«Я не представляю себе, как можно снять картину по чужому сценарию. Если режиссер снимает картину, целиком приняв чужой сценарий, то он неизбежно становится иллюстратором.» Tarkovsky
Tarkovsky Pages --
Directed by the late Andrey Rubylov Tarkovsky, the film is a fictionalized account of the life of Rublyov, a 15th-century monk and legendary icon painter. In early Russia, icons were not only a part of the adornment of a church but an indispensable article in every home. The film won an award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966. Widely known as “the genius of modern Russian cinema,” Tarkovsky is also known for his other films which include Solaris, Ivan’s Childhood, Stalker and The Sacrifice. He died in exile in Paris in December 1986.
Eisenstein & Tarkovsky -- any connections? Russian Cinema *
Notes
Tarkovsky Page @ Film-North :
"North Idea": Bergman v. Tarkovsky
"Andrei Tarkovsky is almost certainly the most famous Russian filmmaker since Eisenstein. His visionary approach to cinematic time and space, as well as his commitment to cinema as poetry, mark his oeuvre as one of the defining moments in the development of the modern art film. Although he never tackled politics directly, the metaphysical preoccupations of films such as Andrei Rublev (1966), Mirror (1974) and Stalker (1979) provoked ongoing hostility from the Soviet authorities. Like many other artists in the Soviet Union, his career was marked by constant struggles with the authorities to realise his vision. Although this meant he completed only seven features in his 27 years as a director, each one is strikingly uncompromising in its thematic ambition and formal boldness. Whether or not he would have fared better under the capitalist film industry in the West is open to debate – Bresson and Dreyer, for example, both suffered frequent frustrations in creating their formally radical investigations into human spirituality."
sense of cinema
Andrei Rublev (Andrey Rublev, Andrey Roublyov, Russian: Андре́й Рублёв) (1360? – 1430?) is considered to be the greatest Russian icon painter, or iconographer.
Rublev's Trinity -- There is little information about his life. It is not known where he was born. Probably Andrei Rublev lived in the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra under Nikon of Radonezh, who became monk after the death of Sergii Radonezhsky (1392).
The first mention about Rublev’s iconography was in 1405 when he decorated icons and frescos for the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Moscow Kremlin in company with Feofan Grek and Prokhor of Gorodets. His name was the last of the list of masters as the smallest both by rank and by age.
Chronicles tell us that in 1408 he painted (together with Daniil Cherni) the Cathedral of the Assumption in Vladimir and in 1425–1427 the Cathedral of St. Trinity in the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. After Daniil’s death Andrei came to the Moscow's Andronnikov Monastery where he painted his last work, frescoes of the Savior Cathedral.
The only work authenticated as entirely his is the icon of the Old Testament Trinity (ca 1410), at Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. It is also known as the Hospitality of Abraham.
Andronnikov monastery where Andrei Rublev was buriedIn Rublev’s art two traditions are combined: highest asceticism and classic harmony of Byzantine manners. The characters of his paintings are always peaceful and calm. After some time his art came to be perceived as the ideal of Church painting and of iconic art.
He died at Andronnikov Monastery on January 29, 1430. His art influenced many different artists including Dionisy. At Stoglavi Sobor (1551) Rublev’s iconography was announced as a model for church paintings. He was canonized in 1988. The church celebrates his memory on July 4.
Since 1959 the Andrei Rublev museum has been open in Andronnikov Monastery, showing the art of his works and his epoch.
[ wikipedia ]
* Andrey Tarkovsky: Sculpting in Time : Reflections on the Cinema Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: University of Texas Press; Reprint edition (April 1, 1989)
The idea behind the title of the book is that the film-goer goes to the cinema to experience time, and that the director's job is to sculpt the time that the audience experiences-- cut away the inessential words and seconds and pieces. This book is an introduction to the rules that Tarkovsky set for himself in achieving this goal.
Real Images : Soviet Cinemas and the Thaw (KINO - The Russian Cinema) * During "the thaw" from Stalin’s death in 1953 to the late 1960s and Khrushchev’s rule, Soviet society experienced major transformations. So did films. In this first comprehensive account of the relationship between politics and cinema in this period, Josephine Woll skillfully interweaves cultural history with film analysis to explore how movies at once responded to the changes around them and helped engender them. She considers dozens of individual films within the context of Khrushchev’s policies and the artistic foment they inspired.
Russia On Reels : The Russian Idea in Post-Soviet Cinema * This is the first book to deal exclusively with Russian cinema of the 1990s. It introduces readers to the currents and common interests of contemporary Russian cinema, offers close studies of the work of filmmakers like Sokurov, Muratova and Astrakhan, reviews the Russian film industry in a period of massive economic transformation, and assesses cinema’s function as a definer of Russia’s new identity.
