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On the second viewing, I was overwhelmed even more by the beauty of the principal actress---but it takes more than that a good film to make.
First off, of course, one notices the absence of any apparent story or plot. This is a not inconsiderable obstacle for any director to overcome. The film must then rise or fall on cinematography, imagery, pacing, and mystery.
Unfortunately, the voice-overs of poetry are read by a purposefully monotoned actor who could put a meth addict to sleep in a few minutes.
What I was left with is an extremely sad-toned portrait of a woman, left alone by what I assume is a husband that had left for war, and some confusing other story about a woman who now was inhabiting the house in which the principal and her children resided at the beginning of the movie.
There also was some "inside" joke about censoring during an extended scene; the principal seemed to be an editor of some sort. There was also "comic relief" in the form of a Spanish emigr� and his Russian wife, with shots of the Spanish Civil War and bull-fighting. Really.
The eponymous "mirror" was featured in many shots within the house, for no discernible reason except, perhaps, to show how cleverly one can confuse the viewers' direction perspective.
Tarkovsky "free-associates" different images and leaves it up to fate, or the imagination of the viewer, to make a connection.
A disquieting film from a disturbing director. One is left with a sense of failure, on his part, and of, perhaps, a great talent gone astray. Or he could just be a mediocrity who cannot compete within the normal constraints of film.
The recurrent images, such as wind, fire, and water, powerfully add to the emotive aspects of the film but to no purpose. It isn't enough for an artist to throw mud upon a wall... it must either have some discernible pattern or form a pleasant image. "The Mirror," ultimately, does neither.

Films/DVD Asylum

Tarkovsky's "The Mirror," re-visited.