Re-Visiting Andrei:
Re-reading Tarkovsky's Poetics of Cinema
Saleh Najafi

Description

If Tarkovsky’s films are to be interpreted through the lens of Christianity, the first logical question that arises is: To which branch of Christianity do these films belong? Are they Catholic films? Protestant? Mormon? Cathar? One answer to this question is to consider the connection that links Tarkovsky’s films to Russian Orthodox mysticism. This is an idea that Chris Marker elaborates on in his documentary study of Tarkovsky’s cinema, namely the film One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich (Marker, 2000).

In his documentary, Marker places great emphasis on the recurring presence of the four elements of nature in Tarkovsky’s cinema (earth, fire, water, and air). Marker points out that Tarkovsky depicts these four elements in every film, either individually or in combination, reaching a peak in the renowned six-minute long take at the end of The Sacrifice: the scene where the protagonist’s house burns in flames. According to Marker, the frequent interaction of these four natural elements hints at the influence of a Christian idea, specifically Russian Orthodox, in Tarkovsky’s art. Marker extends this notion by interpreting the prominent presence of natural environments in Tarkovsky’s films as a reflection of this principle of Russian mysticism: the material world is one of the manifestations of God.

Russian mysticism is not Catholic mysticism: it does not fear nature or the earthly body. In Orthodoxy, nature is respected. They honor the Creator through His creations.

Films: The Steamroller and the Violin (1961), Ivan’s Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), Stalker (1979), Nostalghia (1983), and The Sacrifice (1986).