Regie: Andrej Tarkowski

If you enjoyed Voyage in Time, you might enjoy this film a hundred times more like I did. It doesn't have any of the 2 minute silent shots of trees like Voyage in Time. Instead it just has a LOT of footage of Tarkovsky directing The Sacrifice. It has a LOOOT of footage of just him talking about his views on art and life. His wife is interviewed and she reads from his personal diaries. There is simply SO much valuable behind the scenes footage it's almost hard to believe! You see a lot of Tarkovsky. He is vocal, and unlike I thought he is not at all shy. I'm not even finished with this brilliant film yet, just had to stop and check out it's page, i'm 1:22mins into it and it's 1:41 mins long! This is the only film I know of where you get to see Tarkovsky DIRECTING and working with actors, and putting up sets with decorators, working out shots and scenes. I cannot say enough good things about this film. If you love Tarkovsky or The Sacrifice, or perhaps even any one of his films you'll love this film. If you love cinema or interested in art or film-making, you might enjoy this film a lot as well- it even has a very high chance of changing your whole outlook on art and life. Not only is this film about Tarkovsky, a great subject, but it is simply a wonderfully made film, with it's own poetic rhythm. I forgot to mention that many, many passages of great importance are read from Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky's book. This is a must see if you are a Tarkovsky fan and you have any interest in watching him actually make the film. This is on The Sacrifice DVD from KINO VIDEO. I rented this disk just to see this documentary and I am blown away right now. Unlike Voyage in Time, there are no boring moments, and there is a lot of diolouge and action. It seems like they show how they shot every scene in The Sacrifice. But this is a long film, filled with Tarkovsky's own words - actually that's what the film is really about for me: Tarkovsky's vision, life, words, theories, and love of film-making. The best of both worlds, the making of a film mixed with the directors views on art, film-making and life. Perfect! See it, please.

Fascinating doco for anyone interested in Tarkovsky's approach to creative filmmaking. Great to see him at work. The only interview we see is with his wife, she provides a refreshing insite to his personal life and genuine take on humanity. I particularly liked how he couldn't draw a line between his films and reality. Makes sence when we learn that his actual house is featured in every one of his films. Nothing says taking your work home, when your work is your home.

Andrei Tarkovsky was a director who believed that filmmaking was defined by time. The director was more than a person who put images onto celluloid. He was a poet, a master craftsman who molded his creation to do what he saw to be fit, and removed what was excessive. If more directors followed the example of Tarkovsky than you would see more of the personal world of those who make film, but because of the studio-driven world of motion pictures, it is hard to make or to even see these movies.

This is what I learned from Michal Leszczylowski's film DIRECTED BY ANDREI TARKOVSKY. Unlike Chris Marker's ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF ANDREI ARSENEVICH, the documentary doesn't go into much detail regarding Tarkovsky's unique film style. Rather, it's an example of his unique way of making movies, particularly on the set of his last film (THE SACRIFICE). Another aspect that made his style so unique is that (and this is the shocking part!) he was a director that actually knew that the audience had a spiritual need that had to be satisfied. The studio heads would cringe at the very thought of approving more projects that refer to this important need, but Tarkovsky knew it was evident.

DIRECTED BY ANDREI TARKOVSKY is more than a companion to his last film, it is an inside look at the personal world of a genius.

I'm not quite smart enough to talk at any depth about Andrei Tarkovsky. His films are, in my experience, unique. Only Kubrick's films have an effect that are remotely similar, but even that is an inadequate comparison. This documentary is best appreciated after you have made yourself familiar with Tarkovsky's seven great, complex, troubling movies; after seeing them, this film serves both as an excellent window into the mind of the man who made them, and as a touching eulogy for his departure. That aside, it's also one of the best films about filmmaking ever made. It's available on the DVD release of "The Sacrifice" as the bottom half of an excellent double feature.

This grand documentary, chronicling the making of "The Sacrifice" and featuring various interviews with Tarkovsky and his wife, should be seen by anyone who is interested in the minds behind great films. The focus is not so much on Tarkovsky's work, but on the man himself, his ideas and personality, and it is guaranteed to increase your respect for him. In one interview, he makes the somewhat self-deprecating remark that he experiences the world "as children and animals do" and does not consider himself like "other men who think and draw conclusions." I don't doubt the first part of that statement, but it is clear from listening to him that he was an incredibly analytic thinker and *especially* good at drawing conclusions. What struck me throughout the film was how articulate Tarkovsky is: no matter the situation, he expresses himself so exactly that his ideas seem to be fully formed before he ever speaks. That gift for expression is why every frame in a Tarkovsky movie is perfectly conceived and executed: there was never any confusion over what he was creating (and it is clear from the on-set footage that his exactness rubbed off on everyone around him). Even when lying in his hospital bed, he meticulously describes how he wants the color of a scene to look in the final cut: nothing could weaken his commitment. Watching this will not only increase your appreciation for Tarkovsky, but also for the art of film-making. 10/10.