Andrei Rublev: Faith and art

Entry Number: 2

Film: Andrei Rublev

Year Of Release: 1966

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Rating: ?

*Warning: Major spoilers*

If you haven't, go watch this movie first, and then come back to this review.

The films of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky are for me difficult, as I always tend to fall off on the narratives of his films, but that is simply because I get so swept up in the filmmaking. If you don't know, Andrei Tarkovsky is one of the giants of cinema. His films are hypnotic, and the stunning filmmaking can make you burst into tears. His films are difficult, and often demand several viewings, but that does not stop them from being absolute masterpieces.

If you want to understand his films, you have to understand the man himself first. Tarkovsky was religious, and thought of his faith and his art as one and the same. To quote him: "The ability to create is our similarity to our creator. Art is an attempt to understand - To find the truth, which is the reason for existence." He made art, not to try to make people religious, but to show the importance of faith. My personal favorite film of his is Stalker, simply because there is no film which discusses faith and hope more beautifully. I am without any doubt going to review it soon, so I won't go into detail in how it discusses these subjects, but in the film, one of the main characters says that if there was no hope or faith in the world, the world would go completely dark. That quote is the core of Tarkovsky's films.

Andrei Rublev is set in 15th century Russia, and tells about the Russian icon painter. Today, he is considered a christian and Russian icon. The film is divided into 8 parts and also includes a prologue and an epilogue. Through this structure, the film explores his views on faith and art, Russia's political climate, and especially Andrei's struggle to create.

Andrei Rublev was similar to Tarkovsky in many ways. Both were religious, both were Russian, both were artists, both had similar stances on art and faith, and both made art for the same reasons. A lot of the details about Rublev's life are unknown and ambiguous, which makes me believe that this film is just as much about Tarkovsky as it is Rublev, especially when you consider how personal the films of Tarkovsky tend to be.

I do believe that the reason for Rublev's crisis in the film is the political climate. In chapter 1, he takes shelter in a barn where a rather crude jester is entertaining the crowd. The jester's two biggest targets are the church and the goverment. Some soldiers appear, beat up the jester, and arrest him. This horrible political climate comes to it's worst in chapter 6, where soldiers slaughter a city and destroy a church.

Russia's poitical climate has always been difficult, so it's not impossible that the film was inspired by a crisis that Tarkovsky had because of the political climate. The film he made before this, Ivan's Childhood, is also a rather cynical and heartbreaking anti-war film. 

The crisis Rublev has in the film isn't a total loss of faith, but just confusion around what aspects of his faith is real. The one concept there is especially a lot of confusion around is the concept of sin. During a scene where Rublev imagines the crucifixtion of Christ, he says that the men who crucified him weren't sinning, as they were following God's will. There is also a scene where Andrei is captured by a bunch of pagans during their ritual. He is tied up, and a female pagan starts flirting with him. He claims that running around naked and making love is a sin, but the woman argues that it is only love. Is she committing a sin if she isn't Christian?

The black and white cinematography replicates Andrei's mindset beautifully. It's dark, shadowy, and hopeless, but there is still the presence of a God somewhere, as seen in the stunning beauty of every frame. Kudos to cinematographer Vadim Yusov for this amazing achievement.

The film is divided into two parts. For me, the first part is a examination of Rublev. His art, his faith, and his crisis are all examined. The second part is when Rublev's crisis hits it's lowest, but also when he regains his faith and art. It's interesting to compare the last three chapters to the story of Christ.

Chapter 6 is Andrei's cruxifiction. When one soldier attempts to rape a woman, he kills the soldier to save the woman. He has now done a horrible sin by killing the man. The shot following the raid where Andrei sits on the floor of the destroyed church in complete emotional distraught is maybe my favorite in the entire film.

Chapter 7 is Andrei's day in the tomb. He has taken a vow of silence, and simply observes the world around him. I really love this chapter. It's devastating.

And then comes chapter 8, which is Andrei's resurrection. This chapter is the emotional high point of the entire film. In this chapter we follow Boriska, a young and passionate Russian who has been tasked to make a bell for the church. We follow his entire journey, every up, and every down, and it's utterly immersive, beautiful, and emotional.

The sequence where the bell rises is tense. For a half-hour we have followed Boriska's journey. If it doesn't ring, it will all have been for nothing. The silence suffocates you. And then it rings out. It's an euphoric moment, one that can bring a grown man to tears. Boriska crumbles into the ground and breaks out into tears. And then comes Andrei and comforts him. Boriska reveals the heartbreaking reason for his passion for the bell, which is that it is to honor his deceased father, and Andrei responds: "You'll cast bells, I'll paint icons", breaking his silence. Through the passion of Boriska, Andrei has gotten his own passion back.

The films breaks out of it's depressing black and white cinematography and bursts into beautiful colours. We then get a montage of Andrei's paintings, the camera rolling over them and examining the little details. It's completely beautiful. The concept of ending a film about an artist with his art is genius. It is one of those moments that brings tears to your eyes.

A lot of the filmmaking choices Tarkovsky makes are puzzling, and really should not work, but they do, creating cinematic poetry. The last shot of some horses standing in thunder and rain is one of those choices. I don't know what it means, I don't know if it means anything, but I know that it creates undescribable emotion in me, and is the perfect note to close this masterpiece.

This film isn't just about Rublev, it's about all creators. Tarkovsky, Boriska, you and me. Times may look hopeless and dire, but we will all get our resurrection.

Rating: 10/10

Next Review: The Long Goodbye