Andrei Rublev

What starts as a mildly frustrating, seemingly incomprehensible series of vignettes slowly morphs into the kind of cinematic experience that just completely digs itself into your core and refuses to leave long after even the credits have rolled. Utterly mesmerizing and deeply contemplative. An incredibly rich, spiritual odyssey on faith, art and the divinity with which their interminable mix battles anguish to become the very code to creation and life itself. The soundtrack alone is so fucking powerful (this track in particular, from the closing moments of the chapter titled “The Feast”, is probably now among my favorite pieces of film score ever, with its simple but haunting repetition bringing so much to the images it plays alongside). Stalker and Solaris had amazing soundtracks as well, but Andrei Rublev towers above both imo. The passion play with the recreation of the Crucifixion, the brutality of the Tatar raid, the entirety of the bell sequence, just so many absolutely spellbinding moments. The conclusion of the final chapter (probably that entire chapter as a whole, but particularly its emotionally cathartic concluding moments), is one of the most effective ways I’ve seen a film restate and synthesize the entirety of its thesis. All timer. Probably my new favorite Tarkovsky. Probably a new favorite in general?