Andrei Tarkovsky, one of the greatest film artists of the 20th Century–and subject of a superb retrospective starting Friday at the Gene Siskel Center–was a lonely figure in his own country, persecuted by authorities and finally driven into exile. But from the release of his first feature, 1962’s Venice Grand Prize-wining “Ivan’s Childhood” (or “My Name is Ivan”), he was a subject of deep respect and admiration by his fellow world filmmakers. Ingmar Bergman called him “the greatest (of us all).” The respect was fully deserved. Tarkovsky’s stated goal of creating films that could stand beside the finest works of literature, painting, music and poetry was lofty, but one which, in the end, he largely achieved.
How well he did can be judged by the Music Box’s current run of the restored 1972 “Solaris” and the Siskel Center’s series of five other films (excluding only the 1980 Italian-shot “Nostalghia.” Three of the five–“Ivan,” “The Mirror” and “Andrei Roublev”–will be shown in new 35mm prints, and Chris Marker’s 2000 documentary on the director, “One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich” (also at the Siskel Center) supplies invaluable context and moving views of the dying filmmaker in 1985. Except for the Swedish “Sacrifice,” all Tarkovsky’s films are in Russian, with English subtitles. They’ve all become classics, but if you must see only one, “Roublev” is one of the cinema’s most exalting works.
The Siskel Center is at 164 N. State St. Call 312-846-2600.
“My Name is Ivan” (“Ivan’s Childhood”) (star)(star)(star)(star) (Andrei Tarkovsky, Russia, 1962). One of the best Russian films of the post-Stalin era, Tarkovsky’s portrayal of war’s madness is about a 12-year-old boy, Ivan (Kolya Burlyayev), long hardened to battle and death, who acts as courier/scout for a partisan detachment. The movie, shot in brilliant black and white, is a visual marvel of swooping cameras, magical forests, inky rivers, incandescent flares and baroque angles. But it’s also a tender study of an innocent brutalized by violence, the most accessible of all Tarkovsky’s features and a great international success. (Friday, 6 p.m.; Saturday, 1 and 4 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m.; Wednesday, 8:15 p.m.)
“The Mirror” (“Zerkalo”) (star)(star)(star)(star) (Tarkovsky, Russia, 1974). One of the pinnacles of Russian film art and Tarkovsky’s most defiantly personal film, this densely autobiographical study of the artist and his mother, wife and child is a semi-Proustian plunge into consciousness and memory, shifting through three eras. It’s Tarkovsky’s densest and most difficult film, but also his most deeply personal; he uses his father Arseny’s poems–and his real-life mother appears briefly as herself in old age. (Sat., 6 p.m.; Sun., 3:45 p.m.; Mon., 7:45 p.m.; Wed., 6:15 p.m.)
“Andrei Roublev” (star)(star)(star)(star) (Tarkovsky, Russia, 1966). A vast and hypnotically beautiful contemplation of spirit, art, war and flesh, based on the life of the legendary 15th Century religious icon painter. The rapt epic biography of medieval times is a soaring masterpiece which, though shelved for years in Russia, eventually established Tarkovsky’s reputation as the preeminent film poet of his time. (Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m.; Feb. 8, 7 p.m.; Feb. 9, 2:30 p.m.; Feb. 12, 6:15 p.m.; Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m.)
“Stalker” (star)(star)(star)(star) (Tarkovsky, Russia, 1979). One of the great visionary science fiction films. It’s a metaphysical quest-tale about a near-ascetic guide or “stalker” (Alexander Kaidonovsky) who escorts a rational scientist (Nikolai Grinko) and a cynical writer (Anatoly Solinitsin of “Andrei Roublev”) through the mysterious “zone,” an area sealed off after being struck by a meteorite. Though its source is a popular novel, Tarkovsky lyricizes and expands it; the film becomes as powerful a Christian religious/spiritual saga as anything by Dreyer or Bresson. (Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m.; Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 15, 3 p.m.)
“The Sacrifice” (“Offret”) (star)(star)(star)(star) (Tarkovsky, Sweden, 1986). Tarkovsky’s last picture, released after his death from cancer: a mystical, rhapsodic dream/fable made in exile in Sweden, on Ingmar Bergman’s private island Faro, with Bergman’s cinematographer (Sven Nykvist) and lead actor (Erland Josephson). As he was dying, Tarkovsky fashioned this great valedictory about a family in the first stages of nuclear apocalypse and a father’s ultimate sacrifice. (Swedish, with English subtitles.) (Feb. 17, 7:15 p.m.; Feb. 22, 3:30 p.m.; Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m.)
“One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich” (star)(star)(star) (Chris Marker, France, 2000). Marker’s portrayal of one day of shooting and one of editing on “The Sacrifice” by Tarkovsky, who was dying on the second day–also a time of reunion with the family he left behind after fleeing Russia. Marker is sympathetic and much of his tribute is devoted to excerpts from Tarkovsky’s seven features. It’s best to see this one before the others in the series. (English, French and Russian, with English subtitles.) (Saturday, 1 and 3 p.m.; Feb. 8, 4:30 p.m.; Feb. 9, 6:15 p.m.; Feb. 15, 6 p.m.; Feb. 17, 6 p.m.; Feb. 22, 6:15 p.m.)
