Watch unlimited films online for $6.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.
 

Stalker

West Germany, Soviet Union

1979

163 Min
Color, Black and White
1.37:1
Russian
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

   |   

DIR Andrei Tarkovsky

PROD Aleksandra Demidova, Willie Geller

SCR Arkadi Strugatsky, Boris Strugatskiy, Andrei Tarkovsky

DP Aleksandr Knyazhinsky, Georgi Rerberg, Leonid Kalashnikov

CAST Aleksandr Kajdanovsky, Alisa Frejndlikh, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko

ED Lyudmila Feiginova

PROD DES Andrei Tarkovsky, Aleksandr Bojm

MUSIC Eduard Artemyev

SOUND Vladimir Sharun

Cannes: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Berlinale, Locarno (Out of Competition)

Synopsis

One of Andrei Tarkovsky’s (Solaris, The Sacrifice) most acclaimed films, Stalker is an unforgettable film experience that evokes the spiritual lucidity of Carl Dreyer and the unbridled imagination of Phillip K. Dick. Since its release in 1979, Stalker has inspired filmmakers as diverse as David Lynch and Steven Spielberg and ensnared audiences in a labyrinth of striking imagery revealing the familiar in the strange, the poetic in the disturbing and the mythic in the mordant.

In the near future, an unseen alien force has taken possession of an area of Russian wilderness that authorities have dubbed The Zone. The only thing known for sure about the region is that few who enter it ever return. Led by a Stalker, one of a small group of outlaws able to safely navigate the Zone, a renegade scientist and a cynical, burnt-out writer penetrate the dangers outside in search of the power and transcendence rumored to exist inside. The Stalker longs to un-do a mysterious physical transformation the Zone has performed on his young daughter. The scientist will risk anything to see that reason triumphs over faith. The writer seeks a germ of inspiration that the crumbling and corrupt world beyond the Zone no longer provides.

Together, these three men become desperate pilgrims walking a desolate trail leading to one of the most enigmatic and tantalizing endings in the history of cinema. A haunting and honest meditation on the intersection of science, feeling, and faith, Stalker is both profoundly unsettling and deeply moving. –Kino Video

Director

Original

Andrei Tarkovsky

Considered one of Russia’s most distinguished contemporary directors, the late Andrei Tarkovsky is known for highly personalized and poetic films. The son of poet Arseni Tarkovsky, he studied Arabic and first worked as a geologist before attending the State Film School in Moscow under Mikhail Romm. While there he made a pair of short films, “There Will Be No Leave Today” (1959) and the acclaimed Katok i Skripka/The Steamroller and the Violin (his diploma film). Following graduation in 1960, Tarkovsky went to work for Mosfilm and made his feature-film directorial debut in 1962 with Ivanovo Detstvo/Ivan’s Childhood. The film earned him top honors at that year’s Venice Film Festival. His sophomore film, Andrei Rublev, is Tarkovsky’s most renowned work. Ostensibly a portrait of a 15th century Russian painter, the film is actually a metaphorical drama mirroring the plight of Russian artists. Some have expanded the film’s parable to reflect the dramatic effects of war and chaos upon humanity… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 138 wall posts.
Picture of nanuk

nanuk

9Feb12

Very encompassing. Fear. Blind faith. Allegorical. Wonderful film.

Picture of Christofer Pierson

Christofer Pierson

3Feb12

Much ado about nothing, perhaps, with strong emphasis on "much," "ado," "about," "nothing," and "perhaps."

Bruno Braunsburger

3Feb12

Top 5 of my life... visual poetry, to say the least.

Máté Csóka

31Jan12

Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz meets Barry Levinson's Sphere.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 5935 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Daily Briefing. Max Ophüls @TCM

By David Hudson on January 23, 2012

Also: Free Korean films in New York, first reviews of Geoff Dyer’s Zona and more.

read article
W184

Daily Briefing. "Zona": Geoff Dyer on Tarkovsky's "Stalker"

By David Hudson on October 28, 2011

Also: Incite Journal of Experimental Media, David C Stone, the International Documentary Association nominees and more.

read article
W184

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009: Countdown ("Paper Soldier," German, Russia)

By David Cairns on July 6, 2009

  Paper Soldier, dealing as it does with the early days of the Soviet space program (post-Sputnik, pre-manned flight) stands as a sort

read article
W184

Film Canons

By Pacze Moj on November 3, 2008

In the September 2006 issue of Film Comment, writer-director-critic Paul Schrader wrote a 16-page history/defense of film canons that ended

read article

Lists

Displaying 5 of 726 lists.

Reviews

Displaying 4 of 12

Sublime.

By Marco on November 4, 2011

Tarkovsky explores the deepest recesses of human soul on the waves of Artemiev’s soundtrack. Every step, every breath, every word is full of meaning. The struggle between the most powerful forces inside…  read review

A QUASI-PROPHET CALLED STALKER!

By LAUGHTO​DEATH on June 6, 2010

Pernah nonton Stalker?, film (fiksi sains?) arahan Andrei Tarkovsky yang dirilis tahun 1979. Ceritanya, seorang penulis dan professor berencana menguncungi sebuah area misterius ditengah hutan. area…  read review

STALKER : LOS MUNDOS PARALELOS DE UNA OBRA MAESTRA

By VENIMOS LOS JODIMOS Y NOS FUIMOS on November 11, 2009

Alguna vez, Andrei Tarkovsky afirmó:
“Al poeta le basta con mostrar un fragmento de un objeto para dar la imagen de un conjunto coherente…un dedo de un pie que sale de un zapato es suficiente para…  read review

Untitled

By Eloi MV on September 26, 2009

Stalker, wich is for me Tarkovsky’s finest work and one of the most challenging and beautiful movie ever created, is practically perfect in every way. Not only the symbolism is as strong as any of…  read review

Forum

Displaying 8 of 11 discussion topics.

What do people see in this? Need insight.

10 posts by 9 people 2 days ago

Who wants "Stalker" to appear on Criterion?

110 posts by 47 people 3 months ago

Stalker

11 posts by 8 people 6 months ago

OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO AMAZING I AM SO SPEECHLESS AHHHHHH

14 posts by 10 people 10 months ago

Was the black dog GOD?

34 posts by 17 people about 1 year ago

stalker is a terrible film

10 posts by 10 people about 1 year ago

stalker is a terrible film

1 post by 1 person about 1 year ago