Stalker

Rating:
Summary: It's not just a movie but an emotional adventure.
Review: There is a lot of different review here but everything is true because there is one more character of "Stalker" movie. It's You. The word "Stalker" is English but it's not just Tarkovsky's innovation. He used a Character from beautiful story of brothers Strugatsky. This masterpiece is done as a short excerpt from novel "Picnic at the roadside" (it's hoax!). Idea is that Stalker is professional illegal visitor to Zone for collecting and sale strange things. It's dangerous job because Zone is not predictable and Stalker must to STALK through area of unknown dangers. Strugatsky's Zone is a place of temporary stop of some aliens and it's result of littering. Zone by Tarkovsky is different one but he used the image of Stalker for few reasons: 1) story by Strugatsky is an action so it added ground and feeling of reality to movie; 2) it gives rise to feeling of possible mystification by Stalker so you can believe or not to reality of Zone; 3) it adds a feeling of reality to this psychological movie. Actually this movie is poetry of reality and reality of poetry at same time. You can love it or not but it's must see. Be ready to hard work.

Rating:
Summary: Much more than just science fiction...
Review: Tarkovsky is by far my favorite director. Stalker was the first film I saw, and the experience was so memorable that I went on and saw all his other films. Many people have compared it to Stanley Kubrick's "2001, a space odyssey". I beg to differ. While Kubrick's film was also a masterpiece in its own respect, it was not delivering a spiritual and metaphysical message like Stalker. Many viewers tend to criticize Stalker for lack of so-called "action". In his book, "Sculpting through time", Tarkovsky explicitly states that this was indeed what he intended to do. This is about a journey to our inner soul, this side of us that is our most intimate and yet at the same time our most frightening. The Writer is of course our artistic side while the Professor would represent our logical and scientific leanings. Both of these men seem despaired because of lack of faith, only to be redeemed at the end. However, while many would believe that this film seems to give a pessimistic message about the human condition, it actually gives hope. Indeed, we can be redeemed, and that is through love and sacrifice personified by the Stalker's wife.
Now, for the visual aspects of this film. Every shot is a masterpiece, a work of art. The language and the dialogue are all beautiful and poetic.
All in all, Stalker is a philosophical masterpiece, a gem in the world of cinema.

Rating:
Summary: This is no Roadside Picnic
Review: This reviewer would normally not review a film which already has so many reviews, except these reviews reveal so much ignorance of film's original "source:" "Roadside Picnic" (Macmillan 1st US printing 1977; or Pocketbooks, 1st US printing 1978, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky). For those fortunate enough to have read this 55,000-word novella, be advised that despite the Strugatskys' involvement, Tarkovsky's film bears at most a cursory resemblance, being an interminably dull and pretentious work masquerading as a sort-of inconsistent sequel, all the original work's brilliance, philosophical musings, concepts, and entertainment value being gutted. The sparse skeletal remains are then buried in Tarkovsky spouting piles of his personal-style irrelevant philosophical and metaphysical manure, with a milquetoast "zone" thrown in, and an ending dash of gratuitous pseudo-science which is absolutely inimical to the original work's concepts. But you be the judge. Bear in mind that the film barely or never even MENTIONS most of the items or concepts discussed below, much less showing them IN ACTION!

"Roadside Picnic" (engagingly-translated into modern English vernacular) is arguably among the twenty or so most brilliantly conceived, yet scientifically plausible science fiction novels (or novellas) ever written. Stanislaw Lem (who wrote "Solaris", another such entry) felt sufficiently moved by this work to write a 13000 word essay, "About the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic.", published in his "Microworlds," (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1st edition, 1984). Prospective readers of the story might read Lem's essay first, since it contributes to a better understanding and enjoyment of that work's depth and sheer originality.

Imagine six objects, perhaps a six-part procession of one object, approaching earth from inter-stellar space on a radiant passing through the star Deneb, the impact pattern caused by earth's rotation. Such an event happened twenty-some years prior to the near-future events imagined in "Roadside Picnic." The six "meteorites" had deadly effects immediately upon impact, and in the years following, to anything within the resultant multi-square-mile impact Zones, later postulated as alien Visitation sites.

A global UN "institute" was established to study these Zones, maintaining adjacent research centers, controlling and overseeing all legal access. These centers hire free-lance "stalkers": experienced dare-devils with instinctual Zone survival ability and willing to risk their skins and genetics to legally enter the Zones, survive the hazards, and retrieve for scientific study alien artifacts of incalculable value. Significant profits reward such stalkers, though some is frittered away in bribes, fines, illicit dealings, drink and carousing. Usually aided by darkness, there is even more profitable entrepreneurial business in "swag:" illegally recovered Zone artifacts for a rampant world-wide black market.

