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If I'm asked which
Tarkovsky film
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I regard most highly,
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00:01:00,015 --> 00:01:02,496
I will usually answer the one
that I've seen most recently
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00:01:02,539 --> 00:01:04,367
or the one that I'm watching
right now.
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00:01:04,412 --> 00:01:06,891
Sometimes I go back and watch
"Ivan's Childhood,"
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00:01:06,936 --> 00:01:08,676
his very first film, 1962.
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00:01:09,894 --> 00:01:11,287
With "Andrei Rublev,"
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00:01:12,507 --> 00:01:14,725
"Solaris,"
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"Mirror,"
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00:01:17,033 --> 00:01:19,079
"Stalker," those films
are indisputable.
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00:01:20,644 --> 00:01:23,822
"Stalker" is a haunting
Soviet-era
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00:01:23,865 --> 00:01:25,301
science fiction movie
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00:01:25,346 --> 00:01:28,609
in which stalkers are figures
who, for a price,
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00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,700
will escort people into
this very dangerous area
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00:01:32,743 --> 00:01:34,615
called "The Zone."
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00:01:34,658 --> 00:01:38,662
This zone is considered
to be the site,
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00:01:38,706 --> 00:01:41,622
possibly, of a UFO landing.
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00:01:47,019 --> 00:01:49,325
- Or some sort of
extraterrestrial event.
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00:01:51,894 --> 00:01:54,679
And it has been cordoned off
by the military,
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00:01:54,722 --> 00:01:57,204
because inside of The Zone,
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there exists a place called
"The Room."
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00:02:03,731 --> 00:02:06,778
And The Room is a place
where you will be granted
23
00:02:06,822 --> 00:02:09,346
your deepest, most cherished
desires.
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00:02:11,826 --> 00:02:14,917
- Tarkovsky's got a particular
way of making films.
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00:02:16,310 --> 00:02:18,877
I mean, "Stalker,"
it created a kind of mystery
26
00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:21,358
and a suspense
without any action.
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00:02:23,055 --> 00:02:24,926
He can hold a shot
28
00:02:24,969 --> 00:02:27,189
so that you start thinking,
29
00:02:27,234 --> 00:02:29,192
what's happening now?
30
00:02:29,235 --> 00:02:31,673
But then the shot becomes
something else.
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00:02:31,716 --> 00:02:33,978
The shot sort of evolves,
32
00:02:35,372 --> 00:02:37,491
just because of the time
you're actually observing it.
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00:02:38,941 --> 00:02:41,509
Denis Villeneuve has
a similar sensibility.
34
00:02:45,599 --> 00:02:47,479
Like Carl Dreyer's
"The Passion of Joan of Arc,"
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00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:51,692
Tarkovsky's camera is really
just concentrating
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00:02:51,735 --> 00:02:54,348
on the faces of the three
principal actors,
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00:02:54,390 --> 00:02:57,307
Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy,
who plays the stalker,
38
00:02:57,350 --> 00:02:59,918
Nikolay Grinko,
who plays the scientist,
39
00:02:59,961 --> 00:03:02,616
and Anatoliy Solonitsyn,
who plays the writer.
40
00:03:04,139 --> 00:03:05,532
"Stalker" does have this
reputation
41
00:03:05,575 --> 00:03:07,578
being a prophetic film.
42
00:03:07,622 --> 00:03:10,319
It clearly wasn't Tarkovsky's
intention to make a film
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00:03:10,364 --> 00:03:13,235
about nuclear power
or ecological disaster,
44
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,020
but that's kind of there
in the film.
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00:03:16,456 --> 00:03:18,110
Of course Tarkovsky
did encourage these
46
00:03:18,153 --> 00:03:19,807
sorts of wild interpretations,
47
00:03:19,850 --> 00:03:22,331
whether it be ecological
disaster,
48
00:03:22,376 --> 00:03:24,639
or as a prediction of Chernobyl.
49
00:03:27,424 --> 00:03:29,687
The myth that
surrounds the movie
50
00:03:29,730 --> 00:03:31,602
becomes almost part of the movie
51
00:03:31,646 --> 00:03:33,300
in some really strange way.
52
00:03:34,604 --> 00:03:36,563
The film is about belief,
53
00:03:36,606 --> 00:03:39,218
and there's been more myth
built up about the film
54
00:03:39,262 --> 00:03:41,525
than actually is
in the actual story.
55
00:03:43,918 --> 00:03:45,485
It really was,
you know, one of cinema's
56
00:03:45,528 --> 00:03:47,270
most difficult shoots.
57
00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:50,968
Problems with the lab
ruining the stock,
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00:03:51,013 --> 00:03:52,710
people being fired,
the earthquakes.
59
00:03:54,711 --> 00:03:57,715
Since the film has been
completed,
60
00:03:57,759 --> 00:03:59,760
a number of stories have
grown up around "Stalker"
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00:03:59,804 --> 00:04:01,806
to suggest that a lot
of the crew
62
00:04:01,849 --> 00:04:04,199
actually became seriously ill
63
00:04:04,243 --> 00:04:05,896
during the shooting
of "Stalker."
