic hat

while

making

films n

Russia and

about

Russia,

Taikovsky

s

engaging

n

ideas of

kinship

withWestern

Europe,butwhen he actuallymoves to Europe,theprospect f such

kinship

rouses

melancholy

nd

despair.

We

shouldnote

here

that

aikovsky

s view

of the

West as

soul-

less

and

lacking

values is

similar o

that f

othermodern

neo-Slavo-

philes

such

as

Alexander

Solzhenitsyn,

Vasily

Belov

and Valentin

Rasputin.19

arkovsky

iffers rom

hese

writers,

owever,

n

thathe

is

explicitly

nfluenced

y

the

cultural inks

between

ast and

West. n

his

diaries

and

other

writings,

here

re

numerous

eferences

o the

worksnot

only

of

Dostoyevsky,

ushkin nd

Tolstoy,

ut lso to

Tho-

56



10/14

mas

Mann

and Hermann

Hesse,

as well

as to

Japanese

and Chinese

philosophynd art.

Western

European

music and

art,

for

example,

are used

fre-

quently

by Tarkovsky

n

his

films,

not

simply

s a

backdrop,

but a

structural

nd

compositional

motif.Drer' Four Horsemen

of

the

Apocalypse

is

featuredn

Ivanovo

Detstvo,

n

oblique

statement

ot

only

about the

destructive

ature

of

war

but also

of the

imminent

death

of

thehero.

n

Solyaris

Solaris) (1969)

Kelvin

and his 'resur-

rected'

wife Hari

are

surrounded

y Brueghel

paintings

s

they

float

weightlessly

n

the

spaceship,

seeminglydancing

to

the

music

of

Bach.

There s also

a

memorable

equence

n

Zerkalo

reminiscentf a

Brueghel

andscape

whenthecamera ooks downon a snow-covered

slope,

with

figuresmoving

n

both

the

foreground

nd

background,

thus

stablishing epth

nd

perspective,

sense of

space

and diverse

human

ctivity.

nNostaVgiya

the

mad'

Domenico

sets

himself

light

to

the

distortedtrains f

Beethoven'sNinth

ymphony.

urthermore,

Western

lassical music s

often sed:

in

Solyaris

the music of

Bach;

in

Zerkalo that f

Bach

and

Purcell;

n

NostaVgiya

thatof

Debussy,

Verdi,

Wagner

and

Beethoven;

in

Offret

hat of Bach

as well

as

Swedish

and

Japanese

olk

music.20

Ultimatelyarkovsky' treatmentf theRussia-West hemes a

confirmation f

his love

and

longing

for

his

native

and,

his

roots.

Although

is

was not

a

happy

hildhood,

e

presents

t

in

Zerkalo

for

instance)

n

terms

f a

rural

dyll.

His

love of

the earth

becomes a

physical

presence

n

his

films:

he

Stalker

mmediately

mbracesthe

earth

when

he

arrives n

the

Zone,

and

the

success of

the

bell-casting

in

Andrey

Rublev

s

dependent

n

finding

he

right

ort

of

clay.

The

moods,

colours

and

topography

f

the

Russian

countryside

re lov-

ingly

caught

n

colour n

Zerkalo,

where

the

fields

stretch

ndlessly

on,

and

the

few

houses we

see

are

traditional

ooden

zby.

The

forest

itself eems to breathewith ts own life,and indeed thefinalscene

sees

the

camra

itself

recede

into the

depth

of

the

forest.Until

his

travels

o

the

West,

Tarkovsky

iews

the

natural

world

as

he

views

time:

live and

in

motion,

mbued

with

pirituality

nd

framing

man's

life

and

human

history.

Once in

the

West,

though,

Tarkovsky

ees

history

nd

nature

s

threatened

y

the

coming

Apocalypse,

but

as

in

the

final

hoot

of

Offret,

hen

a

tree

prouts

nto

ife

-

nature

s

capable

of

rebirth.

he

fate

of

man

s

not

so

optimistic.

Tarkovsky

s

an

artist

who

transcends

wentieth

entury

de-

ologies

and

politics.

Freedom

to

him

is not

a

political concept,

but

57



11/14

rather

spiritual

ne.

Hope

lies in

spiritual

chievements,

uch as

the

ability fan individual o sacrifice imself,ike Domenico n NostaV-

giya,

ike Christ n

Andrey

ublev.

He is

profoundly

nfluenced

y

the

eschatological

natureof Russian

spiritual

eaching,

nd

decries the

lack

of

values

in

the

materialist

ociety

he sees

around

him in the

West.

