I’ve been a Tarkovsky fan since visiting an Orthodoxy Monastery in my late teens, the Monastery librarian had a copy of Andrei Rublev sitting out on a table and I immediately gravitated to it. I loved it but didn’t look further into the director as I assumed it was a one off film. Years later in a photo critique a photographer recommended Tarkovsky’s The Mirror when seeing my work and I’ve slowly digested his work since. Like you I’ve not watched everything he made waiting for the right moment when I can be fully present.
I certainly agree with “For the moment we are witnessing the decline of the spiritual” but also feel this decline has realigned Christianity towards its origins. Much of what we are seeing that is being lost has little depth and is often antithetical to the Christian story. The film Andrei Rublev does not paint a rosy picture of spirituality in the past either. Monks deal with jealousy, lords kill and maim mercilessly, there’s the ever present back drop of soldiers on horseback riding around doing their own cruelty in the name of Christ, and warlords ravage, rape and kill to such horrific extent that Rublev himself seems to lose faith and seems to question god by refusing to paint.
In the end it’s the desperation of the bell maker trying to save his own life, working tirelessly as a fraud and ultimately succeeding through his torment by divine accident that brings Rublev back to life and into grace from witnessing this miracle born of materialism and desperation rather than faith…. Or at least that’s what I remember of it. Thanks for the post. I’ve had The Sacrifice sitting waiting to be watched for a while. Maybe it’s now time.
Superb! I reckon this is the natural response to Tarkovsky, you certainly couldn't binge watch his films, it would be a miraculous work if someone had the mental stamina to keep up with it all!
I also agree with the decline realigning with its origins, just like a forest fire burning all the dead wood.
I hope you get on well with The Sacrifice, it is one I have been meaning to watch for a long time also!
Binge watch Tarkovsky ....that's so funny! Yep I struggle to get through a single film of his in one sitting and every time I'm about to give up on the mental torture, he throws up a scene of great beauty that I think "ok a bit longer". I zipped through Andrei Rublev on Youtube and again it looks like something I will have to sit down and properly watch as there does seem to be a spiritual quality there thats hard to grasp.
Rublev is truly beautiful and one of Tarkovsky’s most accessible films yet still so densely layered and hypnotic like his other films I wouldn’t expect to fully grasp it on the first watch. I still see and understand something new each time I rewatch it and ive seen it 3-4 times over 20+ years.
The Orthodox Monk and monastery librarian I spoke with in my late teens said it was the most powerfully authentic orthodox message ever put to film should that give you any encouragement. I would definitely recommend buying a Blu-Ray or some other high fidelity copy as iy is absolutely stunning at times even though it’s in Black and White
Thank you Randall, I might just do that. I like the few paintings that Andrei Rublev has left to us. so I’m interested not only in the orthodox message of the film but also in the art it inspired.
Great essay. Watching Andrei Rublev for the first time, as a nineteen-year-old, was such an event in my life.... Mirror may be my favorite of Tarkovsky's now, but I try to rewatch Andrei Rublev every year.
Sculpting in Time is also wonderful. "The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good."
I’ve been a Tarkovsky fan since visiting an Orthodoxy Monastery in my late teens, the Monastery librarian had a copy of Andrei Rublev sitting out on a table and I immediately gravitated to it. I loved it but didn’t look further into the director as I assumed it was a one off film. Years later in a photo critique a photographer recommended Tarkovsky’s The Mirror when seeing my work and I’ve slowly digested his work since. Like you I’ve not watched everything he made waiting for the right moment when I can be fully present.
I certainly agree with “For the moment we are witnessing the decline of the spiritual” but also feel this decline has realigned Christianity towards its origins. Much of what we are seeing that is being lost has little depth and is often antithetical to the Christian story. The film Andrei Rublev does not paint a rosy picture of spirituality in the past either. Monks deal with jealousy, lords kill and maim mercilessly, there’s the ever present back drop of soldiers on horseback riding around doing their own cruelty in the name of Christ, and warlords ravage, rape and kill to such horrific extent that Rublev himself seems to lose faith and seems to question god by refusing to paint.
In the end it’s the desperation of the bell maker trying to save his own life, working tirelessly as a fraud and ultimately succeeding through his torment by divine accident that brings Rublev back to life and into grace from witnessing this miracle born of materialism and desperation rather than faith…. Or at least that’s what I remember of it. Thanks for the post. I’ve had The Sacrifice sitting waiting to be watched for a while. Maybe it’s now time.
Superb! I reckon this is the natural response to Tarkovsky, you certainly couldn't binge watch his films, it would be a miraculous work if someone had the mental stamina to keep up with it all!
I also agree with the decline realigning with its origins, just like a forest fire burning all the dead wood.
I hope you get on well with The Sacrifice, it is one I have been meaning to watch for a long time also!
Binge watch Tarkovsky ....that's so funny! Yep I struggle to get through a single film of his in one sitting and every time I'm about to give up on the mental torture, he throws up a scene of great beauty that I think "ok a bit longer". I zipped through Andrei Rublev on Youtube and again it looks like something I will have to sit down and properly watch as there does seem to be a spiritual quality there thats hard to grasp.
Rublev is truly beautiful and one of Tarkovsky’s most accessible films yet still so densely layered and hypnotic like his other films I wouldn’t expect to fully grasp it on the first watch. I still see and understand something new each time I rewatch it and ive seen it 3-4 times over 20+ years.
The Orthodox Monk and monastery librarian I spoke with in my late teens said it was the most powerfully authentic orthodox message ever put to film should that give you any encouragement. I would definitely recommend buying a Blu-Ray or some other high fidelity copy as iy is absolutely stunning at times even though it’s in Black and White
Thank you Randall, I might just do that. I like the few paintings that Andrei Rublev has left to us. so I’m interested not only in the orthodox message of the film but also in the art it inspired.
Check out Mirror, if you haven't! I wrote a post on it with its Russian name, and it seemed to really resonate with people.
Great essay. Watching Andrei Rublev for the first time, as a nineteen-year-old, was such an event in my life.... Mirror may be my favorite of Tarkovsky's now, but I try to rewatch Andrei Rublev every year.
Sculpting in Time is also wonderful. "The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good."