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00:04:05,941 --> 00:04:07,681
I don't think those people
65
00:04:07,724 --> 00:04:10,162
that were working on "Stalker"
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00:04:10,205 --> 00:04:12,252
realized the danger
that they might be in.
67
00:04:21,478 --> 00:04:23,567
Several people that I've met
68
00:04:23,610 --> 00:04:25,264
experienced a central event
in their lives
69
00:04:25,307 --> 00:04:27,615
while working on "Stalker."
70
00:04:27,658 --> 00:04:29,572
When I moved to Chicago,
71
00:04:29,617 --> 00:04:32,009
I started going up
to a used bookstore
72
00:04:32,053 --> 00:04:34,317
that had old Soviet books
that I was interested in,
73
00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,971
and I got talking
to the proprietor,
74
00:04:37,014 --> 00:04:38,713
Grigory Verkhovsky.
75
00:04:39,975 --> 00:04:42,106
And only after some time
did I learn
76
00:04:42,151 --> 00:04:44,675
that he had actually worked
on "Stalker,"
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00:04:44,718 --> 00:04:46,677
and had all these photographs,
78
00:04:46,721 --> 00:04:48,288
had all these stories to tell.
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00:05:54,353 --> 00:05:56,399
Over the years,
I think "Stalker" has become
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00:05:56,442 --> 00:05:59,096
the central film in Tarkovsky's
oeuvre for many,
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00:05:59,141 --> 00:06:02,012
the film that had the greatest
mystique about it.
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00:06:41,401 --> 00:06:44,533
One of the things
that heightens the mystery,
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00:06:44,577 --> 00:06:48,103
and the extraordinary
qualities of the movie
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00:06:48,146 --> 00:06:51,279
is that it was made
in the Soviet era,
85
00:06:53,064 --> 00:06:56,327
in a society that at that time
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00:06:56,372 --> 00:06:58,853
was officially atheistic,
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00:06:58,896 --> 00:07:00,767
was ardently materialistic,
88
00:07:00,810 --> 00:07:03,423
and here is a film
89
00:07:03,466 --> 00:07:04,985
with extraordinary
metaphysical themes.
90
00:07:07,949 --> 00:07:10,430
Tarkovsky came across
"Stalker" in 1973,
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00:07:11,995 --> 00:07:13,757
when he first read the novel,
"Roadside Picnic,"
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00:07:13,781 --> 00:07:15,826
by the Strugatsky brothers.
93
00:07:15,870 --> 00:07:19,177
It was Tarkovsky's second foray
into science fiction.
94
00:07:19,221 --> 00:07:21,136
He'd made "Solaris,"
95
00:07:21,178 --> 00:07:23,790
based on a novel
by Stanislaw Lem in 1972.
96
00:07:25,923 --> 00:07:28,317
And science fiction was seen
by the Soviet authorities
97
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,449
as a safe genre.
98
00:08:40,084 --> 00:08:43,304
- "Stalker" was beset with
problems from the get-go.
99
00:08:45,001 --> 00:08:46,613
The film was due
to start shooting
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00:08:46,655 --> 00:08:49,005
towards the end of 1976
101
00:08:49,049 --> 00:08:51,355
in the Soviet Republic
of Tajikistan,
102
00:08:51,399 --> 00:08:53,009
in an area called Isfara.
103
00:09:11,551 --> 00:09:12,658
The first of the film's problems
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00:09:12,682 --> 00:09:14,596
happened at this point,
105
00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:16,163
there was an earthquake
in that area,
106
00:09:16,206 --> 00:09:17,967
rendering all of the locations
they'd selected
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00:09:17,991 --> 00:09:19,558
completely unusable.
108
00:09:32,309 --> 00:09:34,878
- So Tarkovsky got his location
scouts to start looking around
109
00:09:34,922 --> 00:09:37,315
in other parts of the Soviet
Union,
110
00:09:37,359 --> 00:09:38,881
and they eventually
settled on Estonia.
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00:09:59,250 --> 00:10:02,818
When I was a student
in Moscow Film School in 1974,
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00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:06,605
I was terribly lucky,
113
00:10:08,085 --> 00:10:11,349
because I met my favorite
filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.
114
00:10:14,264 --> 00:10:16,832
When they came to prepare
the production
115
00:10:16,876 --> 00:10:20,009
of the "Stalker" in Tallinn,
116
00:10:22,099 --> 00:10:24,754
I asked permission
from Tarkovsky
117
00:10:24,798 --> 00:10:28,628
to come to shooting ground
of "Stalker."
118
00:10:30,977 --> 00:10:33,457
And actually I helped him also
119
00:10:34,850 --> 00:10:37,027
to find some locations.
120
00:10:39,115 --> 00:10:41,075
You see these letters.
121
00:10:41,118 --> 00:10:43,554
"U.N." United Nations.
122
00:10:43,599 --> 00:10:46,471
They were painted
for "Stalker" film.
