![]() ![]() ĝOORS and ROADS (always leading the hero on to new discoveries and revelations).HORSES and BIRDS (once free animals now domesticated).Tarkovsky uses these elements to form visual motifs that reappear throughout the film, motifs that remind the viewer of the natural world. They believed four elements made up the world: earth, air, fire and water. Alchemists were the scientists of the middle ages, and searching for a method to turn base metals into gold. The film’s prologue introduces the subject of alchemy. This episodic format is similar to that of La Dolce Vita, a film by Federico Fellini, which Tarkovsky admired. This gives the film a more formal feel, and can help you organize your memories of the film. It’s episodes are divided into sections-each with a title. You want to be on the lookout for this new way of telling a story and constantly pulls the viewer into a new way of seeing.Īndrei Rublev has a rather unusual form. As Bergman notes, it is the masterful way that Tarkovsky uses imagery in new ways to reveal his subject matter. The imagery and ideas in this film are extremely dense and it can be disorienting for viewers unaccustomed to reading imagery, or visual motifs. Tarkovsky is for me is the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease. Suddenly I found myself standing at the door of a room, the keys to which, until now, had never been given to me. If this happened, the bell makers could be put to death.Īnother great film artist had this to say about Andrei Tarkovsky, the film’s director: During the process of firing the metal in a clay mold, many things could go wrong, causing the bell to crack. The making of a bell was a complex and expensive affair, filled with danger. Bells stood between the people and the sky, and summoned them to God. The power of this bell as a symbol cannot be overestimated. The larger towns were generally dominated by a single church and if the town was rich enough, it’s towers held a bell. It is a meticulous portrait of an age and a profound reflection on the journey a great artist takes that helps him persevere and endure.īells are another important image in this film. That said, this film can’t be taken as a true biography as there is almost nothing known about the artist beyond the works he left behind. Andrei was a painter of Icons, and one of the few who gained legendary status. Painting them was one of the few ways an artist could survive at the time. which were believed to be the “living word of God” and were treated this way by a majority of the peasants. Icons were small paintings of the Virgin Mary, Christ, saints, angels, etc. The religious Icon is a major image in Andrei Rublev. The pagan religions still held sway in the countryside and the church was continually looking for pagan heretics to punish brutally. The main escape from these conditions lay in the monasteries of the Orthodox Church, but the church was poor as well. They worked from childhood till death with little if any relief. Suffering the most were the serfs (peasants), who made up the vast majority of the population. The stresses of hunger and disease dominated this period. The Princes in turn had to pay off the Mongols (in Andrei Rublev referred to as Tartars) who invaded from the south (China) and held power in Russia for some 200 years. This means hundreds of petty Princes living of the toil of serfs, their unfortunate subjects. However, while Europe blossoms, Russia is still bogged down under the feudal system. The film takes place in the early 1400’s-a period we associate with the Renaissance in Europe. The film finally appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969, and several versions were released around the world in the early 1970’s cementing Tarkovsky’s reputation as one of the greatest Russian directors.Īndrei Rublev is one of the most realistic portrayals of the Middle Ages we have. The censors were not able to understand much of it, other than that it was about an artist living in a time of political repression. These notes are to help prepare you for a film that you’ll enjoy much more with a little context.įilmed in Russia in 1966 the Soviet government censored the film. ![]()
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