Review: Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky)

PODCAST:

S3E6M – Stalker (movie)*

SHOW NOTES:

Wow this was a doozy folks. I’ll have to be frank, there was much ramp-up to covering the book from all three hosts. Each of us had a bit of a taste reading “Roadside Picnic” wrapping up the previous episode and had expressed a degree of excitement for our “picnic.” It was definitely a unique piece of work as far as science fiction goes. The characters and mode of storytelling were atypical to say the least. None of us, however, anticipated the esoteric nature of the movie. The movie was so infused with philosophical poetics; I don’t believe one of us was prepared enough to cover it (as the usual last minute protocols appeared to be in effect). All three of us were blindsided by this movie, our reactions to it were quite different. While Ryan and I were compelled to simply tip our caps to it and submit to its expansive and artful script and cinematography, Wilk blasted it back to the USSR and prematurely ended his time on the show after not only ridiculing the movie but Ryan and I for talking about it. Not a pleasant dude sometimes, but not the kind of guy who would stay in his militia bunker somewhere in Michigan while diplomatic efforts are being negotiated between the US and Red Cuba as it would seem to be.

-Rick

WRITTEN FILM REVIEWS:

Film: “Stalker (1979)” by Andrei Tarkovsky (Alexander Kaidanovsky)

Ryan: 4 1/2 Stars “…it did feel a little bit slow at times, but it is really beautifully done…”

Wilk: 1 Stars “…nobody should watch this film…”

Rick: 4 1/2 Stars “…there’s a lot there, [it’s] a treasure, and if you got the time–check it out…”

*** * ***

FUN FACTOIDS:

On the show Ryan mentioned that this movie contains “long shots,” which we discussed in previous film adaptions of other works. That said, Rick, pointed out that unlike the other films we watched, these “long shots” lacked the dramatic choreographed action sequences that made those other long shots particularly impressive. We discussed this in the episodes on  “Children of Men” by Alfonso Cuaron (Clive Owen) (movie) and “True Detective” by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Matthew McConaughey) (miniseries).

The book “Roadside Picnic” and the movie adaptation “Stalker” also spawned a series of successful first-person-shooter video games made by a Ukrainian developer. More info at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.T.A.L.K.E.R or official website: http://www.stalker-game.com/en/. Also, here is an article by HalidYusein on GiantBomb.com from February 2016 about the series entitled “The Ashes of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – A Thorough Look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and the Legacy of the Franchise” (http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/halidyusein/blog/the-ashes-of-stalker-a-thorough-look-at-stalker-2-/112663/).

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.