Mirror

I am at a complete loss for words. How could a film be created that captures the essence of life in such an understated way? A film grand in essence, yet is expressed through the beauty of the mundane. Everything is a message: the wind blowing through trees, objects falling, the oscillation of light, everything. Like the atoms of the material world, truth, myriad and unknowable, reside so close yet is a universe away. This film isn't to be understood; it can't be understood. No human being could ever hope to comprehend the immensity of life and existence. In every moment we are born again, and our selves from moments prior are relegated to memories. We can only try to grasp the dispersing haze of our memories and the dreams they conjure. Tarkovsky's Mirror is such a mirage. Everything is there, yet understanding still evades. Momentary instances of comprehensibility flicker in and out as the transcendent intermingles with it. Vague senses of ideas like memories, dreams, and motherhood are the most solid things that can be taken from Mirror. But this is to the film's advantage. You're left to feel and experience life with Mirror, not strive for the misguided task of understanding. Those blips and slivers of comprehension become all the more special for this. To understand that you can't understand and surrendering yourself to this realization is a euphoric feeling. Embracing the unknowable and absurdity of life reveals this profound truth; that life in every moment, big or small, is beyond us and that we only know a tiny fragment of infinity. On my first watch, 2 days prior, I felt defeated and disappointed in my lack of understanding. I had always known Tarkovsky would defy clear interpretation, but I was unprepared for such resistance. I had tried to decipher Mirror like a puzzle when I knew I should have embraced it as an experience. Despite the fault of my mentality, I was still deeply moved by Mirror. I felt the might of the film's subtleties in my soul but could not grasp them. The tiniest step of a giant, enough to shake the Earth. Now, upon this second viewing, I have found what I was looking for. I feel like crying, not out of sadness, but pure awe at the masterpiece Tarkovsky has crafted. Maybe Tarkovsky's the greatest of them all, for with the camera he discovered everything!