History Creator / AndreiTarkovsky

* ''Film/TheMirror'' (1975) or ''Mirror'' was a loosely autobiographical film that Tarkovsky had been working on since 1964. It is told out of order and is a chronicle of the life and meditations of Alexei. This film did not have an official premiere but has since become better known and welcomed into the Tarkovsky oeuvre.

* GainaxEnding: Some of his movies seem to end in this way, like for example ''Film/TheMirror'' and ''Nostalghia''. See also MindScrew.

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский, April 4, 1932 – December 29, 1986) was a Soviet film director, writer, and theorist. His family had a literary background, and he studied art, music and language at school. But during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]], his father was drafted and Andrei, his mother, and his sisters had to evacuate. He caught tuberculosis, recovered in a hospital, and later dropped out of university and decided to become a prospector. He was sent to Siberia and, in the wilderness there, discovered film.

His films were controversial with Soviet authorities because Tarkovsky dared to ask these heavy questions instead of accepting their dogma. This gave his films [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff extra credentials outside the Soviet Union, especially in the West, whose film critics gave high praise to each of his films.]] However, recognition at home would have to wait until after his 1986 death from cancer, which came just as UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev was opening the Soviet Union again. Tarkovsky was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize in 1990, and the Russian government created the Andrei Tarkovsky Memorial Prize to award the country's most talented filmmakers.

* ''Film/{{Stalker}}'' (1979) was loosely based on the Creator/StrugatskyBrothers story ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic'', and in this film, the Stalker guides two people into the Room, which is said to be able to fulfill a person's innermost desire. This film continues many of the themes explored by ''Solaris'' and was one of the inspirations for the ''STALKER'' series of video games.

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский, April 4, 1932 – December 29, 1986) was a Soviet film director, writer, and theorist. His family had a literary background, and he studied art, music and language at school. But during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]], his father was drafted and Andrei, his mother, and his sisters had to evacuate. He caught tuberculosis and recovered in a hospital. He dropped out of university and decided to become a prospector. He was sent to Siberia and, in the wilderness there, discovered film.

Tarkovsky entered the State Institute of Cinematography after finishing his expedition in Siberia. By this time, Stalin had died and Khrushchev was opening up the Soviet Union, so Tarkovsky was able to see and study the films of such greats as Creator/IngmarBergman and Creator/AkiraKurosawa, influencing him to become an auteur. This openness also led him to explore many themes in his films, such as man's role in the world, dreams vs. reality, the nature of religion, morality and freedom of choice.

His films were controversial with Soviet authorities because Tarkovsky dared to ask these heavy questions instead of accepting their dogma. This gave his films [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff extra credentials outside the Soviet Union, especially in the West, whose film critics gave high praise to each of his films.]] However, recognition at home would have to wait until after his 1986 death from cancer, which came just as Mikhail Gorbachev was opening the Soviet Union again. Tarkovsky was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize in 1990, and the Russian government created the Andrei Tarkovsky Memorial Prize to award the country's most talented filmmakers.

* BadassMoustache: Don't even deny it.

* RealMenLoveJesus: He was a very devout Russian Orthodox Christian and wrote down prayers in his diaries. They’re actually quite beautiful. The spiritual contents of his diaries clashed with the Soviet Union's atheistic ideology, leading to the KGB to open a file on him.

His films were controversial with Soviet authorities because Tarkovsky dared to ask these heavy questions instead of accepting dogma. This gave his films [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff extra credentials outside the Soviet Union, especially in the West, whose film critics gave high praise to each of his films.]] But recognition at home would have to wait until after his 1986 death from cancer, which came just as Mikhail Gorbachev was opening the Soviet Union again. Tarkovsky was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize in 1990, and the Russian government created the Andrei Tarkovsky Memorial Prize to award the country's most talented filmmakers.

* ''There Will Be No Leave Today'' (1959) was his second student film, about soldiers trying to protect a small town by disposing of unexploded bombs. It is the least typical film for Tarkovsky, resembling a patriotic war film, but was played on Victory Day for a few years afterward.

* ''Film/IvansChildhood'' (1962) or ''My Name Is Ivan'' was Tarkovsky's first feature film. Like ''Film/TheCranesAreFlying'' or ''Film/BalladOfASoldier'', this film explores [[WarIsHell the suffering and human cost of war]] as seen by Ivan, a 12-year-old boy in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII occupied Russia. It was a commercial and critical success, and gained Tarkovsky his first real fame as a director.

