The Sacrifice

This is one case in which Tarkovsky's slow, meandering style seems to miss its mark to some extent. Despite being incredibly beautiful and poignant, it seems to lack purpose and substance. Unlike Stalker or Nostalghia, the filmmaker's meditative exploration doesn't seem to lead anywhere.

Tarkovsky's last "parable" is seductively cryptic. This intimate but universal drama features some of the finest (and longest) shots in all of filmmaking--still not to be outdone.

I have only seen this once, and admit I may not understand it fully. But what I saw was a swan song of a brilliant filmmaker (I also think I've heard he was aping Bergman, who he liked) and thats why I'm rating it in this way. RIP Andrei Tarkovsky.

For Andrei Tarkovsky's last movie, this was quite something to experience. This was a “dreamy movie.” A lot of symbolism is used, as well as philosophical dialogues that make you wonder. Would faith and faithfulness change the world? This film was a little slow-paced, but I was, with a little patience, rewarded with beautiful cinematography and long shots. Was it all real? Or just a dream? That would be a question for each viewer to answer for themselves.

Meditative, hypnotic, and visually splendid, but a little monologue-heavy (particularly since I'm relying on subtitles).

A bit too explicitly Christian and less ambiguous mystically than his others--I can't like it quite as much, but Tarkovsky is clearly a master of the art. Indelible imagery again also thanks to Nykvist; much of it exists in a blasted, muted tundra that pounds its texture into your brain over the long (even by Tarkovsky standards) shots.

Another beautiful film full of stunning composition. After half an hour admiring the beauty and stunning composition, I began searching for a plot or some themes of interest. It was a search as fruitless as the tree in the poster, and lasted another 2 hours. By the end of it my initial wonder had been bludgeoned into boredom by a ridiculous plot with a load of cliched Christian symbolism.

Erbarme dich...