He

remains

deeply

religious

Russian,

appalled

at the oss

of

spiritual

alues and the

victory

f consumerism

which

he

associates

with

he

West,

and

whichhe

sees

leading

to

disaster.21

t

is

not

acci-

dental

hat

his

greatest

ultural

nfluence

s

Dostoyevsky,

ho was

not

averse

to

decrying

he

corruption

f

the

West,

nd

throughout

is

life

he

wanted

n

particular

o

filmThe

diot.22

There

are

many

points

f interest

n

Tarkovsky's

work

nd

ca-

reer,

nd

the

study

f the

tylistic

nd

thematic

eatures

f his

films

s

farfrom

xhausted.

Tarkovsky

was

no doubt

fascinated

y

the

West

and its

various

freedoms nd

excesses,

but as

a Russian

he remained

deeply

suspicious

of it. n his

films ommunication

etween

Wester-

ners

and

Russians is

difficult,

f not

impossible,

nd

the two

sides

remain

rreconcilable.

ore

mportantly,

hough,

arkovsky

s seen

by

many

film-makers

n Russia

today

s a

symbol

f resistance

o

tyran-

ny,

rather

ike Boris

Pasternak; nd,

ike the

great

oet,

his

response

o

the

tyrants

f his

age

was

the ssertion f an

inner

reedom,

ot bound

by ideologies. Tarkovsky emains great rtist, ut one who will be

remembered ithin he context

f his

time

s

embracing

conserva-

tive

Slavophile

outlook

nd

ultimately

ejecting

heWestern landish-

ments

with

whichfor

enturies is

countrymen

ave been

fascinated.

Notes

1.

Andrey

arkovsky,

culpting

n Time:

Reflections

n the

Cinema,

ranslated

by

Kitty

unter-Blair,

niversity

fTexas

Press,

Austin,

hird

dition,

991,

p.

193.

2. Intherecentlyublishedorrespondence1969-1972)withGrigory ozin-

tscv,

Tarkovsky

alks n some detail

aboutthe

difficultiese encountered

over

hedistribution

nd

screening

f

Andrey

ublev nd

Solyaris.

ee

A.M.

Sandler

ed.),

Mir

filmyAndreya

arkovskogo,

skusstvo, oscow,

1991,

pp.

343-58. n

his

diaries f 1970-1986

Tarkovskyxhaustively

etails he

pressures

n him o

cut

scenes nd

reviseversions f

Solyaris,

erkalo nd

Stalker,

s well

as his

struggles

ith

Goskino n

theform f ts chairman

Filipp

Yermash nd his

predecessor

ikolay

izov. The

diaries

re

also

im-

portant

or

he

nsight hey

rovide

nto

Tarkovsky's

mmediate

esponses

o

the vents f

his

day:

the

olzhcnitsyn

ffair f the

arly

970s,

nd the m-

prisonment

f

his

fellow

ilm-maker

ergey

aradzhanov.

They

lso contain

harsh

riticism f the

Soviet

government,

ts

leaders and its

diplomats

abroad.

ee

Andrey

arkovsky,

ime

Within ime:The

Diaries

1970-1986,

translatedyKitty unter-Blair,eagullPublishers,alcutta, 991.

58



12/14

3. V.

Golovskoy,

ehind

he

oviet

creen:

The

Motion icture

ndustry

n the

USSR, 1972-1982,

Ardis,

Ann

Arbor,

986,

p.

93.

4. JeanneVronskaya, oung ovietFilmMakersAllen andUnwin,London,

1972,p.

35.

5.

The

rivalry

f the

princes

s

based on

that

f

the ons

of

Dmitry

onskoy,

Yury

nd

Vasily,

for he

crownwhen

heir ather ied

n

1389.

L.

Khoro-

shev,

n

editor

n

the

film,

ecalls

hat

n

the

creenplay

he

peasants

were

sober,

nd

that

he motif f

internecine

trife

was

heightened

n

their x-

change:

"I'll

teach

you

o

prattle

n,

Smolensk

wine."

"Even

women

augh

t

you

Muscovites."

L.

Khoroshev,

"Andrey

ublev":

paseniye

ushi'

in Mir

filmyAndreya

Tarkovskogo,

.

49.

The whole

original creenplay,

ncluding

cenes

that

were

omitted

rom he

final

version,

s

now available

n

English:

Andrey

Tarkovsky, ndreyRublev,

ranslated

yKittyHunter-Blair,

aber and

Faber, ondon ndBoston, 991.

6.

