No, don't tell me.

stalker2

Helen and I went to see Stalker at the cinema last night. I already owned the dvd, but it's one of those films that you just have to see on the big screen to appreciate it properly. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1979, it's about The Zone. This is a strange place guarded by the military where the laws of physics and geography don’t operate as usual and which is said to contain “The Room” where your deepest innermost wish can be made true.

The film asks the viewer a question: what is your deepest, innermost wish?  Are you really sure?

Tarkovsky’s second science fiction film after Solaris is quite a peculiar one for the genre. There are no spaceships, it all takes place on earth and you don't "see" anything peculiar or other worldly. There is little music and the pace is very slow and contemplative with lots of lingering shots of green nature juxtaposed with an industrial wasteland. There are industrial clanging noises, water dripping or roaring, trains going past and the noises combine with the bleak visuals to give an overall aura of tension. This is then amplified by the bickering of the 3 main characters. You get sucked into The Zone along with the characters.

stalker3The Stalker of the title is a guide through The Zone. He is asked by 2 men to guide them through The Zone to The Room. The film shows us the journey and what happens upon The Stalker’s return.

I think this film is a work of absolute genius. Everything is significant, every scrap of dialogue tells you something, every image so lovingly and painstakingly wrought remains on the screen for long enough to allow you to absorb it's meaning properly. You could take any image from this film, frame it and put it in an art gallery. And it's actually about something deep and important: what it means to live, the very purpose of existence:

What do you want the most?

This is true art-house cinema, it's not "just a movie". It's slow, and you have to think about what it's saying. These days it's an unpopular sort of film because the public at large seem to want fast adrenaline rushes of films with happy endings and Stalker doesn't do that. But if you give it a try and immerse yourself in it's "waking dream" then it will leave you thoughtful and with a feeling of mystery and wonder.

Cheers, Tom.