The story occurs at a Canadian Zone from the perspective of stalker "Red" Schuhart. While a Zone's perimeter can be freely crossed, illegal sorties must elude not only the Zone's inner hazards, but also the institute's perimeter patrols. Red's notoriety as an "extra-curricular" swag trafficker exemplar simultaneously creates demands for his illegal services, and also results in jail time and constant harassment by those who know damn well what he does but are usually unable to catch him red-handed.

The Zone's inner hazards are confined within its perimeter and include such as burning fluff; witches jelly - a highly proscribed, very dense and toxic colloidal gas that converts anything it touches into witches jelly (naturally some gets smuggled out!); hairy black "cotton" - a lethal mossy-like growth on such as abandoned TV antennas, desirable to study, but so inimical it cannot even be approached for samples; mosquito mange - intensely deadly and invisible gravitational anomalies - hence the throwing of nuts for detection; silvery webs that induce heart attacks; quasi-"alive" yet invisible disturbances that "creep" about, detectable only by light-refractive properties; searing heat traps; pseudo intelligent electrical strikes; something called the "meatgrinder" - describing its effects on unwary stalkers; and numerous other hazards. In the story, the stalkers interact with all these hazards on practically every visit. Several stalker fatalities occur front and center, dozens more occur "off-stage."

Other effects like genetic defects and apparent violations of the laws of causality and of the first and second laws of Thermodynamics can be exported from the Zone through one's presence during the original Visitation time, through subsequent visits to the Zone, or by artifacts removed from the Zone: "empties" - containers of some sort whose structure defies known physics; "full empties; "so-so" self-reproductive and eternal batteries used to power cars, an example of incomprehensible alien technology applied outside the Zone; itchers - gadgets that wreck psychological havoc over a given area; black sprays - surmised to be vast expanses of space curled into marble-sized spheres in our dimensional space; zombies or "moulages," - non-earthly-fleshy reconstructions on skeletons of pre-Visitation graveyard corpses with surprising physiological effects on those that harbor them; and of course the Golden Ball - naively and mythically rumored to grant anyone their innermost desires.

If looking for philosophy which actually relates to the story, and which exposes the film's pretentious, preachy and irrelevant discourses, consider Chapter 3's extended discussion between Dr. Pilman and Richard Noonan concerning the incomprehensibilities and mysteriousness of the aliens and their technology. Dr. Pilman also elaborates on the many Zone hypotheses, one such being to imagine how the remains from a roadside picnic might later appear to the local wildlife: an inexplicable collection of items like bread crumbs, raisins, apple cores, orange peels, meat scraps, candy; then perhaps a forgotten child's toy, a wrench, some pennies, marbles, someone's nail-clippers, faded nursery flowers; but then also hazards like cigarette butts, lye cleaner crystals, kerosene spills, a still-burning charcoal campfire, an opened boric acid container, several mothballs or snail pellets, insecticide spray residuals. Now imagine that we are the local wildlife. There are, of course, other hypothetical scenarios.

In Tarkovsky's Solaris, the intent to remain basically faithful to the concepts of the original work seems clear, albeit with understandably limited special effects. As is shown above, in "Stalker," arguably not even the basics of the original work survive.

Rating:
Summary: correction
Review: Someone said that subtitles cannot be turned off. I have this DVD and there is option of 13 subtitles in 13 different languages, plus an option of having no subtitles.
What I absolutely dislike about this release is that you're forced to wait 1min reading copyright messages everytime you insert the disc. In overall very good DVD.

Rating:
Summary: A Pilgrimage ...
Review: Stalker takes place in an unknown worldly region in a post-apocalyptic future where a meteor's impact has formed a puzzling area called the Zone. The Zone is suppose to have mythical properties as it has forces that can lure people to their demise, but also uncover our deepest desires. Stalkers are the only ones who can sense mysterious forces and avoid the dangers within the Zone. Many courageous people come to the Zone with stalkers as guides on quests to fulfill their wishes. In this film the audience is to follow three characters, Stalker, Writer, and Scientist, as they venture into the perilous Zone. The party's venture becomes a breathtaking journey through armed guards, obscure traps, and psychological horror. The journey can symbolically be interpreted as a pilgrimage in order to restore ones faith and hope, which have been lost. This pilgrimage develops into a psychosocial battle between rationalism and abstract thought as the travelers attempt to reason with hope, faith, and love. Tarkovsky brilliantly blends his philosophical messages with visually stunning cinematography that encourages thought and analytical growth in a science fiction story that provides an enlightening cinematic experience.

