Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer (2019)

Directed by: Andrey A. Tarkovsky | 98 minutes | documentary | With: Andrei Tarkovsky

Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky can well be described as ‘poetic’. The documentary his son made about him shows that Tarkovsky was not only very poetic in his films, but also spoke in poetic terms as a person. In the documentary ‘Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer’ tells one of the greatest directors of the twentieth century more about his childhood and memories and how they were very important for his oeuvre. In his own words, the director of such masterpieces as ‘Stalker’, ‘Solaris’ and ‘Andrei Rublev’ explains what his philosophy was.

Only Tarkovsky is speaking in the documentary. The director, who died in 1986, starts at the beginning of his career and ends by explaining his last film ‘The Sacrifice’, which came out shortly before his death. With old sound recordings and archive footage we learn more about his way of thinking, but little about his life outside his work. Nevertheless, the extra context he provides with his eight films is very welcome. Tarkovsky’s films are full of symbolism and personal memories of the director himself. This can cause confusion, but Tarkovsky was a stubborn filmmaker who wanted total control. He explains this, for example, when he talks about ‘Ivan’s Childhood’, his first full-length film. He only wanted to make this film if he could replace the entire cast and crew and rewrite the script. This control was a common thread for all his films, according to the documentary. Analyzing a film by Andrei Tarkovsky is not exactly easy, because only he himself knows exactly what his films are about. This is also apparent from the sound recordings when he talks about ‘Mirror’, his most abstract and personal work. It’s interesting to hear Tarkovsky’s thoughts on this film. It gives a little insight into the director’s past and his views on family, death and religion. He tells us about the impact of growing up without a father and how this has shaped him as a director. Thanks to the documentary, we understand Tarkovsky and the recurring themes in his films a little better.

Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer’ is a philosophical documentary, which comes as no surprise given the filmmaker’s oeuvre. This ensures that it is not a documentary that easily looks away. It is sometimes as if Tarkovsky is giving a long lesson about his abstract vision. This makes the movie a bit on the slow side. As with any Tarkovsky film, you have to be in the mood to really appreciate it. A little more insight into how it all went behind the scenes while making a film by the Russian grandmaster would have been a nice change. The documentary is highly recommended for the hardcore Tarkovsky fan, despite the fact that few new insights are discussed.