Andrei Rublev (1966)
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Andrei Rublev Movie Review
Andrei Rublev is a 1966 Soviet film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and starring Anatoly Solonitsyn. It’s a typical Tarkovsky picture for better and for worse.
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“In much wisdom there is much grief.
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow“
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It follows the eponymous Russian iconographer from the 15th century, but does not really focus on the man or his art all that much. It’s just an excuse to really showcase medieval Russia from the people to their way of living and mostly battles and brutalities. But in essence it’s a spiritual experience as the film is very religious, exceedingly so which I did not expect at all. It did not bother me as it was interesting that he would make such a strongly religious film.
The film is split into seven chapters and is thus rather episodic in nature, but the kind of episodic structure that is still well connected into a coherent whole. It’s definitely a well crafted film plotwise and technically (more on that later), but I have to say that I was so bored by it and that’s why the impact was somewhat lost on me.
Andrei Rublev is an archetypal film from the director meaning that technically speaking it’s a marvel and the script is both sophisticated and fueled by absolutely fantastic dialogue. Some of the conversations and discussions here are per usual for Tarkovsky thought-provoking and very interesting.
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But that also means that the movie is very boring. It is a 205-minute long movie which speaks for itself that it’s way too long and simply too slow to be enjoyed more, especially that first third or so which really wasn’t my favorite. Later on, the film becomes more engaging, but still it’s a chore to sit through and it doesn’t really reward you for that effort when the characterization is so weak.
Yes, I did not care for either of these characters. I guess they are fine for this type of movie, but personally they should have brought more to the table. Maybe I’m just not that interested in medieval films, but I wanted more, especially from the protagonist who’s so underutilized, but Anatoly Solonitsyn definitely did a good job in the role. Everyone’s acting is very good.
Andrei Rublev is, as I have already hinted above, a technical breakthrough for Tarkovsky. Yes, his movies usually look great, but this looks maybe even better. The cinematography is strikingly amazing and deft, it has many shots that are perfect and so well composed whereas some takes and camera movements are also very interesting. I appreciated that it was filmed in black-and-white as it fits the dark time period and narrative plus the contrast of white and black is extremely well achieved.
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The score is also excellent and the direction from Andrei Tarkovsky is reliably fantastic. He was an artist at work here and that feeling I’ve had from the beginning to the end of the picture. He directed the hell out of this movie and that’s why I respect the film and him overall. This is also a very different movie from his other films in time period and themes which I also really admired. The movie is also highly brutal, but I found that very realistic as that’s how it was in the 15th century so it didn’t bother me too much.
Andrei Rublev is an archetypal Tarkovsky picture for better and for worse. It’s a technical marvel owing to his phenomenal direction, a highly realistic depiction of its time period and absolutely amazing, artistic black-and-white photography. The various discussions and conversations are also reliably interesting and sophisticated. But the movie is simply way too slow and tedious at three and half hours plus the characterization is weak and the focus is definitely lacking. In the end, I respect this film a lot, but I honestly don’t love it.
