Zerkalo (1974)

[Boz]

Zerkalo
(1975?/Tarkovsky)
While it presents its images in a wider range of formats than Last Year at Marienbad, covers more chronological ground than Wild Strawberries, and doesn't ever really find its way into any sort of long-term narrative the way Mulholland Dr. did, this perhaps stands, at least in my mind, as the least impressive of the films of its kind, although it is interesting that this film is the only autobiographical one among the bunch. Tarkovsky executes some nice camera moves at certain points, and some of the slow-motion, silent sequences work pretty well, but overall, the emotional effect is lost. I'm still very interested in seeing some more of Tarkovsky's work.

[Boz]

mikevronsky said:

Zerkalo

ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING!!! This is the closest art has ever come to portraying an individual's memories. There is no narrative arc, and it's not a story in the traditional sense, but rather an assemblage of images, scenes, and thoughts which at first sight seem to have very little in common and just drift back and forth with no obvious literal explanation. This, and Tarkovsky's Stalker are, to me at least, the pure definitions of cinema as art. I cannot wait to see more Tarkovsky films.

[Capo]

Zerkalo
Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky 1974 USSR

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A collection of the director's childhood memories.

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As much as it is about the director's own childhood, or his collected memories of childhood, as it is about Russian identity, so it might appeal to both lovers of art in general and Russians more specifically; very ambitious, always interesting, and extremely powerful in patches. There is something sublime in Tarkovsky's use of slow motion, and the way he cuts at the very moment when his frame gets most exciting, with the most movement happening - it is by no coincidence that this is a common feature of ending dream sequences in films... late on, most notably, a bird leaves a bedridden boy's hand, and we cut to an open countryside plain. And the film itself has all the abstract logic of dreams, the flaccidity of nostalgia, the nakedness of retrospective honesty.

[Michael]

I watched this for the second time last night. Incredible, incredible film.

[svsg]

same as what DVC said.

[svsg]

(In response to a deleted post):

Thanks for the link Kino, I saw the first part yesterday and liked it very much. Today I plan to see it fully from the beginning

[svsg]

(In response to a deleted post):

I saw it fully, it is quite good. Although human like animals has always been a problem for me regarding animation films.

[svsg]

I am constantly thinking about this movie nowadays. The images won't go off my mind.