Tarkovsky: Solaris - the highway scene

[Adam Blake]

(And Tati is shit in any language.)

oh dear... (sigh)

[Des]

(And Tati is shit in any language.)

oh dear... (sigh)

I'm surprised that a forumista with such an obvious sense of humour can say that about the comic genius of Tati - you disappoint me Andy.

[AndyM]

(And Tati is shit in any language.)

oh dear... (sigh)

I'm surprised that a forumista with such an obvious sense of humour can say that about the comic genius of Tati - you disappoint me Andy.

Laboured slapstick allied to glaringly predictable social ''''critique''''' - no ta.

[Des]

You'll be telling me you don't like Charlie Drake next.

[AndyM]

You'll be telling me you don't like Charlie Drake next.

Not likely. A far superior talent to Tati.

[pirkko]

I'd be curious to hear what anyone Russian now thinks about Tarkovsky; Pirkko ? Are you there ? Does he still get the same reverential treatment that we seem to be giving him here ? For me as an art school graduate he was definitely one of the highest gods of the pantheon.

David,

he's, as far as I can understand, very well respected, acknowledged as a classic, widely known, but that doesn't obviously mean his films would be on tv all the time, or in big movie theatres, or that they would be popular in that sense, because Tarkovsky's films are not that kind of stuff. I think he is also respected for what his life represents, after all he died relatively young, and in emigration, and he was uncompromising towards his art, and in many ways, in his life - he was, e.g. a sort of mystical Russian Orthodox believer in a time when it was not so simple to be one. I think he might also represent for Russians something that is for the moment lost - high art. New Russian cinematography has yet to produce such talents.

My Russian husband admires Tarkovski. But again, it doesn't mean we watch his movies regularly:)

I actually wanted to reply to Adam about watching Tarkovski at home on tv... I recently watched Stalker at home and didn't find the experience lacking in any way:) We have a small home theatre system, maybe that's why...

My first encounter with Tarkovski was in Finland at the university where I was studying. I remember leaving the movie theatre after watching Stalker and what then struck me most were the closeups of people's ears.... I wasn't an instant fan, but later the dreamlike Zerkalo became my favourite film. I'm not so keen on Andrei Rublev, and I liked Solaris, and I truly like Stalker. I've also seen Ivanovo detstvo (Ivan's Childhood), but that was a long time ago. Another favourite film used to be Zhertvoprinoshenie (Offer?), and that may be partly because the cast is Swedish, perhaps the acting style was then more familiar to me.

I think Tarkovski's films are pure art - they are like paintings, or music, or dreams, the way to watch them is to be immersed, and then you emerge at the end of the film with something that is impossible to put into words. Maybe you could call his films sublime.

[howard male]

Pirrko wrote –

I actually wanted to reply to Adam about watching Tarkovski at home on tv... I recently watched Stalker at home and didn't find the experience lacking in any way:) We have a small home theatre system, maybe that's why...

Thanks for reminding me that I had that intention too, Pirrko. There is no question that these films (or any decent film) is best experienced on the widescreen, but I wouldn’t underestimate the power of great art to get through under restricted circumstances.

My first experience of Herzog was in the early 1980s coming in on Aguirre half way through on a cruddy black and white TV. I was instantly hypnotised and wrote down the details of the film to make sure I caught up with it properly at some later date. I also think my first experiences of Stalker and Solaris were on the same TV. To then see them on the big screen obviously added something, but the greatest impact probably came from those first viewings. However impoverished they may have been.

Perhaps it can be compared to the fact that the most potent memory of a song can date from the first time we heard it tinnily issuing from some brick-sized transistor radio.

[joel]

My first experience of Herzog was in the early 1980s coming in on Aguirre half way through on a cruddy black and white TV. I was instantly hypnotised and wrote down the details of the film to make sure I caught up with it properly at some later date.

Aguirre is a little unusual in that it seems to have been shot with a 1:33 Academy gate, ie not in the usual cinematic "widescreen". Solaris OTOH, was shot 2:35:1 widescreen, probably with the fabled and now much sought after Lomo anamorphic lenses :-)