Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Twenty years ago, a meteorite fell to Earth, and decimated a provincial Russian town. Villagers traveled through this curious area, now known as The Zone, an alien place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and disappeared. Over his wife's numerous objections, a man - the stalker - rises in the dead of night: he's one of a handful who have the mental gifts (and who risk imprisonment) to lead people into the Zone to the Room, a place where one's secret hopes come true. That night, he takes two people into the Zone: a popular writer who is burned out, cynical, and questioning his genius; and a quiet scientist more concerned about his knapsack than the journey. In the deserted Zone, the approach to the Room must be indirect. As they draw near, the rules seem to change and the stalker faces a crisis.

Breathtaking and mesmerizing images and sounds, witty dialog and strong concept are the major virtues of this feature. Writer's monologues are among the most meaningful, thought-provoking and spiritual moments you may experience in any art.
"Stalker" is a visually serene, highly metaphoric, and deeply haunting treatise on the essence of the soul. Tarkovsky uses chromatic shifts to delineate between the outside world and The Zone. Thematically, as in "Solaris", the transition serves as an oneiric device to separate physical reality from the subconscious. The created barriers and imposed laws of the outside world parallel the Stalker's incoherent tracking methods for reaching The Room.
In "Stalker", all of the characters are involved in an intense spiritual struggle. And while the nature of this struggle is uniquely personal for each of them, the basic objective is the same: to keep the flame of the human spirit within them alive. The character of the Stalker, in particular, is the most fascinating example of the human being struggling to find the right path by using his intuition (that is, by listening to his "inner voice"). And since most people are used to following only their worldly desires in carving out their path in life (paying little or no attention to this "inner voice"), Stalker's behavior produces a reaction of bewilderment - not only in his companions in the film, but also in the majority of the viewers. Instead of rushing through the "Zone" (representing life), grabbing and tasting and plundering everything in his path, he proceeds with caution, as though listening within himself, watching for signs to indicate the next move to him, careful not to disturb anything around him. What is it that he is listening to, waiting for, hoping to comprehend? It is the language of the "Zone", which is the language of life itself.

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

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Stalker (Сталкер) - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)

Close