I finally got around to watching Stalker (dir
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979) and found it to be beautiful and strangely gripping.
This is a story of a guide, the eponymous
Stalker (played by Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy) who takes people into a forbidden zone near an unnamed city. The zone seems to be sentient and within it
is a room where visitors can apparently find the answers to their dreams. The journey there is long and perilous and
full of mysteries.
The Stalker – an obsessive, rather
pathetic, figure - is guiding two strangers into the zone and most of the
action seems to take place in one day. The first of the stalker’s customers is
Writer (Anatoliy Solonitsyn) – irrational, emotional, garrulous. He believes in the power of art but has lost his inspiration. And his
hat. The second character is Professor (Nikolay Grinko) –
a scientist who is rational, logical, calm.
He has a bobble hat. All three
men have very different philosophies and this allows the film to explore many conflicts
but primarily that of cynicism versus faith.
This is a slow film with minimal cuts,
which really pulls the viewer in to join in the contemplation of the meaning of
it all. It is a story of fears, escape
and of hope but one where no one is really sure what they want at the end of
their journey.
Tarkovsky does not tell us what to think
but lets the dialogue and imagery co-exist beautifully to create a mesmeric
adventure. He uses colour and its absence
carefully. The scenes outside the zone are in a grimy metallic sepia with lots
of contrast. Inside the zone is green
and lush but never quite welcoming. We
sense a life force – a vibration throughout - something otherworldly. It is
menacing but never really terrifying, despite of the Stalkers warnings.
Nature has reclaimed the zone, with tanks
overgrown with grass being the most obvious example of this. We can sense the
delight for our protagonist rolling in the grass and the dew – he doesn’t even
flinch when a tiny, no doubt ticklish, caterpillar (symbolic?) hunches its way
along his finger.
The camera lingers over submerged reminders
of the outside world – lots of tiles (not sure if this is symbolic or just
typical of Russian décor?), coins, bottles, syringes, guns, religious icons,
the Professor’s disarmed bomb, oil…
Most of the scenes are visually stunning. Perfect
composition and incredible depth to the shots – leading our eye into the
journey.
Water is a strong theme throughout - in some cases clear and fresh (life-giving)
and in others stagnant and polluted. The rain scene shot from the POV of inside
The Room towards the end is a refreshing relief.
There is also a crown of thorns (worn by
Writer not Stalker though) and lots of fish plus maybe a lot of other biblical
references which I missed.
At the end of the film, Tarkovsky uses
colour outside the zone – perhaps implying that the Stalker has broken through
his obsession with the room? We see him carrying his daughter and leading the
way for his wife as they walk home, rather than his customers.
The black dog appears at the point when the
men are really starting to contemplate their lives, as they rest in the
swamp. It stays with them and comes out
of the zone with the Stalker.
The final scene is of the daughter moving
three jars/glasses along a table with telekinesis (she is one of the zone’s
so-called mutant children). She pushes
one of them off the end of the table and it (presumably) breaks on the floor.
Is this symbolic of the three men with the falling one being her father?
I am also intrigued by the nuts/bandages
that Stalker throws ahead and did I miss it or do we never get an explanation
of why Porcupine is so called?
This complex film is apocalyptic but
surprisingly hypnotic and I am sure it will stay with me for a long time. I am
looking forward to reading Geoff Dyer’s Zona (“a book about a Film about a
Journey to a Room”) and contemplating this elliptical masterpiece further.