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4.254.139.126
re-wound the parts immediately before I fell asleep, made some espresso, and watched to the end.
This movie is maddening because one wants to like it. The protagonist is charismatic and beautiful. The cinematography is perfectly realized. The cuts and placements of different shots, stills, documentaries, is masterful.
But...it doesn't tell an intelligible story nor does it have the pace to keep one's attention.
It is, in fact, kind of like listening to some modern composers, like John Cage...pretty snippits mixed so woefully together that they grate upon the senses (quietly so, in Tarkovsky's case).
Follow Ups:
One of the most dense and poetic film ever.
Review pending.
Please give it another chance if you get the opportunity, and don't think so much about what it all means, just let its images and sounds wash over you. What Tarkovsky was after often seeps into one as if by osmosis, but even if it all remains hopelessly inscrutable, it's nonetheless a joy to make the attempt.
***Please give it another chance if you get the opportunity, and don't think so much about what it all means, just let its images and sounds wash over you.Not a smart advice here at all. While in some cases such approach might work, in the Mirror things do have powerful meanings, and the film is actually built on them. Remove them and you lose most of what the film is trying to tell you. Kind of like visiting a beautiful cathedral with no idea about the religion or world history. Just staring at the shape of the building.
Staring at the shape of a building, one can appreciate the surface aesthetics of it without knowing anything of its history, just as one can appreciate the sights and sounds of Mirror without knowing what Tarkovsky was getting at. Of course, to fully appreciate it means engaging with the work on a further level, but one has to start somewhere, doesn't one? More will likely be revealed upon further viewings, even if one isn't looking for more.
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beautiful, fascinating woman you think before the date may be the woman of your dreams....and later, the let down that there is zero chemistry.
I must watch Solaris again. In college, it was one of my favorite films, I must have watched it six or seven times. I tried to watch it a couple of years ago but the magic was gone. Maybe I was in the wrong mood or something. I'm going to try it again, anyhow.
Same thing happened with Alphaville. Only got through ten minutes when the monotone narration got to me...
If you own the Mirror, I wish one day you get into right mood and feel that special emotion that that film can produce. It is a very special film, and I love it.Solaris should be taken in moderation. It is capable of creating deep experience, but one must get above some of the obvious technical problems in the film... heck, it was not made in Hollywood, and that shows... sometimes good, someties not too good.
But with both films you must get into right mood, else it ain't gonna work. Like right now, as I am thinking of Solaris, I am feeling that sense of submersion enveloping me... so just a bit more, Banionis (one of my all time favorite actors, unknown in the West) on the screen, and I am ready to float. I want to see again that endless fly through the Tokyo tunnel. It is a real trip.
I really don't know why it didn't work for you with the Mirror. Perhaps the subs are not up to snuff? The dialogue is meaningfull, so it is possible it didn't get through. There is also a bit of history one must be aware of, the WWII in Russia time and its unique flavor.
My wife is usually irritated by Tarkovsky, but she would watch the Mirror gladly.
Anyway, I would try it again a bit later.
much anytime. I'll watch it again in a few days. I have a sneaky feeling that repeated viewings, due to the complexity of the story, will prove worthwhile.
The images, for instance, of the wind through the grass and leaves, are very powerful.
But, we'll see. I don't like several major composers, either...
I read some reviews to refresh my feelings about this film, and I liked this paragraph:"Surely this is not what he intended: he didn't make this for a comfortable American/European. And if not made just for himself it was for people who shared the same world. So at least as far as the content, we are attracted to an unfamiliar castle. But so far as the 'personal' form, I think he has found something strangely cosmic. This may be the best film (with Rublev) of one of the three most important filmmakers in history."
I agree with those statements. Much of the film's effect and unspoken language will be lost if one doesn't naturally and immediately get its many subtle clues - all engraned in the oh-so-typical and often gray and dreary life the hero was part of.
So in essence you have here the antithesis of the other interesting Russian film - The Russian Ark. While one is most definitely (and skillfully) made for the foreign consumption, the Mirror is the insider's movie. Which is not to say a foreigner will not be able to get a significant part of its story and language, but the subtlety might be lost.
I don't know... this might be one of the rare cases when reading a lot about the film before watching it might be a good idea.
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