Rating:
Summary: It's not just a movie but an emotional adventure.
Review: There is a lot of different review here but everything is true because there is one more character of "Stalker" movie. It's You. The word "Stalker" is English but it's not just Tarkovsky's innovation. He used a Character from beautiful story of brothers Strugatsky. This masterpiece is done as a short excerpt from novel "Picnic at the roadside" (it's hoax!). Idea is that Stalker is professional illegal visitor to Zone for collecting and sale strange things. It's dangerous job because Zone is not predictable and Stalker must to STALK through area of unknown dangers. Strugatsky's Zone is a place of temporary stop of some aliens and it's result of littering. Zone by Tarkovsky is different one but he used the image of Stalker for few reasons: 1) story by Strugatsky is an action so it added ground and feeling of reality to movie; 2) it gives rise to feeling of possible mystification by Stalker so you can believe or not to reality of Zone; 3) it adds a feeling of reality to this psychological movie. Actually this movie is poetry of reality and reality of poetry at same time. You can love it or not but it's must see. Be ready to hard work.

Rating:
Summary: Tarkovsky's "Stalker" DVD released by RUSCICO
Review: Artificial Eye's presentation of Stalker is a bit higgledy piggledy, with the extras scattered across two discs. Perhaps the best way to describe them is "before" and "after".
On the first, we are presented with the first part of the film along with an excerpt from Tarkovsky's diploma offering, The Steamroller And The Violin, Tarkovsky's biography, a Tarkovsy-esque meander through the house he lived in as a child and in-production shots, leaving the post-production interviews and other cast and crew biographies for the second disc.
Aside from the slight quirk of positioning, the presentation is excellent. The animated menus are engaging and easy to navigate, with a good size of print which doesn't leave you squinting around to find the subtitle menu.
The colour and clarity is excellent for a film of its age, with no obvious scratching. The sepia portion is richly coloured and the colour sequences also well realised.
The sound is available in the original mono and in Russian 5.1. Beware, these two representations are distinctly different in places. Perhaps most notable is on the train trip into the Zone, where the original version relies on the rhythmic "music" of the train, travelling over the tracks, to carry the viewer, while the 5.1 version overlays some of Artemyev's ambient music.
Occasionally the music in the 5.1 version seems overly loud and once or twice the sound is "cleaned up", losing some of Tarkovsky's original intention. The 5.1 version, I suspect, equates more closely to Artemyev's vision than that of Tarkovsky.
As regards the extras, they are few but enjoyable. The excerpt from his diploma film demonstrates how good Tarkovsky was, right from the outset of his career, and it is only a shame that there isn't more than the few minutes we get to see. With luck, Artificial Eye will release the full version at some point.
Tarkovsky's House is, in fact, a short film, entitled Memory, which intercuts sequences from Stalker's dream with Tarkovsky's derelict boyhood home. Shot in the style of the director himself, this is a poignant and thought-provoking sequence in its own right. There are just 10 production photographs here, with only one shot in colour.
The most interesting - and most sad - extras are the interviews with director of photography Knyazhinsky and production designer Saifiullin. The former, filmed in a care home, seems overcome with melancholy at the thought that so many of the cast and crew, who worked on the film, have since passed away - he, too, died not long after. His brief interview - at around five minutes in length - offers an insight into the area of Estonia, where most of the Zone shooting occured, explaining that much of the standing water used on the sets was present already and discussing how they used this to their advantage, but it is disturbing to watch somone who is so ill talk about things that he misses.
Saifullin's interview is much meatier, as he talks about the devastating loss of the first half of the film after negatives were spoiled a year into the shoot. He also reminisces about Tarkovsky's eye for detail - "He wanted to know the motivation of every flower" - and discusses his belief that elements of the Stalker character were based on himself. The only downside is that occasionally the subtitles slip into pidgen English, not so much that you lose the thread, though.
The cast and crew biographies are in a sensible typeface, so that you can read them from across the room - other DVD manufacturers please take note. Watch out, while you are reading them for Artemyev's, which contains a not-so-hidden feature of a 21 minute interview. Why Artificial Eye hasn't just packaged this to appear alongside the other interviews is beyond me, as it is a fascinating insight into the way that Tarkovsky viewed the scoring of his films. He was keen to use as little music as possible and had Artemyev reading dissertations before composing in order to achieve the right ambience for certain scenes. Also, squirrelled away in Artemyev's filmography, is a teaser for Solaris.
Overall, the DVD extras have been chosen well and genuinely add to the viewer's understanding of the film, without seeming contrived. It is just a shame that some of them are so hard to find.