This is the third Tarkovsky's page (see Tarkovsky and Mirror
There are related pages on Russian Film and Theatre: Mosfilm and Russian Cinema.
Icon Idea: to paint the invisible world of God's kingdom, but in forms known -- our human reality. "Windows into Heaven"?
How different from that approach are methods of cinema?
The links between great paintings and motions pictures are obvious.
Tarkovsky never wanted to make a history-film about Rublev. On the contrary, the subject had to be "de-historialized." Of course, he had to bring pagan elements into the story (the same with Paradzhanov). Russian Christianity is full of it, because it was preserved from the early period (Orthodoxy). This shot of a naked woman in the river was a revolution. Flesh was prohibitted by the Church and the State. (Russia still pays for her hypocracy, they still insist on Russian high spirituality and therefor the New Russians are engaged in the orgy of pornography, including ecomonic hard sex).
Interesting that images in Stalker are even more iconographic. Tarkovsky's selection of types is intriging. He separates them into several categories: young (children), old, male and female. Each has its own special code. Also, there are subtegories in each as well.
Two closeups of his two male actors: Solonitzin and Kayadanovsky.
[ my academic paper on Rublev and Mirror is lost; as well as the images! ]
Andrei Tarkovsky Film Forum (www.skywalking.com/tarkovsky) [anglicky]
Andrej Tarkovskij (www.artcon.ru/tarcovsky) [rusky]
Tarkovsky On the Web (www02.so-net.ne.jp/~nenemu) [japonsky]
"Тарковский показывает русский ХIV век, время Андрея Рублева, как страшное, жестокое, вздыбленное. Он показывает нищую, раздираемую противоречиями Россию. В таких драматических обстоятельствах, по Тарковскому, шел процесс рождения нации." Chukrai interview about Rublev (Russian)
Принято считать, что сценарий является одним из жанров литературы. Это не так. Никакого отношения к литературе он не имеет и иметь не может. Если мы хотим, чтобы сценарий был ближе к фильму, мы пишем его так, как он будет снят, то есть записываем словами то, что хотели бы видеть на экране. Это будет типичный непроходимый сценарий, ибо такая запись абсолютно не литературна. Но так как приходится сценарий утверждать, то обычно его записывают так, чтобы он был понятен всем. Это означает, что обычно пишется сценарий, весьма далекий от кинематографического воплощения, ибо кинообраз не адекватен образу литературному. Перефразируя известную пословицу, можно сформулировать эту ситуацию так фильм - это один раз увидеть, а сценарий - это десять раз услышать.
Невозможно записать кинематографический образ словами. Это будет описание музыкой живописного произведения. Короче, вещь совершенно невозможная.
Настоящий сценарий не должен претендовать на то, чтобы быть законченным литературным произведением. Он должен изначально задумываться как будущий фильм. На мой взгляд, чем точнее написан сценарий, тем хуже будет картина. Обычно такой сценарий называется "крепким", герои в нем обязательно "превращаются", все "движется" и т.д. В основе своей это типично коммерческое предприятие. Другое дело авторское кино. В нем невозможно изложить концепцию литературным языком, ибо фильм все равно будет другим. Надо будет искать эквивалент. В идеальном случае сценарий должен писать режиссер фильма. Настоящее кино задумывается от начала до конца. Весь сценарий картины Годара "Жить своей жизнью" умещался на одной странице, где была зафиксирована последовательность эпизодов. И все. Текста не было. Актеры говорили то, что соответствует ситуации. Tarkovsky
There Will Be No Leave Today (Segodnya uvolneniya ne budet) (short, 1959)
The Steamroller and the Violin (Katok i skripka) (short, 1960) aka The Skating Rink and the Violin
Ivan’s Childhood (Ivanovno detstvo) (1962)
aka The Childhood of Ivan, My Name is Ivan, The Youngest Spy
Andrei Rublev (1966 rel. 1971) aka Andrei Rublyov, The Passion of Andrei
The Steamroller and the Violin
Solaris (1972)
Mirror (Zerkalo) (1974)
Stalker (1979)
Tempo di viaggio (1983) TV documentary
Nostalgia (Nostalghia) (1983)
The Sacrifice (Offret) (1986)
... Over three years in the making, Andrei Rublev follows the life of a 15th-century icon painter as he loses faith in society, God and art, finally achieving spiritual revitalization in the famous, concluding bell-making scene. Shelved for several years for its references to the plight of the contemporary Soviet artist, the film was released to wide acclaim in the West in 1969. Like most of Tarkovsky's work, it is a slow-moving, sumptuously textured canvas with a richly emotional climax.
"Тарковский показывает русский ХIV век, время Андрея Рублева, как страшное, жестокое, вздыбленное. Он показывает нищую, раздираемую противоречиями Россию. В таких драматических обстоятельствах, по Тарковскому, шел процесс рождения нации." 