123
00:10:46,514 --> 00:10:48,648
And right here was entrance
124
00:10:49,735 --> 00:10:51,780
into The Zone.
125
00:10:51,825 --> 00:10:53,653
Get closer.
126
00:10:56,743 --> 00:10:59,832
"These letters were
painted on the chimney in 1978,"
127
00:11:01,355 --> 00:11:03,706
while shooting Andrei
Tarkovsky's cult movie,
128
00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:05,576
"Stalker."
129
00:11:05,620 --> 00:11:08,101
In the scene with the busy
United Nations soldiers
130
00:11:08,144 --> 00:11:11,235
at the gate of the mysterious
Zone,
131
00:11:11,278 --> 00:11:14,803
the letters can barely be seen
through the smoke and steam.
132
00:11:15,979 --> 00:11:18,807
The plaque was opened
on May 7th, 2008,
133
00:11:20,157 --> 00:11:24,161
to commemorate the 30th
anniversary of this...
134
00:11:25,379 --> 00:11:26,686
"very good film."
135
00:11:27,903 --> 00:11:29,688
Let's play the scene
from the "Stalker."
136
00:11:30,777 --> 00:11:33,039
I am on Land Rover,
137
00:11:33,082 --> 00:11:35,476
and the train,
138
00:11:35,519 --> 00:11:37,392
with the two wagons, passed.
139
00:11:37,434 --> 00:11:40,003
So now I... oh! Go.
140
00:11:41,351 --> 00:11:43,136
On the tracks,
141
00:11:44,790 --> 00:11:46,706
now the soldiers notice,
142
00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:51,971
and there was the projector,
very heavy,
143
00:11:52,014 --> 00:11:54,235
like fog and mist.
144
00:11:54,278 --> 00:11:56,628
Land Rover turns
around the corner,
145
00:11:56,672 --> 00:11:58,543
and disappears.
146
00:12:00,283 --> 00:12:02,677
On the shooting ground,
147
00:12:02,721 --> 00:12:06,421
it was strictly not allowed
anybody to take photographs.
148
00:12:08,336 --> 00:12:11,339
So I hid in the bushes
during the rehearsals,
149
00:12:13,254 --> 00:12:16,169
and my first shots were made
through the branches.
150
00:12:18,562 --> 00:12:20,522
I printed the images,
151
00:12:20,565 --> 00:12:22,784
and showed to Andrei.
152
00:12:22,828 --> 00:12:25,091
He was surprised,
and said, "yeah!"
153
00:12:26,832 --> 00:12:30,139
For example, I shot in Mosfilm
Studios,
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00:12:31,576 --> 00:12:33,490
daydreaming Tarkovsky.
155
00:12:35,231 --> 00:12:38,539
And here, my favorite
cinematographer this time,
156
00:12:38,582 --> 00:12:41,412
Georgy Rerberg,
also on the "Stalker."
157
00:12:43,587 --> 00:12:47,504
I felt like it was second time
going to film school.
158
00:12:49,506 --> 00:12:53,380
I saw how these masters
are doing everything
159
00:12:53,423 --> 00:12:55,121
by their hands.
160
00:12:55,164 --> 00:12:56,775
It was... muah!
161
00:12:57,864 --> 00:12:59,429
Wonderful.
162
00:13:00,866 --> 00:13:03,870
Andrei was very passionate
about cinematic image,
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00:13:05,174 --> 00:13:06,785
and mise en scène.
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00:13:06,828 --> 00:13:09,265
But in this case, first time,
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00:13:09,309 --> 00:13:12,052
he was arranging all
the moments of camera,
166
00:13:13,879 --> 00:13:17,187
and cinematographer
has nothing to do.
167
00:13:18,710 --> 00:13:20,974
- Tarkovsky is, if you like,
the quintessential auteur.
168
00:13:21,017 --> 00:13:23,323
He liked to quote Tolstoy:
169
00:13:23,366 --> 00:13:25,447
"Never trouble others with
what you can do yourself."
170
00:13:26,630 --> 00:13:28,217
The problem with that was
it made Tarkovsky
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00:13:28,241 --> 00:13:29,808
look a bit like an egomaniac.
172
00:13:53,788 --> 00:13:55,965
- Andrei is behind the camera.
173
00:13:56,009 --> 00:13:58,967
Actors are working before
the camera.
174
00:13:59,011 --> 00:14:02,057
But cinematographer
standing aside,
175
00:14:02,101 --> 00:14:04,234
and scratching his head.
176
00:14:04,278 --> 00:14:05,932
Nothing to do.
177
00:14:05,975 --> 00:14:09,543
So Rerberg started drinking,
178
00:14:10,850 --> 00:14:13,374
fucking around
with the young ladies,
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00:14:14,722 --> 00:14:16,812
and um,
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00:14:16,855 --> 00:14:18,857
it made Andrei Tarkovsky mad.
181
00:14:21,163 --> 00:14:23,253
The relations grew worse.
