It has been posited that Tarkovsky and some of his cast and crew members likely met untimely deaths due to exposure to hazardous and poisonous elements in the water and air of the areas in which most of "Stalker" was filmed.
Pity. They could have gotten it over much quicker by simply allowing themselves to be bored to death by this film.
I have been occasionally attracted to Tarkovsky's work, but this makes Béla Tarr's harshly gorgeous "Sátántang" (7 hours 19 minutes; a total of around 150 cuts) seem like a Marvel Universe epic.
At least Tarr gives us characters to care about, just enough plot to make it intriguing and hold one's interest, and stunning cinematography.
While there is an occasion visual treat in "Stalker", it lacks in all other departments. It's like being repeatedly beaten over the head with philosophical clichés spattered among silence and industrial noise with a nice image as a reward every now and then.
Instead of testing your patience and concentration (my mind often wandered off during "Stalker" as there is nothing onto which to grasp), go attend a production of "Waiting for Godot", even by an amateur theatre group: you will be far more entertained and enlightened, and still have time for a cocktail after the show.
Pity. They could have gotten it over much quicker by simply allowing themselves to be bored to death by this film.
I have been occasionally attracted to Tarkovsky's work, but this makes Béla Tarr's harshly gorgeous "Sátántang" (7 hours 19 minutes; a total of around 150 cuts) seem like a Marvel Universe epic.
At least Tarr gives us characters to care about, just enough plot to make it intriguing and hold one's interest, and stunning cinematography.
While there is an occasion visual treat in "Stalker", it lacks in all other departments. It's like being repeatedly beaten over the head with philosophical clichés spattered among silence and industrial noise with a nice image as a reward every now and then.
Instead of testing your patience and concentration (my mind often wandered off during "Stalker" as there is nothing onto which to grasp), go attend a production of "Waiting for Godot", even by an amateur theatre group: you will be far more entertained and enlightened, and still have time for a cocktail after the show.