How can there be happiness for the unhappiness of others? The film is a milestone in Tarkovsky's filmography. After it, there was only Nostalgia and Sacrifice, but they did not have such huge success as this film. Tarkovsky himself noted that this film was the most difficult for him. He shoots in his particular genre, in the sense of the word that he in each of his new films reveals the characters of the human soul in a new way. If in "Ivan's childhood" clearly traced the idea of combining in one person the character of an adult and a child in the person of Ivan. In "Andrey Rublev" so directly and not say all the spiritual torment of the hero Solonitsyn. There was so much that it seems that Rublev took a vow of silence at the end of the film. Therefore, “Andrey Rublev” is probably the most important film of Tarkovsky. In "Solaris" approximately similar motives, only if there clearly loomed nostalgic line, strong love for the homeland, then in "Stalker" can be traced as a love for a fictional homeland, a certain paradise on earth for the main character named Stalker, and other spiritual experiences of the protagonist, such as love for all mankind. Yes, he just exuded humanism, but about everything in order.
Scenario line as such, but it does not have any special significance here. That's not the point. Well, they're going through this zone, coming. And then what? Well, they will come to this “wisher”... Everything here is based on images. The main ones are “Zone” and “Wish Executor”. “Zone” is like a kind of space, or better to say that space station from the film “Solaris”, only with the only difference that in “Stalker” it is “paradise on earth”, salvation from the rest of the world, then in “Solaris” on the contrary, it was an unfriendly place. Therefore, the main character rushed back to earth, and only in Harry he found solace.
The second main image is the “wisher”. Here it can be interpreted in different ways. But in the end, for the hero, it remains an impossible goal, to which everyone strives, but cannot achieve. And a very revealing moment when the three main characters sit at the threshold of the "wisher" and it rains. Stalker said that those who visited this room did not receive much happiness, but were nevertheless satisfied. So it's not the room, it's the person. It's the same as coffee in the morning. When you drink it, it seems that you do not want to sleep, although, basically, the coffee itself has nothing to do with it, it is in psychology. If you think you don't want to sleep, you won't. Same here. If you think that your cherished desire will come true, then so it will be. And Stalker rightly said that he is nobody, that he does nothing, that people do everything. In the film there are three main characters with characteristic nicknames. They didn't give them names, so they gave them names. Stalker, Writer and Professor. Each with his own goals goes to the Zone, with his own philosophy and understanding of the world, which the rest, for the most part, do not understand.
Stalker: The main character of the film. He goes to the Zone to feel that he is at home. Although it is not his home, he feels at home here. And, also, characterized by the first frames of stay on the "Zone". How Stalker's face changes upon arrival. From gloomy to joyful. And rolling on the grass with such a good-natured smile. This can only happen to a very happy person, as Stalker was in the zone. And one of his last words in the film, that I have no one else to take there, that people do not need anything else, was said with such intonation. The professor rightly said that stalker, it is to some extent a calling. This is true of our hero.
Writer: One of Stalker's two fellow travelers. He goes to the Zone for inspiration, but as the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that he does not want to write anymore, that he does not need any inspiration, and that he does not even strive for the Wish Executor. Philosophy constantly and on various topics. By the way, he was played by Anatoly Solonitsyn, one of Tarkovsky’s favorite actors, who shoots him in almost all films. After all his work, he became one of my favorite actors. Still, all his works he adds a certain choralism, although in addition to Rublev he has no more roles of the first plan.
Professor: He goes to the Zone as if for no reason, but in the end it turns out that both she and the Wish Executor cause him great anxiety. He cares about the future of the earth, and since he is a professor of physics by profession, of course he does not believe in the “Wish Executor”, but, nevertheless, he knows what people believe, so he wants to isolate him from them.
The movie, of course, may not like anyone. For too long a time, too many philosophical conversations and reasoning. At first, it bothered me, but I still have to admit that the film is a masterpiece. One of the four Soviet films that I can call masterpieces. Because of what? It's simple. Tarkovsky from a fantastic story creates not a dystopia (and for someone just a utopia), or a parable. The film is very multifaceted. I'm not going to say cliche words. Let me tell you what I liked about the film in the first place. First of all, the conversations that have always bothered me. Although they are mostly left-wing, they are still very important. And not just because everyone is mostly truthful, not empty chatter. Each of them reveals in a new way the character of his hero. Because of them, the story fades into the background. Secondly, it is, of course, the drawing of the outside world. From a visual point of view, the film is flawless. And it is very interesting to watch when Stalker finds everything at home, everything looks in gray-yellow tones, when he is in the Zone, everything turns color. This suggests that in the “Zone” he feels at home, and at home as in exile.
I will not say that this is my favorite film of Tarkovsky. The same "Solaris" I like better, but still, it is worth admitting that it is, in terms of semantic load, the most complex and multifaceted of his film. Even stronger than Andrey Rublev. Original