182
00:14:25,385 --> 00:14:27,822
- On top of that, Tarkovsky
apparently had a feeling
183
00:14:27,866 --> 00:14:30,043
that there was something
wrong with the stock.
184
00:14:30,086 --> 00:14:32,087
And he kept asking the lab
to "please check."
185
00:14:41,706 --> 00:14:44,317
They were shooting
already six weeks,
186
00:14:45,884 --> 00:14:48,322
not seeing any rushes.
187
00:14:48,365 --> 00:14:51,412
- For some reason, and I don't
have a good answer why,
188
00:14:51,455 --> 00:14:54,283
um, they did not check
the rushes.
189
00:14:54,327 --> 00:14:56,417
They weren't checking
the rushes.
190
00:14:57,808 --> 00:14:58,985
- Really?
191
00:14:59,028 --> 00:15:01,073
Well, that's...
192
00:15:01,116 --> 00:15:02,902
That seems pretty crazy,
doesn't it?
193
00:15:04,163 --> 00:15:07,601
- Tarkovsky was using
a new batch of Kodak
194
00:15:07,644 --> 00:15:10,474
that had been given to him
by a producer in West Berlin.
195
00:15:12,085 --> 00:15:15,174
The first time they shot
"Stalker" it was on 5247,
196
00:15:15,217 --> 00:15:17,090
which at the time
was a new Kodak stock.
197
00:15:30,625 --> 00:15:32,626
- They did the whole shooting
198
00:15:32,669 --> 00:15:34,846
and then returned to Moscow
to check the rushes.
199
00:15:34,889 --> 00:15:37,153
Finally they were able
to watch the rushes,
200
00:15:37,197 --> 00:15:39,286
and somebody described it as um,
201
00:15:39,328 --> 00:15:41,394
looking at though it had been
shot through an aquarium.
202
00:15:41,418 --> 00:15:43,158
- It was all dark and green.
203
00:15:59,436 --> 00:16:01,177
- But how does that make sense,
204
00:16:01,221 --> 00:16:03,571
when any cinematographer
in the world
205
00:16:03,614 --> 00:16:07,443
would shoot some tests
with the film stock.
206
00:16:07,488 --> 00:16:10,447
Also, because there's one shot
from the original version
207
00:16:10,490 --> 00:16:14,277
which is of this kind of
rolling pollution on a lake,
208
00:16:14,321 --> 00:16:15,975
that is in the final film.
209
00:16:17,846 --> 00:16:19,673
It was certainly not
dark and green.
210
00:16:19,716 --> 00:16:21,457
So they used that shot,
211
00:16:21,501 --> 00:16:23,131
but they're saying
that shot was all right,
212
00:16:23,155 --> 00:16:24,940
but the rest of the footage
wasn't?
213
00:16:24,984 --> 00:16:26,549
So it doesn't make sense.
214
00:16:26,594 --> 00:16:28,943
- So opinions differ on what
the precise problem was.
215
00:16:28,988 --> 00:16:31,642
Tarkovsky professed himself
completely dissatisfied
216
00:16:31,686 --> 00:16:33,687
with the-simply the quality
of the image.
217
00:16:33,730 --> 00:16:35,864
But he refused to continue
working
218
00:16:35,907 --> 00:16:37,299
with what had been shot.
219
00:16:38,953 --> 00:16:41,652
- Hey, I wouldn't put that
past a director
220
00:16:41,696 --> 00:16:43,350
who realized that,
221
00:16:43,393 --> 00:16:45,004
wouldn't it be nice
to shoot it again?
222
00:16:46,744 --> 00:16:48,485
Maybe it was the way
the lab printed it.
223
00:16:48,528 --> 00:16:50,312
Did anybody check the negative?
224
00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:54,230
Now, the negative was burned,
right, later.
225
00:16:54,274 --> 00:16:56,231
So it doesn't exist anyway.
226
00:16:56,275 --> 00:16:58,625
So now the myth can grow
even more, you know?
227
00:17:00,583 --> 00:17:03,326
The myth is so like The Room
in the film isn't it,
228
00:17:03,370 --> 00:17:05,588
you know, it just kind
of expands and takes on
229
00:17:05,633 --> 00:17:07,113
its own sort of dimensions.
230
00:17:30,701 --> 00:17:32,963
- Andrei decided that
231
00:17:33,008 --> 00:17:34,878
Georgy Rerberg is to be blamed.
232
00:17:36,794 --> 00:17:39,318
Other participants
have suggested that
233
00:17:39,362 --> 00:17:42,451
Tarkovsky was using a small
problem
234
00:17:42,496 --> 00:17:44,324
that perhaps was surmountable
235
00:17:44,366 --> 00:17:47,021
in order to get rid
of a cinematographer
236
00:17:47,066 --> 00:17:49,459
he had become dissatisfied with
for one reason or another.
237
00:17:51,243 --> 00:17:54,334
- They spent already
approximately 65%
238
00:17:55,551 --> 00:17:57,597
of the whole budget
of the movie,
239
00:17:58,859 --> 00:18:01,818
and result was very close
to zero.
