STALKER

Synopsis

Andrei Tarkovsky’s feature is a metaphys­ical journey through an enigmatic postapocalyptic landscape, and a rarefied cinematic experience. A hired guide—the Stalker—leads a writer and a professor into the heart of the Zone, the restricted site of a long-ago disaster, where the three men eventually zero in on the Room, a place rumored to fulfill one’s most deeply held desires. Adapting a science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Tarkovsky created an immersive world with a wealth of material detail and a sense of organic atmosphere. Stalker envelops the viewer by opening up a multitude of possible meanings.

Director Biography

Andrei Tarkovsky studied music and Arabic in Moscow before enrolling in the Soviet film school V.G.I.K. He shot to international attention with his first feature, Ivan's Childhood (1962), which won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. His last film, Sacrifice (1986) was shot in Sweden with many of Ingmar Bergman's regular collaborators, and won an almost unprecedented four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. He died of lung cancer at the end of that year.