Really didn't expect one of the main dramatic conflicts of this to be "the world will end if you don't bang your maid". Tarkovsky is full of surprises! This is a rather unusual film for him, doubly so as a final statement: A chilling, verbose chamber drama about tortured faith and existential fear where the script does much more of the heavy lifting than it typically does in Tarkovsky. I really do think that the Bergman comparisons would've come about even had he not gone so far as to hire Bergman's cinematographer and his two-time production designer (on Autumn Sonata and Fanny & Alexander) to work on the film. And while I can't help but feel a muted sense of disappointment that Tarkovsky would choose to go out on a film somewhat uncharacteristic of himself, this mode still finds him enormously productive. And, gun to my head, I'd likely choose Sven Nykvist as my favorite cinematographer, and this is the kind of film he does best, with his moody interiors, expressively lit closeups and revealing arrangements of characters, as well as the all-caps changes in color grading that accompany the different sections of the film. It's safe to say, I think, that Tarkovsky's transcendent career was bookended by his two weakest films, but it's also worth pointing out that anyone whose worst work looks like this is doing pretty fucking well for themselves.
I also gotta admit: That final title card really got me.
Really didn't expect one of the main dramatic conflicts of this to be "the world will end if you don't bang your maid". Tarkovsky is full of surprises! This is a rather unusual film for him, doubly so as a final statement: A chilling, verbose chamber drama about tortured faith and existential fear where the script does much more of the heavy lifting than it typically does in Tarkovsky. I really do think that the Bergman comparisons would've come about even had he not gone so far as to hire Bergman's cinematographer and his two-time production designer (on Autumn Sonata and Fanny & Alexander) to work on the film. And while I can't help but feel a muted sense of disappointment that Tarkovsky would choose to go out on a film somewhat uncharacteristic of himself, this mode still finds him enormously productive. And, gun to my head, I'd likely choose Sven Nykvist as my favorite cinematographer, and this is the kind of film he does best, with his moody interiors, expressively lit closeups and revealing arrangements of characters, as well as the all-caps changes in color grading that accompany the different sections of the film. It's safe to say, I think, that Tarkovsky's transcendent career was bookended by his two weakest films, but it's also worth pointing out that anyone whose worst work looks like this is doing pretty fucking well for themselves.
I also gotta admit: That final title card really got me.