240
00:18:03,169 --> 00:18:05,126
It was a scandal.
241
00:18:05,171 --> 00:18:08,086
On 23rd of July,
242
00:18:08,130 --> 00:18:10,653
they stopped the production
totally.
243
00:18:10,698 --> 00:18:13,092
After that,
Andrei got heart attack.
244
00:19:08,058 --> 00:19:09,496
Yeah, that's fine.
245
00:19:09,538 --> 00:19:12,454
- He was put to hospital
for four weeks,
246
00:19:15,762 --> 00:19:17,852
and no visitors allowed.
247
00:19:19,593 --> 00:19:21,898
So only thing he could do,
248
00:19:21,942 --> 00:19:24,771
think again why the Hell
249
00:19:26,512 --> 00:19:29,298
the production went so badly.
250
00:19:30,865 --> 00:19:33,214
And I would say...
251
00:19:33,259 --> 00:19:36,871
that director Andrei Tarkovsky
was not ready
252
00:19:38,741 --> 00:19:42,181
to make the film on 1977.
253
00:19:44,791 --> 00:19:47,750
Andrei Tarkovsky had no clarity
254
00:19:47,795 --> 00:19:51,015
what he wants the movie to be.
255
00:19:53,060 --> 00:19:55,932
Even such a genius like
Andrei was,
256
00:19:55,977 --> 00:19:57,934
he's human. He's not sure.
257
00:19:59,067 --> 00:20:01,155
He's afraid.
258
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:02,679
He has big doubts.
259
00:20:04,768 --> 00:20:06,596
After heart attack,
260
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,510
he was like a different man.
261
00:20:10,991 --> 00:20:14,256
There was a clarity
in the mind of Tarkovsky.
262
00:20:16,650 --> 00:20:21,262
He reconsidered the full
structure and script,
263
00:20:22,829 --> 00:20:25,180
and the image of "Stalker."
264
00:20:25,223 --> 00:20:27,442
Now director Tarkovsky knew
265
00:20:28,617 --> 00:20:30,968
exactly what he is doing.
266
00:20:33,666 --> 00:20:35,451
Tarkovsky had to go
back on location,
267
00:20:35,494 --> 00:20:38,061
and shoot the entire film again,
268
00:20:38,105 --> 00:20:39,759
on half the money.
269
00:20:41,021 --> 00:20:42,545
With a new cinematographer,
270
00:20:42,588 --> 00:20:44,590
with a mostly new crew,
but with the same cast.
271
00:20:46,461 --> 00:20:49,160
This time, they were checking
the rushes.
272
00:20:55,036 --> 00:20:57,080
- Apart from the earthquake,
273
00:20:57,125 --> 00:20:59,083
the lab ruining the footage,
274
00:20:59,126 --> 00:21:01,172
Tarkovsky having a heart attack,
275
00:21:01,215 --> 00:21:03,740
another problem that beset
the production was sickness.
276
00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:16,422
Tarkovsky himself died of cancer
277
00:22:16,464 --> 00:22:18,858
in 1986 at the age of 54.
278
00:22:20,338 --> 00:22:22,731
This was only seven years
after completing "Stalker."
279
00:22:24,255 --> 00:22:26,213
One of the rivers they
were shooting on
280
00:22:26,257 --> 00:22:27,911
to the east of Tallinn,
281
00:22:27,954 --> 00:22:30,566
had various industrial waste
flowing into it,
282
00:22:30,609 --> 00:22:33,002
and a number of crew members
developed rashes,
283
00:22:33,047 --> 00:22:34,701
and fell sick during production.
284
00:23:38,547 --> 00:23:40,680
Is that a myth or not,
285
00:23:40,722 --> 00:23:42,769
that these number of people died
286
00:23:42,811 --> 00:23:45,510
because they spent those many,
many weeks
287
00:23:45,554 --> 00:23:47,512
kind of lying in the pollution
288
00:23:47,556 --> 00:23:49,818
of these old Soviet factories?
289
00:23:49,863 --> 00:23:51,430
I don't know.
290
00:24:29,292 --> 00:24:31,904
Would you lie in pollution
291
00:24:31,948 --> 00:24:33,471
to work with Tarkovsky?
292
00:24:35,691 --> 00:24:38,825
Uh, I probably would have
done back then, yes.
293
00:24:41,261 --> 00:24:42,828
I probably would've done.
294
00:24:42,872 --> 00:24:44,830
I mean, I do think the man
was a genius.
295
00:24:44,874 --> 00:24:47,310
Maybe if I'd known
it was pollution,
296
00:24:47,355 --> 00:24:49,662
and I was gonna die
30 years later, no.
297
00:24:49,704 --> 00:24:51,794
But in the moment,
298
00:24:51,837 --> 00:24:54,317
and being asked to shoot
a shot up to my...
299
00:24:54,362 --> 00:24:56,494
Up to my waist in this
pollution,
300
00:24:56,538 --> 00:24:58,097
I might well have done it.
I don't know.
