Andrei Rublev is anVisual Spectacle of Beauty and Brutality

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky Released: 1966

Genre: Drama Length: 3h 25m

SYNOPSIS:

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev (Anatoliy Solonitsyn). Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

REVIEW:

I see Andrei Rublev’s movie itself as more of an icon than a movie about an iconic painter (should be seen as an “animated icon”). This icon is a painting by an artist in which no one has raised the brush. In Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky manages to offer an astonishing explanation of the duality of the world, the duality of materialism and metaphysics, which Tarkovsky explored with unparalleled ingenuity in this great work. In this epic, he creates a medieval world so full of life and so rich in detail that few, if anything, can match it.

The film presents a semi-autobiographical novel by Andrei Rublev, considered the greatest medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescoes. As an epic Russian novel, Andrei Rublev also known as The Passion according to Tarkovsky — not only beautifully depicts frescoes of a large group of important religious figures but also poignantly depicts the Russian spirit. Tarkovsky succeeds in portraying the spirit of a passionate artist lost in his bad times and forced to question his genius, and also succeeds in providing a shining icon of a very turbulent phase of Russian history.

“The allotted function of art is not, as is often assumed, to put across ideas, to propagate thoughts, to serve as an example. The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good.”

Andrei Rublev is beautifully presented in the form of seven chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion, with each chapter figuratively depicting a different theme. Through Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky explains that spirituality lies at the heart of creative freedom, and it is this divine connection that gives the artist his inspiration. Andrei Rublev also speaks of self-inflicted mediocrity, which slowly but surely leads to poverty of thought and which subsequently leads to a state of intellectual stagnation.

Tarkovsky deals brutally with the dualism of art as healer and punisher, for those who are true to themselves art can be a great healer, while for those who doubt their abilities art can be a ruthless punishment. In Andrei Rublev. Tarkovsky also dwells on the hypocrisy of human existence, Tarkovsky also refers to the subordination of man to the omnipotence of art, not as a symbol of acceptance of its authority but as a glimpse of recognition of its greatness. It would not be inconceivable to imagine that Andrei Rublev Tarkovsky is trying to alleviate his artistic suffering, which was fueled by the constant ignorance and indifference of the idle life around him that has become a daily reality for the artist.

Tarkovsky glides through these grotesque and isolated artistic areas to most directors with ease and comfort and shows you a dreamy artist so lost in his art that to the superficial viewer what is going on seems to be a kind of self-indulgence that a narcissist displays as he is so overwhelmed with his egos he is incapable of being a productive person. But under the facade of indifference lies a selfless man, driven by the innocence of his artistic fervour and capable of giving his audience far more than he can keep for himself. Swedish maestro Ernst Ingmar Bergman said of Tarkovsky: “When a film isn’t documentary, it’s a dream. That’s why Tarkovsky is the greatest director. He moves in a very natural way in the dream room. He doesn’t explain. What should be interpreted anyway? He’s a spectator. “He is able to photograph his vision despite all difficulties. All my life I have been knocking on the doors of the rooms in which he moves freely. Only a few times have I tried to enter these rooms. Most of my efforts have ended in embarrassing disappointments.” Andrei Rublev, like most of Tarkovsky’s works, is more than a film with a narrative story. In Andrei Rubley, Andrei Tarkovsky clearly and concisely touches on many conflicting as well as mutual themes: existentialism, spirituality, theology, metaphysics, empiricism, objectivity, politics, etc. In 1961, while filming his first feature film, Ivan’s Childhood, Tarkovsky proposed to his contract production house to make a film about the life of Andrei Rublev. Tarkovsky and his co-screenwriter Andrei Konchalovsky researched for more than two years to develop the script and in 1964 the script was completed and filming began.

“What is praised today is abused tomorrow. They will forget you, me, everything.”

Andrei Rublev introduces viewers to a group of creative but complex characters including a clown, and monks: Andrei, Kirill and Daniel. Theophanes the Greek, and the young Belmaker — most of whom are either victims of their vanity or lack thereof, Tarkovsky uses these complex caricatures as a means of depicting various human figures. Optimist, pessimist, idealist, humanist, opportunist, sadist, etc.

Andrei Rublev also serves as a reference for some of the greatest movie scenes ever filmed in the history of cinema. This includes a strange prologue depicting a man taking a hot air balloon flight to escape a crowd of ignorant people, a witch orgies scene depicted as part of some pagan ritual, the scene of a clown getting arrested for mocking the boyars, Cyril’s meeting with Theophanes the Greek and other scenes. The final scene of the film depicts some of the real works of Andrei Rublev in the form of a montage where the viewer finally sees (in the literal sense) the artistic genius of a great artist. The above scenes and a dozen or more are of a very symbolic nature which can be interpreted in more than one way, and perhaps that is what makes the many views of this movie so necessary.

Due to its controversial nature, the film could not have been released domestically early on, and a heavily edited version was only released in the Soviet Union in 1971. Andrei Rublev’s gruesome visuals combined with stunning cinematography-high detail with long, slick-like shots In a dream — a poetic feeling. Andrei Rublev is an unforgettable cinematic experience that is living testament to the timelessness of cinema. Another aspect of Andrei Rublev worth mentioning is that despite its rebellious subject matter and contrasting themes, the film has an undercurrent of subtlety that balances it out and prevents it from falling into the trap of exaggeration which is something Tarkovsky has always taken care of so meticulously.

With Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky brings cinema to new heights and depths, yet we hardly witness the mysticism and imagination that characterizes Tarkovsky — the dominant motifs in his later works. Andrei Rublev is a great way to learn about Tarkovsky’s approach to filmmaking before delving into his works, such as Solaris (1972), Stalker (1979), Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986). Andrei Rublev exemplifies the artistic yearning of an idealistic artist and represents the kind of healing cinema that may be hard to imbibe early on given its depth but will reward those who are patient and willing to delve deep enough to savour its true essence.

“If you look for a meaning, you’ll miss everything that happens.”