Andrei Rublev

Stars: Anatoly Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Grinko. Winner of an International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Andrei Tarkovsky's (Solaris) restored and letterboxed Andrei Rublev is a lushly filmed, if somewhat ponderous, portrait of the 15th-century Russian icon painter. Presented in eight interlinking episodes, the film follows the career of Rublev as he struggles with doubt in his religion, his art, and his country. This last facet resulted in Andrei Rublev being banned in the Soviet Union until 1987, shortly following Tarkovsky's death. After being invited to Moscow to paint a cathedral ceiling, Rublev suffers painter's block and wanders into the wilderness. Here he encounters a pre-Haight-Ashbury love tribe--medieval peasants who like to get butt naked and run through the forest and talk about love. Later, during a Tartar raid on the peasants, Andrei kills a barbarian, and is so repulsed by what he has done that he takes a vow of silence. Eventually, a young bell maker who overcomes a personal crisis restores Andrei's faith and belief in himself. While there are some wonderful scenes in Andrei Rublev, most would find this slow moving. Still, Sight & Sound pronounced this "one of the top 15 films of all time," and collections with strong foreign sections will want to have a copy. [Note: Some people will be offended by the rude handling of horses in the film (in one scene, a horse stumbles down a flight of stairs--busting through the wood, and taking a nasty fall)]. Audience: Foreign film buffs. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Oct. 2, 2018—Criterion, 183 min., not rated, DVD: 3 discs, $39.95; Blu-ray: 2 discs, $49.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1966’s Andrei Rublev features a great transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include both the original 'The Passion According to Andrei' version of the film (205 min.), as well as director Andrei Tarkovsky’s better-looking preferred cut (183 min.), 1998 select scene commentary by film scholar Vlada Petrić (50 min.), Tarkovsky’s 1961 student thesis 'The Steamroller and the Violin' (46 min.), a new interview with film scholar Robert Bird (37 min.), a 'making-of' featurette by filmmakers Louise Milne and Seán Martin (30 min.), the 1966 featurette 'The Three Andreis' on the film’s script (19 min.), filmmaker Daniel Raim’s new video essay 'Inventing Andrei Rublev' (13 min.), 'On the Set' archival silent footage (6 min.), and a booklet with an essay by critic J. Hoberman and remarks from Tarkovsky originally published in 1962. Bottom line: Tarkovsky’s classic sparkles on Blu-ray.]