301
00:24:59,627 --> 00:25:01,368
Another one of the
strange prophetic aspects
302
00:25:01,412 --> 00:25:04,153
of "Stalker" is that during
the dream sequence,
303
00:25:04,198 --> 00:25:06,329
when the Stalker's wife
is reciting
304
00:25:06,374 --> 00:25:08,723
from the Book of Revelation,
you're going over a gun,
305
00:25:10,116 --> 00:25:11,988
and some medical equipment,
306
00:25:12,031 --> 00:25:14,121
and the van Eyck
Ghent Altarpiece,
307
00:25:14,163 --> 00:25:16,165
you also see a calendar,
308
00:25:16,210 --> 00:25:17,732
a page torn off
from the calendar.
309
00:25:19,212 --> 00:25:21,650
And it says December the 28th,
310
00:25:21,693 --> 00:25:23,565
and it's under the water,
floating like a leaf.
311
00:25:23,608 --> 00:25:26,525
December the 28th, 1986,
312
00:25:26,567 --> 00:25:28,395
was Tarkovsky's last day alive.
313
00:26:28,673 --> 00:26:30,413
Most of the people
who are interested
314
00:26:30,458 --> 00:26:32,981
are-are true afficionados
of you know,
315
00:26:34,548 --> 00:26:36,420
the-the culture of film,
316
00:26:36,463 --> 00:26:39,554
and I guess it's a kind
of a secretive cult,
317
00:26:39,597 --> 00:26:41,686
if you could call it that.
318
00:26:43,644 --> 00:26:46,343
Yeah, cult of Tarkovsky,
or the cult of "Stalker."
319
00:26:48,476 --> 00:26:51,913
People from very
different places
320
00:26:51,958 --> 00:26:56,179
are coming and ask me
to take them into Zone.
321
00:26:58,398 --> 00:27:01,619
During these years
I guided to The Zone,
322
00:27:02,837 --> 00:27:05,188
I'm sure more than
a hundred people.
323
00:27:05,231 --> 00:27:07,843
Now we really get stalking.
324
00:27:09,018 --> 00:27:10,628
That's it.
325
00:27:12,065 --> 00:27:13,848
So, I was interested
326
00:27:13,893 --> 00:27:16,982
in kind of stories of misfits,
327
00:27:17,026 --> 00:27:18,810
and other kinds of stalkers
328
00:27:22,641 --> 00:27:24,468
wandering around you know,
nowadays.
329
00:27:24,511 --> 00:27:26,165
- Now, get in.
330
00:27:26,209 --> 00:27:28,471
- You can still visit
these landscapes,
331
00:27:28,516 --> 00:27:31,650
and feel that you are
inside The Zone.
332
00:27:35,087 --> 00:27:37,394
- Now, we are on the location
333
00:27:38,568 --> 00:27:39,875
one of the first scenes.
334
00:27:41,660 --> 00:27:43,662
Alfa Romeo, three meters.
335
00:27:45,837 --> 00:27:47,926
And the car moved this way.
336
00:27:49,363 --> 00:27:51,973
This is real place
where it happened.
337
00:27:53,888 --> 00:27:55,717
That's it.
338
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:57,719
Good!
339
00:27:57,762 --> 00:27:59,634
That's it.
340
00:27:59,677 --> 00:28:01,201
- You are standing on it?
341
00:28:04,377 --> 00:28:06,684
Most of the filming was
done in the center of Tallinn.
342
00:28:08,121 --> 00:28:10,426
- Welcome to Stalker Street!
343
00:28:10,471 --> 00:28:11,906
Stalker Kaik.
344
00:28:14,692 --> 00:28:17,520
- Look at these walls.
Come on here.
345
00:28:17,565 --> 00:28:19,567
- And you can still find um,
346
00:28:19,609 --> 00:28:21,438
some of the locations
347
00:28:21,481 --> 00:28:23,832
fairly well preserved.
348
00:28:23,875 --> 00:28:26,704
Coming.
349
00:28:26,748 --> 00:28:28,548
- You can actually sort of
find yourself in...
350
00:28:29,969 --> 00:28:32,188
um, well, The Zone.
351
00:28:32,231 --> 00:28:35,713
- Something... Now I try to get.
352
00:28:35,757 --> 00:28:37,759
Is it now?
353
00:28:38,978 --> 00:28:41,501
"AT," Andrei Tarkovsky.
354
00:28:42,676 --> 00:28:44,156
Do you remember?
355
00:28:51,990 --> 00:28:54,471
We are in the beginning of Zone.
356
00:28:57,431 --> 00:28:58,866
If you remember,
357
00:28:58,911 --> 00:29:02,087
all these war machines
were over there.
358
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:06,701
And in the film,
359
00:29:06,744 --> 00:29:09,269
no living human creature
except Stalker
360
00:29:10,574 --> 00:29:12,228
never goes there.
361
00:29:19,060 --> 00:29:20,932
Good evening,
this is the CBS Evening News.
362
00:29:20,976 --> 00:29:22,804
Dan Rather reporting.
