Sunday, June 5, 2016

The Mirror Movie Review

The Mirror [Zerkalo] (1975)
Tarkovsky's The Mirror
Rent The Mirror on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Aleksandr Misharin, Andrei Tarkovsky
Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Margarita Terekhova, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev 
Rated: --
Watch the trailer

Plot
A dying man has visions of his past that include significant events in Russia and parts of his childhood.

Verdict
I really want to like this. Tarkovsky creates amazing visuals, and this is no exception. I like the concept and it's defiance of a conventional plot, but I just didn't connect. A second viewing might change my mind, or it could be the fact that this is billed as Tarkovsky's best and my expectations were too high. It's less of a movie, more an experience.
It depends.

Review
This is stream of consciousness  with images and memories crossing the screen out of order. It's not a typical movie as it's not linear and doesn't follow a basic plot structure. It's an exploration of scenes, crafting each scene for a mood or emotion.  The composition and color is an experiment. It's less a movie and more an experience. The imagery is striking. The ending with the music is really good, especially in a movie that doesn't really have a linear beginning or end.

I feel like I'm missing something by not really liking it. There is a lot of symbolism in the movie, but this is going to be one I'll have to revisit later and see what I think.

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