P.S. To watch the movie preview video clip you can on russianDVD.com website for free.

Rating:
Summary: Faith and the experience of the sacred
Review: This profound and mystical film covers space which is as much interior as it is exterior; a space of faith more and more impeded by the skepticism of the modern world, represented here by both the Writer and Professor. The Stalker, on the other hand, stands for an initiatory wisdom that still lives despite growing oppression and incomprehension. The movie begins with the dark and urban images of the profane condition, but they are gradually eclipsed by the vivid colors and textures of the Zone, which symbolize man's renewed proximity to the sacred. The knowledge one obtains in the Zone is quite unlike ordinary knowledge; one doesn't so much grasp it as one lives it. The characters' ritual journey has deep ties with what they really are, and thus the knowledge of the divine (or what goes beyond man) is inextricably linked to the knowledge of self. The Zone culminates in the Room, where miracle proper can take place; the Zone-Room couple is akin to the Temple-Sanctuary relationship that can be found in ancient mystery cults. In order to get the most out of the Zone, man must be animated by a true vocation (like the Stalker), and not only by ambition and curiosity (like the Writer and Professor); one must surrender to it rather than rationalize its subtle power. This can ultimately be said of Tarkovsky's film itself.

Rating:
Summary: dissapointed tarkovsky fan
Review: Andrei Tarkovsky is a revolutionary cinematic genius whose films are profoundly artistic and emotionaly moving. He is one of the greatest directors of all time and I am constatly mesmerized by the stunning beauty of his films. I have now seen six of his films and Stalker is the only one which did not leave me in complete awe. I found the themes and dialogue much to fragmented, never materializing into a compelling story. The religious metaphors of The Room as God, The Zone as the path to God in which civilization has been granted as a gift but ultimately shut itself out of and The Stalker as the guide to religious enlightenment are a little silly. The implementation of these ideas in a science fiction setting comes across akwardly and a bit corny at times. The other main problem I have with Stalker is the main theme of the movie in which the world is filled with intellectual nonbelievers who are incapable of happiness. The film suggest that if we all had faith and hope we would be better off as a society. This, along with the idea that the writer and the professor are trying to deny and destroy this means of hope and faith, is extremely offensive.

This film did however have many impressive, trademark Tarkovsky qualities such as beautifuly poetic, hauting cinematogrophy and those long one take scenes which place emphasis on human emotion rather than dialogue. One of the greatest scenes in this film, or any other Tarkovsky film for that matter, shows the three men laying in a marsh like swamp with the camera panning over articles from civilization such as books, weapons and a syringe and ultimately ending on a shot of a human hand. This shot takes a subtle unnoticeable 360 degree turn suggesting that these things were created by man and that man is ultimately responsible for the destruction of nature. Although many of the film's themes were ineffective, some of them are quite compelling. For example, the idea of the room granting your innermost wish rather than what you go there to wish for was very captivating. We may go there wishing for the benefits of others but deep down humanity is base and selfish and the end result can be emotionally devastating. Other reviewers criticized the change from b&w to color but I find this effective in expressing the contrast in the beauty of The Zone and the industrial mettalic ugliness of human society. As the three travelers venture further into the Zone the scenery changes from dilapted evidence of machinery and technology to beautiful, lush greenery. Again, Tarkovsky expresses the tendency of humanity to destroy nature in order to benefit itself through industrialization.

Overall, I thought the film was lacking in many areas and was a let down compared to this great director's other works. I have only seen this film once and maybe I am being to harsh because I expect more from Tarkovsky. For those new to Tarkovsky I reccomend you buy either Andrei Rublev, The Sacrifice, or Nostalghia first, and to those familiar with him I'd advise you to rent if possible first especially since the dvd is so expensive.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but requires intelligence.
Review: This is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. However, due to the director's style, it is one that very few would appreciate. It is a very slow-paced, but crucially thought-out movie. It requires patience, but pays off indefinitely. Very poetic, solid movie. It's like a novel that you read once and love, and read again and again and you keep discovering more and more of it. If you enjoy thoughtful films that you can reflect on, this is definitely for you, but if you don't, you will be sorely disappointed.

Once again it is very slow-paced and deliberate, filled with rich dialogue and characterization, but the impatient ones will lose interest and won't "get it". This is an intelligent movie, the kind you only get from Andrei Tarkovsky.