"Mirror" revisits the thoughts and memories of a dying poet in random order, with continuous time leaps, old newsreel footage, and people's faces overlapping each other (the mother becomes the wife, the man becomes the child, etc.). An obviously autobiographical film by Tarkovksy, who recalls his childhood days spent in the countryside during the war, the separation from his wife and child, and above all, the strong influence his mother had on his life. You would think Tarkovsky is the dying poet here, but the poems are written and recited by his father, who also happened to have abandoned his wife to later came back in an attempt to take his son away with him.
Different timelines, places, people, and cinematography techniques, all blended together in a chaotic yet visually powerful stream of consciousness.
Different timelines, places, people, and cinematography techniques, all blended together in a chaotic yet visually powerful stream of consciousness.