Compare

arkovsky

s own

words:

The main

hing

or s

is the

problem

f

the

rtist,

heman

standing

mid

a concentrationf the

truggles,

he

pas-

sions,

he deas of his

epoch,

nd his

nter-relationships

ith he

people,

he

authorities,

is

colleagues.

n Rublev

we want o

express

he

process

f

an

artist's

elationship

ith he

world,

o showhow

real emotional

xperience

helps

him o

determine

is

attitudeo

theworld nd

to himself."

Quoted

n

Vronskaya,.

34.)

7.

L.

Khoroshev ellsus that he

riginal

ilm

Strasti

o Andreyu)

as

3

hours

15

minutes

ong,

lmost alf

n

hour

onger

han heversion

ventually

e-

leased

n

1971.

Although

he

hanges

were

forced

rom

bove,

they

were t

least carried ut

by

him,

nd

so the

finished

roduct

was not too farfrom

Tarkovsky'own ntentions.hesechangeswould seem to havebeendic-tated

by

matters f

taste,

ather han

deological

propriety,

nd

involved

certain

cabrous' linesof

dialogue

nd

scenes of

excessive

ruelty

o ani-

mals.See L.

Khoroshev,

"Andrey

ublev":

paseniye

ushi',

n Mir

fil

my

Andreya

Tarkovskogo,

p.

42-3.

Tarkovsky

imself

eems

blissfully

na-

warethat

xcessive

Naturalism'n the

depiction

f the

blinding

f

the

ma-

sons

or the

ack of

Vladimir

may

lienate

udiences. ee

Sculpting

n

Time,

p.

186.

8.

Maya

Turovskaya

ays

that his

cene s "the

mage

of

man's

potential,

nd

of

his

spiritual

triving

o

go

beyond

he

ordinary

ounds

of his life on

earth...

he

rest f

the ilm

s

an

embodiment,

n

various

lanes,

f

that

pir-

itual

triving

nd ts

victory

ver

he

obduracy

f

matter".

aya

Turovska-

ya,

Tarkovsky:

inema

s

Poetry,

ranslated

y

Natasha

Ward,

Faber

and

Faber, ondon ndBoston, 989.d.78.9.

Andrey

arkovsky,

ndrey

ublev,

.

15. n

the

cript,

he

ester's

words

re

made

deliberately

nclear,

ut

he

becomes

otally ngrossed

n

his

perfor-

mance.

Andrey,

ike

the

other

easants,

s

captivated

y

his

songs,

which

also

include

sad,

yrical

allad. n

the

film,

he

words

re

clearer,

he

per-

formance

nergetic,

nd

Andrey's esponse

more

iffident.

10.

Tarkovsky

imself

eclares:

"Unlike

Theophanes

he

Greek,

who

pro-

pounded

he

dea

of

Judgment

ay,

who

found

n

Man

only

he

mbodiment

of

sin

and

vice,

and n

God a

vengeful,

unitive

eing,

Rublev

placed

man

first.n

Man

he

sought

God,

he

regarded

im

s

the

house n

which

God

lived. n

other

words,

Rublev

was

a man

who

reacted

o

everything

round

which

ther

eople

would

tend

o

find

ommonplaces."

Quoted

n

Vron-

skaya,

.

34.)

11. TimeWithinime, p. 15-7.

59



13/14

12. For

further

iscussion

on the themeof

faith,

specially

n Stalker and

Nostalgiya,

see Peter

Green,

The

Nostalgia

of the

Stalker',

ight

and

Sound,Winter 984-1985,

p.

50-4.

13. In

Sculpting

n

Time

pp.

8-12)

Tarkovsky

uotes

from ome

of the

re-

sponses

he

received

both

ood

and

bad.

Oleg

Yankovksy,

ho

appeared

in

bothN

ostai

giya

and

Zerkalo,

remarks

hat he atter

ilm

was

Tarkov-

sky

s "civic

nd rtisticchievement

hich roused

ur

memory,

robed

ur

wounds nd our

unwitting

nd

nevitable

uilt".

ee

his

Tarkovsky

A

Truly

Russian

Artist',

n M.

Tarkovskayacomp.),

About

Andrey

arkovsky,

Progress,

oscow,

1990,

p.

219.

14. In

the

cript,

he

plendour

fthe mbassador

dress

s

emphasised,

s

is the

drabness ll

around;

ee

Andrey

ublev,

.

179.

15.

Quoted

n

Sculpting

n

Time,

.

195.

16.

Furthermore,

ohn

.

Dunlop

hears choes

of Dante

n

Zerkalo.

See

his es-

say Nationalist hemes n SovietFilm

of the

1970s',

n

A.

