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The Sacrifice
The Sacrifice
8.9
/10
13,954 Ratings

THE SACRIFICE

Offret

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Sweden, France, 1986
Drama, Sci-Fi

Synopsis

As a wealthy Swedish family celebrates the birthday of their patriarch Alexander, news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island. With the end of the world nigh, Alexander turns to God and vows to renounce everything near and dear to him, if the war is averted.

Synopsis

As a wealthy Swedish family celebrates the birthday of their patriarch Alexander, news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island. With the end of the world nigh, Alexander turns to God and vows to renounce everything near and dear to him, if the war is averted.

Our take

Completed while he was dying, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Cannes-winning parable contemplates the inevitability of mortality and impending environmental destruction with exquisite formal rigor. Celebrated as one of cinema’s greatest swan songs, The Sacrifice is a blazing farewell from a towering visionary.