The Sacrifice
1986
Director Andrei Tarkovsky's final film. In the hours before a nuclear holocaust, a retired actor promises God that he will gladly sacrifice all he has if the disaster can be averted. By the following morning normality is restored ...now he must keep his vow... Swedish dialogue with subtitles. Read more
| Starring | Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Valerie Mairesse, Allan Edwall |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrei Tarkovsky |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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The Sacrifice
Director Andrei Tarkovsky's final film. In the hours before a nuclear holocaust, a retired actor promises God that he will gladly sacrifice all he has if the disaster can be averted. By the following morning normality is restored ...now he must keep his vow... Swedish dialogue with subtitles.
| Starring | Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Valerie Mairesse, Allan Edwall |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrei Tarkovsky |
| Studio | ARTIFICIAL EYE |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 22 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Swedish |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 28 Oct 2002 Production year: 1986 |
| Format | DVD |
The Sacrifice (1986)
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Critics' reviews (5)
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With its location (Faro), themes (alienation, faith and death), cinematographer (Sven Nykvist) and star (Erland Josephson) all primarily associated with Ingmar Bergman, his influence is all-pervasive throughout Andrei Tarkovsky's final film. But the Soviet visionary's tormented lyricism is also very much in evidence, both as he suggests the horror of nuclear war through retired intellectual Josephson's desperate, Faustian reaction to the terrible news broadcast, and as he presents the possibility of redemption, through the intercession of mystical mailman, Allan Edwall. The rigid formalism and uncompromising detachment may tax some viewers, but Tarkovsky firmly believed film didn't need to be enjoyable to be valuable.
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"...Tarkovsky creates some of the most piercingly beautiful images ever captured on film. He is also the most uncompromising of film makers..."
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Most helpful member's review
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35 out of 35 people found this review helpful
Mesmerizing, Spellbinding Masterpiece
This film regards the human soul as the most precious commodity possible and life as it's most ample celebration. 'Time cannot vanish without trace..' Tarkovsky has said. And so the time that Tarkovsky spent on this Earth, has been well spent and he has left more than a trace for future generations to wonder and ponder at.
I adore Tarkovsky's images, so lovingly photographed here by SVEN NIKVIST. Most remarkable of these images are the final settings where everything comes to a point...even THEY have dialogue made up of great silences packed with intensely significant emotions which have come from the protagonist's culmination.
The movie seems long but, it really isn't as long as you might imagine. I suppose it is because so much of the narrative is not splashed into our senses -- ready for regurgitation. There is much we must work for. There is much for which we must contribute our own viewpoints and form our own conclusions.
I will say right off that this movie is not for everyone. Tarkovsky is a fan of long takes, slow character development and awkward silences. Even though this is one of my favourite films, it was a struggle to get through the whole thing...which is, in fact, an effective medium to describe a man who is finding it a struggle to progress with his everyday life. The settings are fittingly dreary and dismal; indeed, his son seems to be the only spark of life in the film.
There is no plot to speak of; the film is an in-depth character study. Tarkovsky has given the main character so many dimensions that one cannot help but wonder if it is semi-autobiographical. Elements of magic realism serve to enhance the character's despair and isolation, but there are finely-crafted human details -- such as a shaking hand that must try twice to light a match properly -- that give the film a very realistic sense. The world Tarkovsky has created is like a vivid dream. -
Most recent members' review
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6 out of 9 people found this review helpful
dialogue heavy meanderings
If the idea of being trapped in a house full of people during a nuclear war isn't your idea of fun then the characters in this film will make you want the bomb to be dropped as quickly as possible. 'Show don't tell' has always been good advice; the amount of dialogue in this film, a lot of it trite and pretentious, makes the scenario look more like an acting workshop.
Otar Iosseliani achieves more with five minutes of silence in Lundi Matin than this film achieves in over two hours of dialogue. -
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