363
00:29:22,847 --> 00:29:25,459
Every indication is that
it was a serious accident.
364
00:29:25,501 --> 00:29:28,069
The tightly controlled
Soviet government press
365
00:29:28,114 --> 00:29:31,073
calls it a nuclear power plant
reactor accident north of Kyiv.
366
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,208
The Soviets only hinted
at possible casualties.
367
00:29:35,250 --> 00:29:37,818
They say flat out
a reactor was damaged.
368
00:29:37,863 --> 00:29:41,300
Human error stretches
the limits of technology again
369
00:29:41,344 --> 00:29:44,304
when the cooling system in
the Number 4 Power Reactor
370
00:29:44,346 --> 00:29:46,522
at Chernobyl fails,
371
00:29:46,567 --> 00:29:49,830
heating the fuel rods to over
4,000 degrees Fahrenheit,
372
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:52,311
and causing a massive meltdown.
373
00:29:52,355 --> 00:29:54,880
The buildup of gases
in the reactor
374
00:29:54,923 --> 00:29:56,969
blows the roof off the building,
375
00:29:57,011 --> 00:29:59,275
beginning the rapid spread
of huge clouds
376
00:29:59,318 --> 00:30:01,277
of deadly radiation
into the atmosphere.
377
00:30:13,201 --> 00:30:15,377
- One of the rumors surrounding
"Stalker"
378
00:30:15,422 --> 00:30:17,467
is that it predicted,
379
00:30:17,510 --> 00:30:19,338
or prophesied in some way,
380
00:30:19,382 --> 00:30:21,644
the Chernobyl nuclear
accident in 1986.
381
00:30:23,256 --> 00:30:25,474
There are uncanny parallels
with Tarkovsky's film.
382
00:30:27,694 --> 00:30:30,088
The professor brings
this small bomb into The Zone
383
00:30:30,132 --> 00:30:31,873
with the idea of destroying it.
384
00:30:41,317 --> 00:30:43,102
- The professor in the film
385
00:30:43,144 --> 00:30:45,017
gets the bomb out of
fourth bunker.
386
00:30:54,155 --> 00:30:56,201
- People have pointed out
that at Chernobyl,
387
00:30:56,244 --> 00:30:58,160
it was the fourth reactor
that exploded.
388
00:30:59,769 --> 00:31:01,946
So they're saying,
well, here's Tarkovsky
389
00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:04,339
almost pre-empting the actual
number of the reactor.
390
00:31:06,342 --> 00:31:08,866
But in a way it's the radiation
391
00:31:08,910 --> 00:31:11,607
in the film that is really
the atomic element there,
392
00:31:13,219 --> 00:31:15,786
and that has caused people to
relate the film to Chernobyl,
393
00:31:15,829 --> 00:31:17,527
which happened a few years
later.
394
00:31:19,094 --> 00:31:23,229
When the reactor melted
down in 1986,
395
00:31:23,271 --> 00:31:25,796
the town of Pripyat
was sealed off,
396
00:31:25,839 --> 00:31:27,885
and they created a zone
397
00:31:27,929 --> 00:31:29,451
very much like the zone
in "Stalker."
398
00:31:31,237 --> 00:31:33,281
- I don't know who found
this word,
399
00:31:33,326 --> 00:31:34,980
"stalker," "stalking,"
400
00:31:35,022 --> 00:31:37,155
but now it's extremely popular.
401
00:31:39,375 --> 00:31:42,074
So-called stalkers
are making money
402
00:31:42,116 --> 00:31:45,990
bringing people to zone
of Chernobyl.
403
00:31:49,037 --> 00:31:50,865
And uh,
404
00:31:50,909 --> 00:31:53,606
believe that they will not get
radiation.
405
00:31:56,261 --> 00:31:58,133
They believe.
406
00:31:58,176 --> 00:32:01,048
It's strange.
407
00:33:43,891 --> 00:33:46,372
My name is Oksana.
408
00:33:46,414 --> 00:33:49,505
I'm working as a tour guide
for two years.
409
00:33:52,551 --> 00:33:55,163
Before, officially,
it was a kind of um,
410
00:33:55,207 --> 00:33:57,251
studying trips.
411
00:33:57,296 --> 00:33:59,558
We were like teachers.
412
00:33:59,602 --> 00:34:01,909
This building is the Hotel
Polica,
413
00:34:01,951 --> 00:34:03,911
and this one is right behind it.
414
00:34:03,953 --> 00:34:05,826
It was the city council.
415
00:34:05,868 --> 00:34:07,958
We teach you about radiation.
416
00:34:08,001 --> 00:34:09,960
We teach you about the history
of the place.
417
00:34:10,003 --> 00:34:12,224
But now, officially,
418
00:34:12,266 --> 00:34:14,922
due to the government of
Ukraine, it became a tourism.
419
00:34:19,405 --> 00:34:21,536
- In the early beginning,
420
00:34:21,581 --> 00:34:23,409
there were a lot of people
421
00:34:23,452 --> 00:34:25,237
who were just passionate
because of the film.
