Even though, whilst watching it, I thought I’d choose Bergman over Tarkovsky anytime, I do think that Tarkovsky is the most poetic of directors, and there’s nobody quite like him.
2/ Stalker is similar to Solaris in that they both are sci-fi films but the sci-fi world is only the means, not the end—the genre provides the settings for Tarkovsky to explore philosophical ideas. Stalker is more like a parable.
3/ What is the meaning of the Room? To the people who try to get to the Room, it stands for hope—hope for desperate people, hope for people who are devoid of all hope. But it is not what people think it is—it only turns true people’s innermost desires, and we do not know what we truly want. Remember the story of Porcupine.
4/ The film is not about the Room, but about the journey to the Room, and the characters’ experience.
5/ Does the Room even exist?
6/ In a way, the whole point of the Room is to reveal each character’s personality.
7/ Of the trio, the Writer is the most cynical, but he also sees himself most clearly.
8/ It is a very slow film: 142 shots in 163 minutes. It is beautiful though, with haunting images.
9/ The logic of the Zone reminds me of Lewis Carroll’s looking-glass world: the dry tunnel is behind a waterfall, and the Professor returns for his bag only to get to the other side before the Writer and the Stalker.
10/ I don’t understand the ending.
I really have to watch this. What's the story of Porcupine you refer to?
ReplyDeleteHi, welcome to my blog.
DeleteThe story of Porcupine is in the film.