" I know he was an admirer of Bergman (vice versa), but what was the purpose of being in Sweden ? 'Tho it was shot in Sweden with Swed actors it still has this Russian perfect atmosphere - right ?
The GREAT Sven Nykvist could easely work in Russia too (he did a lot apart from Sweden) .
I am sorry this was the only movie where they worked together, 'tho I have no reasons to be sad, concidering the cinematography in his other movies !
In my opinion "STALKER" has the most perfect cinematography I have ever seen !
Andrei is DEFFINITLY one of the best ever . "
This is a long story but I'l try to make it short.
At one point, he was invited by the great Italian screen writer, Tonino Guerra to make a film in Italy. So he made Nostalghia. But even before Stalker, I think, he was planing to make the film titled "The Witch" which was the original title for "Offret". But because his work in Italy was received badly in his home land, and the whole affaire has gotten political dimensions (similar to what Chaplin endured by the USA), when he even had to justify himself before his father that he isn't anti-patriotic, the only thing to do was to stay in the western Europe and make films there. He simply wasn't going to risk a return to Soviet Russia because his career might be over and he wouldn't be able to leave the country again. That his fears were justified was proven by the fact that his homeland kept him from re-uniting with his mother and son for five years. Only a few months before his death did they let his son live the country. So left without the possibility to shoot in Russia, he did the film in a country he felt would be the best.
"Tho it was shot in Sweden with Swed actors it still has this Russian perfect atmosphere - right ?"
I'd rather call it perfect Tarkovsky atmosphere.
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carnetremul
17 years ago
Thanks - a lot !
"I'm thirsty & your daughter is a cow ! Do the math ! "
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Krustallos
17 years ago
To put it more bluntly, Tarkovsky emigrated to Western Europe because he had great difficulty making the films he wanted to in Russia. Religious themes and implied political criticism did not go down well with the Soviet authorities. Even though they recognised that Tarkovsky was a great artist so did not suppress him entirely, he had great difficulty getting his films made or shown in Russian cinemas.
Of course in the West he had just as much trouble making the films he wanted because of the primacy of market forces and relative unprofitability of art cinema.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.
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sonofbeach-sheet
8 years ago
From what I heard, he spoke only Russian and used a translator when he directed this movie. Pretty interesting. I thought a man of his intelligence was fluent in a few languages, but not many Russians are even bilingual.
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