Stalker (1979)

After the entry of last week I remembered that I actually don't remember well another movie by Tarkovsky, seen quite long ago. That's how I got to re-watch "Stalker". And since I don't have the best mood for writing, it probably was the best option. Because we have again a movie where's useless to talk too much.

The movie is carried almost from beginning to the end by 3 actors, together with the cinematography, editing and sound that overpass lots of what's released these days in cinemas. The "stalker" is a man who leads two people into a Zone, where something not well defined happened, the outcome being a strange relative reality contained in a deserted, closed and guarded perimeter. In the Zone there's a Room, which is said that grants any wish to one who enters - the apparent reason for the illegally organized expeditions. In all this context, any viewer is left to create a personal interpretation for what's seen = from the path to the Room, which cannot be the shortest, up to effectively discussing its purpose.

You shouldn't expect something clear in the story development - the script written by the Strugatskiy brothers (based on one of their own novels) has dialogues that sometimes make sense, sometimes don't. A problem is that at some points this creates lengths, which make the slow development quite noticeable. Still, typically this is perfectly compensated by the technical part, the editing/camera work being complemented by a location setting that's probably among the best in all dystopias I've ever seen (it was filmed somewhere nearby a deserted hydraulic plant in Estonia).

Bottom line: It's a movie that requires patience, and even more I think it also requires some years = you'll get something when you're 10 (probably not much), something else after 20, something else after 30, and so on...

Rating: 4 out of 5