Stalker

And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN *Mene: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.* *Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.* *Peres: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.* …In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom… ————————————————————————————— “Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they shall see God” “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing” What do you really want? Though the Great Russian Filmmaker famously had a pronounced distaste for 2001: A Space Odyssey; in Stalker, Tarkovsky pulls a similar magic trick on his audience that Kubrick did with his otherwise oft-praised Space Odyssey: Transfiguring a staunchly materialist work of science fiction into an intensely spiritual experience, with an almost alchemical finesse. I think that 2001 does the better job of keeping up the illusion until its most transcendent moments, but Stalker easily becomes the more insightful dialogue in the end. For Tarkovsky, the pretense of science fiction serves as the proverbial spoonful of sugar (that helps the spiritual medicine go down) for a modern and disenchanted audience. “O Faithless Generation, How long must I be among you?” Much like the Monoliths in 2001, The intelligent extra-terrestrial origin of the (Chernobyl pre-figuring) exclusionary “Zone” from the original novel is little more than hand-waved away in Tarkovsky’s film. Strange physical phenomena primarily exist to facilitate (even smuggle in, if you like) a kind of fairy-tale logic. Cause and effect are transgressed in such a way that would make any Medieval Chivalric Romance blush. Bolts must be tossed ahead, weapons surrendered, and alcohol poured out (almost as a libation) before pressing forward so as not to offend immaterial forces. The titular “Stalker” (stalkers are rugged men who make a career of escorting clients into the Zone) himself is presented not as a desperate scavenger but rather a spiritual guide versed in the secret knowledge of navigating The Zone. Several times throughout the film he is even referred to as a Holy Fool. Through strange little rituals and superstitions, he leads two men who have come seeking a mysterious sanctum at the heart of this otherworld, wherein it is said one’s greatest desire is granted. "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Contrary to the expectations engendered by the genre for the better part of a century, the apocalyptic landscape of the Zone is not desolate, but a verdant and paradisal wilderness. It is the city which surrounds this garden that is desolate and inhuman. A Wizard of Oz style switch from monochrome to color accompanies the transition between them, not the last of the parallels between the two films. The Edenic allusion is not haphazard on my part either, for it is precisely the tree of life that resides at the center, and death which forms its border. Simultaneously this miraculous “Room” is a kind of Pandora’s box, a story with many important parallels to Eden (more on this later). What unfolds among the three men is nothing short of a grail quest, and like the grail, the power which is hidden at the heart of the Zone is set to judge those who seek it. In Chretien De Troye’s seminal rendition of Perceval’s grail quest, the test of the grail is to ask “the right question”. If the young knight can but ask this question then he will be permitted to partake of the grail. As a result, the Fisher King’s wounded loins, and all his desolate kingdom, will be healed. Of course, Perceval fails this test and it is only through grace that he ultimately encounters the grail in its true and eternal form: The Eucharist. “Asking the right question” is simply an elaboration on “wanting the right thing” I am here speaking of “want” not merely as a passing intellectual desire, but as a drive which compels (even demands) its pursuit and realization. There is a certain terror in discovering what it is we truly desire. Through imitation we become that which we pursue. Whatever it is that we want most may very well be conceived as our telos, the essence of who we are. Many shrink away from that discovery, just as they sit on its very threshold. The singular moment that Peter stood on the sea before his faith failed him is brought to mind. Over the course of the film, one character (a cynical writer) struggles above all else with the question of what it is he truly desires. Even more than to have a particular desire granted, he is on the quest to find out exactly what it is he truly desires by virtue of its being granted. Through this revelation he believes he will know who he is, and the measure of his worth. Time and again, the stalker warns the two men who accompany him (the other being a physicist with a mysterious purpose) that only one who is totally without any other hope can enter the room. It does not distinguish between the good and the evil, but the hopeless and the satisfied. “A heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise.” Suffering is the absence of what we desire. The Buddhist prescription for this ailment is the purgation of all desire. In reality, it is precisely this suffering of desire from which our only hope comes. It is for this reason that at the bottom of Pandora’s box, beneath all the sufferings of man released into the world, Hope was found. Without lack, salvation is not possible. This is what separates Christianity from all other “ascetic” religions. It doesn’t offer you the fantastic escape of becoming inhuman, to purge yourself of all that troublesome want and desire, instead it demands of you that you become fully human, desire insatiably only What is worthy of