This is a film is in a tough spot - I'll either meet someone who holds it as one of their all time favourites, or I'll find someone who knows Andrei Tarkovsky inside out and sidelines it as one of his lesser efforts. Either way, it is worth watching. If all else fails and nothing grabs you at all, Sven Nykvist's cinematography is gorgeous. Arguably the best he's done. You could just drug yourself up and turn off the subtitles and smile for a few hours.
This is why I don't love it: its visual similarities with Ingmar Bergman's films make the acting seem sub-par. It sounds really horrible, because Erland Josephson is one of my favourite actors and I admire Andrei Tarkovsky's earlier films. But Bergman has this special knack for getting out perfect performances, especially from women. When The Sacrifice's dramatic scenes flared I felt uncomfortable because I'm used to a stupidly high standard.
My second and lesser reason has to do with the absence of grounding within the first hour of the film. Tarkovsky's philosophical musings on art and faith have always had a strong and fundamental world to exist it- Andrei Rublev has its medieval Russia, Stalker its post apocalyptic wasteland, The Mirror exists within the tendrils of memories. The Sacrifice doesn't give you a platform to make its ideas relevant, so the first time you watch the film it is distracting trying to find out actually where we are. Some praise this dreamy ambiguity. I disliked it. It's actually more enjoyable the second time around.
The disappointing thing is, if Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman didn't exist, and this film was the first film made by some random director, it'd probably be an all time classic. But because it is at the end of two very rich and talented filmmakers' careers, it suffers in comparison.
This is why I don't love it: its visual similarities with Ingmar Bergman's films make the acting seem sub-par. It sounds really horrible, because Erland Josephson is one of my favourite actors and I admire Andrei Tarkovsky's earlier films. But Bergman has this special knack for getting out perfect performances, especially from women. When The Sacrifice's dramatic scenes flared I felt uncomfortable because I'm used to a stupidly high standard.
My second and lesser reason has to do with the absence of grounding within the first hour of the film. Tarkovsky's philosophical musings on art and faith have always had a strong and fundamental world to exist it- Andrei Rublev has its medieval Russia, Stalker its post apocalyptic wasteland, The Mirror exists within the tendrils of memories. The Sacrifice doesn't give you a platform to make its ideas relevant, so the first time you watch the film it is distracting trying to find out actually where we are. Some praise this dreamy ambiguity. I disliked it. It's actually more enjoyable the second time around.
The disappointing thing is, if Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman didn't exist, and this film was the first film made by some random director, it'd probably be an all time classic. But because it is at the end of two very rich and talented filmmakers' careers, it suffers in comparison.