The Sacrifice

The great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky made his final film in Sweden on Ingmar Bergman's home island of Faro with Bergman's longtime collaborator Sven Nykvist behind the camera. Set in a peaceful, austere, almost heavenly landscape where an old man named Alexander (Erland Josephson) dreams about an approaching apocalypse and offers his life to God in order to save his family, 1986's The Sacrifice takes place somewhere between the physical plane and the realm of dreams and nightmares. Long, measured, and introspective, the film is full of imagery that will strike viewers as either sublime or ponderous (Alexander methodically plants a tree on his birthday, friends arrive for a quietly celebratory party, etc.), but there are few other filmmakers who are so attentive to the real world while in search of the transcendent: under Tarkovsky's direction, the camera floats through vivid landscapes while he delves into the memories and musings of his characters. Remastered for the new DVD edition and Blu-ray debut—with significant improvement in detail, clarity, and color—extras include a bonus DVD featuring the 1988 documentary Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, partially shot on the set of The Sacrifice by Michal Leszcylowski, Tarkovsky's editor and friend. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—May 15, 2018—Kino Lorber, 146 min., in Russian & Swedish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $34.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.99—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1986’s The Sacrifice benefits from a new 4K transfer and features a DTS-HD 2.0 audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include audio commentary by Tarkovsky’s set translator Layla Alexander-Garrett, the 1988 documentary Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky by co-editor Michal Leszczylowski (102 min.), an interview with Leszczylowski (33 min.), and a booklet with excerpts from Tarkovsky’s diaries and an essay by film scholar Robert Bird. Bottom line: an excellent edition of this Tarkovsky classic.]