Tarkovsky, “Stalker”, and Christian Art: Approaching Truth in Humility

thimblerigsark:

I’ve never seen “Stalker” (even being married to someone from the former USSR), but now I want to. I especially appreciate the analysis of modern Christian culture – and our desire to make the complex simple.

Do we do this to make God’s truths more manageable? To make it easier to consume? But is God manageable? Should God be easy to consume?

Maybe he should be. After all, God humbled himself and became a man – he became one of us – and in doing so he helped us understand him better. That was the complex becoming simpler.

But even so, weren’t people perplexed by him most of the time, even though he was one of us?

Great article Nick!

Originally posted on Nick Rynerson:

For those in the film world, there are few stars that shine as bright as that of Andrei Tarkovsky, the great Soviet film director. Tarkovsky directed only seven films in his career yet has cemented his place in the cinema canon. Very surprising, since he was doing all of his work in the heavily censored Soviet Russia at a time when there was only minimal creative freedom, yet that may be that very fact may be the reason Tarkovsky is so great. Aside from his staple cinematography, Tarkovsky is known for his highly symbolic and highly allegorical themes. Which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense. If you’re going to make anti-communist art in Soviet Russia, you better make darn sure it goes over the heads of the censorship bureau!

Never has then been done better than in his 1979 magnum opus, the three and a half hour long

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