One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich - Chris Marker

dopo questo bellissimo documentario vedere (o rivedere) i film di Tarkovsky è il minimo, non sarà tempo perso, è sicuro - Ismaele



…It’s very hard to fail with such strong material, but Marker deserves credit for cutting together such a superb greatest hits compilation of indelible Tarkovsky moments One Day is an ideal introduction to a director whose name remains, in some circles, a byword for highbrow inaccessibility. Marker concentrates on certain recurring images (horses and dogs; houses; trees; paintings), techniques (camera placement; use of music) and themes (passage between zones of existence; Russia itself), building a strong argument in support of Tarkovskys stated claim that he tried to place cinema on a par with the other arts…

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…Marker shows clips of all Tarkovsky's films and analyzes his unique way of filming, giving the viewer valuable insights into his art. There are also behind-the-scenes footage of Tarkovsky on the set of The Sacrifice, visits by family and friends in his hospice deathbed, and scenes that were video recorded of his London staging of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. 

A great film on one of the world's great filmmakers. It's a don't miss film for Tarkovsky fans, and for others a chance to become acquainted with someone they should know if they want to call themselves cinephiles.

Marker profoundly says: "some filmmakers deliver sermons, but the greats leave us with our freedom."

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This documentary, apparently excerpted from a French TV series ("film makers of our time") combines footage of Andrei Tarkovsky (Arsenevich) during the shooting of The Sacrifice and its post-production - by which time the director was dying of cancer - with clips from the director's seven features.

Alexandra Stewart's voice-over commentary, penned by writer-director-editor Chris Marker, provides insights into the dominant themes and images within Tarkovsky's work: the elemental forces of nature, paintings, mirrors, the "alien shore" or "zone" and the Dostoyevskian holy fool or "innocent".

Marker is also critical of the Soviet authorities for their censuring of his films, refusal to let his family join him in exile until the very last days of his life, and their fulsome praise once he was dead…

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…The film essentially compiles rare footage of Tarkovsky in his final years from the making of The Sacrifice to footage as he lies on his deathbed editing his final film and meeting his family. Told in narration by Alexandra Stewart, the film is a visual essay of sorts on the works of Tarkovsky as well as telling the story of those final days and its aftermath. Through the narration, the film reveals a lot of what Tarkovsky has done with his films and how similar they are in his themes where some of the images of his films are inter-cut with the man in real life.

Through clips of his films as well as clips of an opera he staged in the 1980s, Chris Marker allows these clips to exemplify Tarkovsky’s desire to make films as something more than just films. Even as Marker would compare some of Tarkovsky’s characters to himself as this dreamer who is willing to create something that is unique. Marker also revels in the way Tarkovsky would use similar ideas and visual traits from all of his films to state Tarkovsky’s love for nature and the divine mysteries of the world. Some of which are accompanied by pieces of music from his films.

One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich is an extraordinary film from Chris Marker about Andrei Tarkovsky. The 55-minute documentary is definitely a captivating essay about one of the great filmmakers told by someone as unique as Chris Marker. For fans of Andrei Tarkovsky, the documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in the filmmaker. Overall, One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich is a mesmerizing documentary from Chris Marker.

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