In Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky takes on the task to comprise the thoughts that accompany the films that he created. This means that he goes from discussing a particular technique and why use (or don’t) it, to the most troubling attitudes that pervade modern societies. The art Throughout the book Tarkovsky presents with different perspectives on what Art means, and how does that relate to his craft specifically, namely, cinema. ...
The city This is a movie that boils down to family and the relationships that are formed between the members of the same family. This feels, at every step of the way, a homage to Ozu and the way he was able to portray the intergenerational struggles of what could be called modern Japan. Kogonada tries to portray the intergenerational struggles in an even more modern United States. The viewer is presented with so many clues to understand that this is a small town. The calmness of the characters, the slow pace in which everything develops. The viewer is then forced to slow down, if they are not used to living like that (like myself). ...
There is no easy way to start unpacking what this movie has brought to cinema in any simple manner. The influences that others films that I find dearly close to my heart found part of their voice because of this film. The film is clearly surreal and the meta/self references abound, starting by the title itself. During one of the last dialogues, his film critic brings Mallarmé and his blank page up. This is, I believe, of importance since Fellini never directly points us at the matter, as if to accurately describe the issue or theme at hand. Instead, he does so by circunventing it, by symbolising much of the film’s theme. This is, Mallarmé would never describe a flower inasmuch detail as to accurately paint that flower in the reader’s mind. What 8 1/2 does is present the viewer with as many symbols as it can possibly think of and it does so in a beautiful way. ...
It took me several days after having watched Andrey Rublyov (1966) to even begin to start making sense of it all. This is a film that leaves the viewer speechless if they do endure in its watching. This is also not made for the contemporary viewer, since this requires amount of patience that is not required in contemporary blockbusters (as in every Tarkovsky film). Tarkovsky effectively transports us to wherever he might want his story to take place. It might be medieval Russia, or it might be in a distant planet, an abandoned place where miracles happen, or it might well just be his home. ...
Words, in their day to day use, are descriptive: they describe the state of affairs at a given time. When poetic language is used, however, language transcends this limitation: it precisely tries not to describe the world as is, but rather as it is experienced. A terminally-ill Greek poet attempts to finish a poem by their national poet, Dionysios Solomos, yet he says to his daughter that he just cannot find the words for it. Even when trying to use language in its poetic function, Alexandros is unable to put the vast experience into words, it is beyond both description and poetization. ...