The Sacrifice

"in the beginning there was the word. why is that, papa?" the script makes no attempt at a natural flow; most of it consists of characters expressing their thoughts at lenght, about various unrelated topics, and at times statements sound solipsistic, despite being ostensibly addressed to someone, just as the lead's initial musings were said to his son, but were actually monologues since the child wasn't able to understand any of it. when people engange in dialogue, the scenes of repetition, redundancy, and miscommunication are more frequent than normal exchanges. it is from this that words... read more

when you hear of a film about world war three and a possible nuclear holocaust, you expect it to be in your face, bombastic, and overstated. yet, tarkovsky finds poetic and beautiful imagery by making the exact opposite: understated, deliberately paced and far more concerned with the ideas surrounding death and being human. the plot, at face value, seems ludicrous and absurd. but, the film is able to strike a tone that perfectly subverts this turning it from an absurdity to a vehicle to achieve a deep meditation on humanity and what it is like to face death as a human. there is plenty of read more