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Summary: An Essential Book about Film
Review: The idea behind the title of the book is that the film-goer goes to the cinema to experience time, and that the director's job is to sculpt the time that the audience experiences-- cut away the inessential words and seconds and pieces. This book is an introduction to the rules that Tarkovsky set for himself in achieving this goal.The book covers his thoughts around a wide range of his films, beginning with "Ivan's Childhood" and finally ending with "The Sacrifice". On the way he covers his view of various aspects (both concrete and philisophical) of the cinema. Other chapter titles include "Cinema's destined role" and "The author in search of an audience". The book is beautifully written and the ideas are important and relevant. It's useful on the level of the student learning film techniques (he provides some wonderful examples of the difference in how major and minor directors handle the same character moments in different films. It's also useful as a book about the philosophy of art in general (and cinema, obviously, in specific).
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Summary: insights from a genius
Review: This extraordinary book is not just about filmmaking, it's about all art...about life, faith, inner exploration and the Russian soul. It contains exquisite poetry, mostly written by his father, Arseniy Tarkovsky, and detailed descriptions of the making of several of his films as well as photos of them that are eerie, mystical, and incredibly beautiful. Tarkovsky is the master of making us see the wonder of creation in the most mundane subjects. He brings us one step closer in our journey towards the light. From page 43: "The allotted function of art is not, as is often assumed, to put across ideas, to propagate thoughts, to serve as an example. The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good".
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