Lawton

ed.),TheRed Screen:Politics,

ociety,

rt n SovietCinema,

Routledge,

ondon

and

New

York, 992,

pp.

241-3.

17.

Usually

oth o see

metaphors

nd

symbols

n

any

of his

mages,

arkovsky

admits hat his cene

has an

element

f

metaphor

..which macks

f iter-

ariness:

model

of thehero's

state,

f thedivision

within

imwhich

pre-

vents

im

rom

iving

s

he

has

up

tl

now.

Or

perhaps,

n

the

ontrary,

t s

his new

wholeness

n which

he

Tuscan hills

and

the

Russian

countryside

come

togetherndissolubly;

e is conscious f them

s

inherently

is

own,

merged

ntohis

being

nd

his

blood,

but

t the

ame

time

eality

s

enjoining

him

o

separate

hese

hings

y

returning

o

Russia".

Sculpting

n

Time,

p.

213,216.)

18.

Anna

Lawton,

Kinoglasnost:

ovietCinema n our

Time,

Cambridge

ni-

versityress, 992,p. 192.19. Lev

Anninsky

lso remarks

ith

eference

o

Andrey

ublev

hat

arkovsky

"was

one of

the irst

o

detect

he ardinal hi

n

thenational

onsciousness

which

ook

hape

n themid-1960s

the

hift owards

ational

memory,

o

beginnings,

oots,

he

oil",

placing

him

longside

he

writers

elov,

Ras-

putin,

iktor

Astafev,

Nikolay

Rubtsov

nd thedirectornd

writer

asily

Shukshin. ee L.

Anninsky,

Apokalipsis o "Andreyu"',

n

Mir

filmy

An-

dreya arkovskogo,.

84.

20.

Compare

he

words f PeterGreen: It

was his ambition o raise the rtof

film o

the evel

of the

great

works f

poetry, ainting

r

music,

o that f

Dostoyevsky,

eonardo r Bach

-

and t

was with hishumanist-Christian

traditionhathe

identified.

espite

his

essentially

ussian

upbringing

nd

temperament,

twas

the

universal

spects

f

European

ulture hat nterested

him nd that ltimately akehiswork o widely ccessible." PeterGreen,

Andrey

arkovsky:

he

Winding

uest,

Macmillan,

asingstoke,

993,

p.

136.)

21.

Tarkovsky:

In

this

espect,

he ituationn

theWest

gives

us

ample

oodfor

thought.

ncontrovertible

emocratic

reedoms xist side

by

side with

monstrousnd

self-evident

piritual

risis

ffecting

free* itizens.

Why,

e-

spite

he

freedom f

the

ndividual,

oes the onflict

etween

he

person

nd

society

xisthere n

such n acute

form?.. reedoms not

omething

hat

an

be

incorporated

nto

man's life once

and for ll: it has to be

constantly

achieved

hrough

oral

xertion."

Sculpting

n

Time,

. 236.)

22.

Tarkovsky

gain:

"Of

great ignificance

o me

are those raditionsn

Rus-

sian culture hich

have

their

eginnings

n

thework f

Dostoyevsky.

heir

development

n

Russia

s

patentlyncomplete,

n

fact

hey

end o be looked

downupon, reven gnored ltogether.here re several easonsfor his:

60



14/14

first

heir

otal

ncompatibility

ith

materialism,

nd then

hefact hat he

spiritual

risis

xperienced y

all

Dostoyevsky's

haracters

which

was

the

inspirationfhis work nd that fhisfollowers)s also viewed withmis-

giving."

Sculpting

n

Time,

.

193.)

On

his nterest

n The

Idiot,

he

says

elsewhere:

Central

o

Dostoyevsky's

isionof the

book was the

figure

f

Prince

Myshkin

n

relation o

post-reform

ussia.

Dostoyevsky

as not

a

writer

ho

would hatter

he

quilibrium

f ife

hrough

is

character's

uf-

fering,

nd fail

to

charge

he

upheaval

with

meaning

f

equal magnitude,

he

was bound o

respond

o the

tormy

ontemporary

cene,

heferment

f

ideological

rguments,

henew

social

phenomena,

hich ould be summed

up

as

the

ttraction

nd

repulsion

f three

roups:

ollapsing

anded

gentry,

emerging

ourgeoisie,

nd

the

adicals

seminarian

nd

democratic."

ar-

kovsky

urther

ees

that

n

the

novel

Rogozhin

becomes

the mostrobust

social

and

moral

type

f

contemporary

ussia".

(Diaries

1970-1986,

pp.

372-3.)

61

Russia and the West in the Films of Andrey Tarkovsky

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