422
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:27,804
And later, of course,
423
00:34:27,847 --> 00:34:30,590
they started to use the words
from the film,
424
00:34:30,632 --> 00:34:32,460
the phrases from the film.
425
00:34:33,853 --> 00:34:36,030
- I am absolutely sure
426
00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:38,815
everybody who goes
to the zone there,
427
00:34:40,382 --> 00:34:42,688
they have seen film "Stalker"
at least five times.
428
00:34:44,777 --> 00:34:47,867
Some of them know it
from the heart, you know?
429
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,635
- So now we are close
to the heart of The Zone.
430
00:36:44,550 --> 00:36:46,768
The Magic Chamber is over there.
431
00:36:46,813 --> 00:36:49,423
Make up your wishes.
432
00:36:55,255 --> 00:36:57,563
All of the rooms of this
power plant
433
00:36:57,606 --> 00:37:00,739
were recreated in Mosfilm
Studios.
434
00:37:02,481 --> 00:37:05,266
What is exactly the same
435
00:37:05,309 --> 00:37:07,920
are these concrete
covered by moss.
436
00:37:12,882 --> 00:37:14,623
It was for me like a pilgrimage.
437
00:37:16,233 --> 00:37:18,583
Because I knew the people,
I knew Andrei.
438
00:37:21,586 --> 00:37:24,764
And many of them already
passed away.
439
00:37:27,722 --> 00:37:30,552
I had very close feeling,
440
00:37:31,900 --> 00:37:34,338
like, years later I went
to Jerusalem,
441
00:37:36,036 --> 00:37:37,733
and visited places where...
442
00:37:40,257 --> 00:37:41,519
Jesus Christ was...
443
00:37:42,998 --> 00:37:44,827
born, buried.
444
00:37:46,351 --> 00:37:48,135
Yeah, pilgrimage.
445
00:37:48,177 --> 00:37:49,570
You see these two windows.
446
00:37:50,702 --> 00:37:53,096
Behind those windows,
447
00:37:53,139 --> 00:37:55,489
this Magic Chamber
448
00:37:56,969 --> 00:37:59,320
where your human dreams
or wishes
449
00:37:59,364 --> 00:38:01,148
will be fulfilled.
450
00:38:01,190 --> 00:38:02,802
This was there.
451
00:38:06,371 --> 00:38:08,242
If you could enter the room,
452
00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:09,896
what would you wish for?
453
00:38:13,900 --> 00:38:15,380
- I was 29 years old,
454
00:38:17,119 --> 00:38:19,905
uh, just graduated film school.
455
00:38:21,951 --> 00:38:24,518
I-I didn't enter the room.
456
00:38:24,563 --> 00:38:26,304
But if I would,
457
00:38:29,175 --> 00:38:31,918
my wish maybe could be
that someday,
458
00:38:33,353 --> 00:38:36,922
I would like to do
really good films
459
00:38:36,965 --> 00:38:39,141
like Andrei Tarkovsky,
460
00:38:40,318 --> 00:38:41,449
on the same level.
461
00:38:43,885 --> 00:38:45,757
Everybody can make up
their own minds
462
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:47,324
about what The Zone is.
463
00:38:48,673 --> 00:38:52,242
I think this uncertainty
is what captures
464
00:38:52,286 --> 00:38:53,809
people's imagination.
465
00:38:55,855 --> 00:38:57,943
It's a bit like a Japanese
garden or something.
466
00:38:59,423 --> 00:39:02,034
You see the stones around you,
467
00:39:02,077 --> 00:39:04,864
and it's some kind of
a healing experience.
468
00:39:06,822 --> 00:39:08,432
It's-it's a good place
to go to, yeah.
469
00:39:10,347 --> 00:39:13,655
Do you think there's
a magic to the real locations
470
00:39:13,699 --> 00:39:15,657
as there was in The Zone
in the film?
471
00:39:21,097 --> 00:39:22,925
I believe there is something,
yeah.
472
00:39:26,494 --> 00:39:29,235
One young lady asked me,
473
00:39:29,278 --> 00:39:32,108
Arvo, please bring me
to The Zone,
474
00:39:33,806 --> 00:39:36,416
and show me where the Stalker
was laying down.
475
00:39:38,288 --> 00:39:42,074
Her twin sister died
three weeks ago.
476
00:39:44,990 --> 00:39:46,818
I left her there for 20 minutes.
477
00:39:48,385 --> 00:39:50,387
And when we meet after that,
478
00:39:51,518 --> 00:39:53,391
she was totally changed.
479
00:39:54,695 --> 00:39:57,132
She was calm and balanced.
480
00:39:58,351 --> 00:40:00,179
I don't know what happened,
481
00:40:00,222 --> 00:40:02,965
but it is a fact
that she was changed.
482
00:40:05,706 --> 00:40:08,492
That what I saw
with my own eyes.
483
00:40:10,233 --> 00:40:12,496
I have no explanation.
35538
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