desire. To be satisfied by this world (or merely by disengaging from it) renders one ineligible to partake of the One Worthy Want. Even American Christians in the Orthodox Tradition often misunderstand this aspect of monasticism. The aim is not negation of all desire and pleasure, but the amplification of desire in its proper direction beyond all hope of satisfaction in this world. Dying to the world is not the end in itself, but the means to the real end. It does not mean disengagement from our reality and humanity, but rather the imitation of Christ in willful descent into their very depths, the grave itself. The worship of this particular method above its goal is just one manifestation of the modern fetish for all means, methods, and mechanisms, the very same one which drives forward the increase of technological power toward ends which come merely as afterthoughts. “May everything come true. May they believe. And may they laugh at their passions. For what they call passion is not really the energy of the soul, but merely friction between the soul and the outside world. But, above all, may they believe in themselves and become as helpless as children. For softness is great and strength is worthless. When a man is born, he is soft and pliable. When he dies, he is strong and hard. When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life. That which has become hard shall not triumph.“ -The Stalker’s Prayer. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - II Corinthians 12:9-10 The central test which all souls had to pass in the Egyptian conception of eternity was the “weighing of the heart”. Much has been made of the relationship of this to the hardening-heart motif across our own Holy Scriptures. We are called to be soft of heart (perhaps even lighthearted) like children, to see the Kingdom of God. In Egyptian religion this rite was carried out by the jackal-headed Anubis, and in Egypt (as in most other ancient cultures) canines were regarded as psychopomps: Guardians and guides to the world of the dead. Most likely this stems from their prehistoric role as scavengers. They would often be seen carrying off the remains of the un-interred dead, as burial was an innovation that accompanied the agricultural revolution in many cultures (Watch Apocalypse Now if you want to know why). Canines still served this role in the funerary rites of Zoroastrians (there are those Medes and Persians again) recently enough to be recorded in history. When their customs are permitted, the followers of Zoroaster prefer carrion-birds (also ancient psychopomps) to jackals, in our own time. What relation does any of this have to Tarkovsky’s film? For much of their journey into the Zone, the 3 men are accompanied by a black dog with jackal-like ears. It is repeatedly seen guarding or emerging from caverns and tunnels, or lying next to the remains of the long dead. If you are unfamiliar with the Psychopompic associations then the true significance of this dog will be lost on you. It becomes particularly fond of the stalker himself, highlighting a parallel which reveals much of what is going on beneath the surface of the film. They are both psychopomps, guides to eternity. The core of all of this is that in eternity (just like in the heart of the Zone) we all get what we truly desire. If what we want most is anything less than to dwell with our Creator in a new Creation, then that within all of us which does desire this Highest will remain unsatisfied. Our sins will be numbered, our hearts will be weighed, and we will be divided from the Banquet by our improper attire. Always we will be Found* Wanting, *and the absence of what we desire is suffering. “We're now standing at the threshold. This is the most important moment - in your life. You must know that your most cherished desire will come true here. Your sincerest wish, the desire that has made you suffer most” It is without a doubt the triumph of the Christian Artist that the climax of what is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made is a profound allegory for confession and baptism. Upon finally reaching the doorway to the miraculous room which they seek (and after some revelations about the true intentions of the physicist) the Stalker prepares the two men for the unfathomable power that they will soon partake in, the realization of their deepest desire. To ensure that their desires are pure and good-intentioned he tells them to “concentrate and recall all your past life. When a man thinks of the past, he becomes kinder.” This prompts an indignant response from the writer, shielding himself from the vulnerability that this task requires. This begins a chain reaction, the faith of the two men fails them. They shrink from the gift, convince themselves they don’t want it. Pride and fear compel them, they are not prepared for the judgement of their one true desire. Like Perceval they fail the quest. The Stalker returns home with them, and laments to his wife. When will he find those who have a desire great enough to partake in the gift? Where among ourselves can we find one who is pure of heart? It is only Christ in us Who can want perfectly, He Who has no need. As in the grail story, the Eucharist is the key. “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” The film ends with a poem recited by the Stalker’s daughter: I love those eyes of yours, my friend. Their sparkling, flashing , fiery wonder. When suddenly those lids ascend, then lighning rips the sky asunder; You swift glance, and there's an end. There's greater charm, though, to admire When lowered those eyes divine in moments kissed by passion's fire; When through the downcast lashes shine The smoldering embers of desire.