* ''Film/TheMirror'' (1975) or ''Mirror'' was a loosely autobiographical film that Tarkovsky had been working on since 1964. It is told out of order, and is a chronicle of the life and meditations of Alexei. This film did not have an official premiere, but has since become better known and welcomed into the Tarkovsky oeuvre.
* ''Film/{{Stalker}}'' (1979) was loosely based on the Creator/StrugatskyBrothers story ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic'', and in this film the Stalker guides two people into the Room, which is said to be able to fulfill a person's innermost desire. This film continues many of the themes explored by ''Solaris'' and was one of the inspirations for the ''STALKER'' series of video games.
* ''Voyage in Time'' (1982) was Tarkovsky's first "foreign" film, and documented his collaboration with Tonino Guerra in preparation for...

His films were controversial with Soviet authorities because Tarkovsky dared to ask these heavy questions instead of accepting dogma. This gave his films extra credentials outside the Soviet Union, especially in the West, whose film critics gave high praise to each of his films. But recognition at home would have to wait until after his 1986 death from cancer, which came just as Mikhail Gorbachev was opening the Soviet Union again. Tarkovsky was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize in 1990, and the Russian government created the Andrei Tarkovsky Memorial Prize to award the country's most talented filmmakers.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Surprisingly yes. He was a very devout Russian Orthodox Christian and would actually write down prayers in his diaries. They’re actually quite beautiful. The spiritual contents of his diaries clashed with the Soviet Union's atheistic ideology, leading to the KGB to open a file on him.

* ShooOutTheClowns: Tarkosvky built up his films slowly so that people who wanted action movies and other, more mindless, fare would get out of the theater.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Surprisingly yes. He was a very devout Russian Orthodox Christian and would actually write down prayers in his diaries. They’re actually quite beautiful.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Surprisingly yes. He was a very religious man and would actually write down prayers in his diaries. They’re actually quite beautiful.

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский, 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director, writer, and theorist. His family had a literary background, and he studied art, music and language at school. But during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]], his father was drafted and Andrei, his mother, and his sisters had to evacuate. He caught tuberculosis and recovered in a hospital. He dropped out of university and decided to become a prospector. He was sent to Siberia and, in the wilderness there, discovered film.

* ''Nostalghia'' (1983), made in Italy, about a Russian writer who goes to Italy to research the life of a Russian composer who killed himself upon returning home. Along the way, the writer begins to feel nostalgia for Russia, befriends a madman, and begins reflecting upon himself.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: The appeal of his films doesn't come from plot ot suspense but from mood and atmosphere which can turn an otherwise ordinary moment into something epic.

* TheOner: a regular feature of his films are very long one camera shots.

* FollowTheLeader: The critical reception of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' may have factored into the creation of ''Solaris'' and ''Stalker'', similar meditative sci-fi films. Tarkovsky made very clear that he wasn't a fan of Kubrick's film, however.

* ProductionPosse: Tarkovsky's wife and father helped him in the production of his films. His father, Arseny, also wrote the poems read in ''The Mirror''. The actor AnatolySolonitsyn, meanwhile, appeared in ''Andrei Rublev'' (as Andrei Rublev), ''Solaris'' (as Sartorius), ''The Mirror'' (as a doctor), and ''Stalker'' (as the Writer).

* WriteWhoYouKnow: Many elements in the films come from Tarkovsky's own life, such as the horrors of war, a family separated, hospitals, and someone meditating in the wilderness.

Andrei Arsenevich Tarkovsky (1932–1986) was a Soviet film director, writer, and theorist. His family had a literary background, and he studied art, music and language at school. But during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]], his father was drafted and Andrei, his mother, and his sisters had to evacuate. He caught tuberculosis and recovered in a hospital. He dropped out of university and decided to become a prospector. He was sent to Siberia and, in the wilderness there, discovered film.

Andrei Arsenevich Tarkovsky (1932–1986) was a Soviet film director, writer, and theorist. His family had a literary background, and he studied art, music and language at school. But during the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar, his father was drafted and Andrei, his mother, and his sisters had to evacuate. He caught tuberculosis and recovered in a hospital. He dropped out of university and decided to become a prospector. He was sent to Siberia and, in the wilderness there, discovered film.

-->'''Creator/IngmarBergman'''