Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Writers: Arkadiy Strugatskiy, Boris Strugatskiy, Andrei Tarkovsky
Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
Synopsis: A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
This film was viewed as part of the event, “Tarkovsky: 6 Films, Master Works by a Master of Cinema,” at the Kentucky Theatre, accompanied by a Q&A by Raymond De Luca, Assistant Professor of Russian Studies and International Film Studies at the University of Kentucky
To get my own biases out of the way, this is the film in the Tarkovsky canon that I was most excited to finally see on the big screen. Stalker is, big surprise here, still a difficult film to engage in, but has more moments of acting stylistic choices that are recognizable to more modern cinephiles. But, this is still a Tarkovsky film. Deeper meaning and the human psyche and struggle still reign supreme.
Stalker follows, well, a stalker or guide as he brings two men, one writer and one professor, into a forbidden place known only as “The Zone.” This zone, which the government guards, is said to hold a room which grants a person’s deepest wish or desire upon entering. Additionally, the laws of physics and nature seem not to apply here, which affords Tarkovsky and cinematographer Aleksandr Knyazhinskiy many opportunities to distract viewers and create a non linear journey.
The question that many get stuck on with Stalker is, what exactly is the zone? Many interpretations arise, which is likely what Tarkovsky wants. There could be a clear analogue to an environmental disaster, especially given the fact that the Russian government attempts to keep people out on pain of death. Given the themes of the film, there is also a likelihood that the zone is purgatory; a waiting place to be judged before moving on to heaven or hell. This is the lens I have always seen this through, though many scholars also see the meaning of the zone as simply the struggle to make meaning at all.
But let’s examine the purgatory angle. Before being brought into the zone, the world is tedious, painful, and a constant struggle. The stalker argues with his wife, the writer cannot write, and the professor struggles with any meaning at all. The outside world is slow and filmed in a dirty looking sepia tone. The people in power are armed with weapons aimed at destruction and hiding the truth. The idea of life on earth as pain and struggle ring quite true with Catholic teachings. When the zone is finally entered, the surrounding nature is in full color, a dramatic shift. But it is not obviously beautiful or heavenly in any way. At first glance, it is normal to our eyes.
And then there is the room itself. We are misguided at first, thinking that our characters can wish for whatever they want. But the characters balk at that. What if an evil person was brought here and inflicted worldwide pain. Should the room be destroyed? But the story told of an old stalker near the beginning of the film is important. Stalkers never enter the room, but one did. This stalker, Porcupine, entered the room to wish to save his dying brother. But the room only provides what you most want. Porcupine was given riches, his brother died, and he understood his fault of greed.
It is also important to note the three men. The Stalker, a man of faith. The Writer, a man of art. The Professor, a man of science. The professor fights to destroy a possible evil, an academic exercise in thought. The writer battles to understand it with incessant questioning, an artistic enterprise. The stalker accepts it as a matter of faith, and attempts to bring others in, a proselytizing process. When he is accused of doing this selfishly, The Stalker (Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy) performs a stunning monologue about his desire to help others that will stick with you. Later, after being rejected, he weeps with his wife, understanding that riches and class differences keep us all from connecting with faith.
Stalker can draw a number of conclusions. One of those is that all three versions of man featured here are necessary in the search for truth. The artist is necessary for the expression of faith in a human way. The professor is necessary in order to process and deliver the information to humankind. And the man of faith is the beginning. If we do not believe, there is no hope. As an addendum, there is a lack of modernity in the zone, which shows us that the more advanced we become, in our urge to have the power of gods, the further we get from our faith.
Stalker is an impressive work, even now almost 45 years later. It challenges us, whether we are people of faith or not. In a dramatically fantastic artistic career, Stalker is Tarkobvky’s greatest achievement, and one of film’s greatest accomplishments, as well.
