This is just ... ugh, so goddamn brilliant. For a scene with no dialogue, sparse music and long shots, it manages to be so captivating. This scene alone proves why Tarkovsky was such a master filmmaker.
Except this scene is not how Tarkovsky conceived it. The spa music was not part of it. This cut is from the moronic Ruscico dvd edition, where the publisher wanted to "improve" on the original.
I think this scene is meant to heighten your sense of awareness and almost put you in a dreamlike trance, in order to experience the highly deliberate, meditative pacing of the scenes in the zone. Brilliant.
God, Stalker is just so bloody brilliant. I think that scene alone has the most cuts than any scene in the entire film. So many long takes. I adore long takes and this film has many.
when i saw this movie i thought it was boring....now i have watched this scene more than 30 times. there are certain shots and situations i can´t forget
Most of Tarkovsky's films are not easily accessible to some viewers. They're slow-paced and tend to drag at times. But I find some parts of it fascinating. It's surreal, creepy, tense, exciting...The images are beautiful, the music is mesmerizing and the entire film you're wondering about this place they call 'the room'.
This is one of those moments when images and sounds and music become one creation. One of the reasons why I consider Tarkovsky the best filmmaker the world has ever seen.
This scene says it all. The tone changes when they arrive at zone from black and white to color. It signifies they are in a dream or out of the daily burden of life. The professor and the writer mostly looking back, they have no hope, nothing rose their curiosity and nothing surprises them even this is there first visit, where as the Stalker sits in front, even though he has made many trips, still he looks forward, he has hope and curiosity in his eyes. He believes in the place and in the existence of the extra-ordinary. The sound is both meditative and also dream like, more close you get, more faded it is becoming, from metallic to hypnotic. The fallen telegraph lines means no communication with the outside world. The zone is green, but the world surrounding it is gray. This is poetry.
Wow. I've been meaning to see this film for a number of years now. I've seen only one Tarkovsky film, Ivan's Childhood. The crisp black and white photography in this sequence reminds me of Bela Tarr.
In my opinion film genius of this time is based on the insufficient range of special effects, understanding of human nature, and philosphical thoughts...in Eastern Europe during communism, this kind of high cinema type was strong because matter was more important than western impact and i'm very thankfull to persons like Tarkovsky or Lem for this kind of art.
That is exactly why the 'Overfed' West could never have this sensibility. 'Pain makes man think, Thought makes man wise and wisdom makes life bearable.'
I know it’s been 13 years, but the CIA themselves literally confirmed the Soviets had equal if not almost-equal caloric intake to the west, so… they really weren’t that starving, that was propaganda. lol
@Sallieri1: Talking about authors like Stanislaw Lem you shouldn't forget the Strugatzki Brothers who wrote "Roadside Picnic", the book "Stalker" is based on. :)
@KippenhanFilms He is not totally wrong: it's by Artemyev, but edited from the original sequence with added background music and pumped up volume. By Tarkovsky's intentions the music had to be confused with natural sounds in this sequence (search wkpdia for more details), so it could not be so prominent as it is in this remix. To watch the original sequence search the vid "Stalker (1979) (English subtitles). Part 2/7. ". Also consider I'm basing on facts: I watched the original frames recently.
koca bir kaosun içinde, koca dünyanın içinde bir hiç'iz , yine korkunç döngünün içinde sıkışıp kalmış hissediyorum kendimi, arayisim hiç bitmiyor ve herhangi bir yerli olamıyorum tam anlamıyla. Gitmeler ve kalmalar arasindayim. Böyle acınası bir ruh halinde yine Stalker'e çeviriyorum yüzümü. İz sürücünün biraz umudundan birazda inancindan aliyorum, yazarın isyaninda ise tam anlamiyla kendimi görüyorum. Kimselerin bize ihtiyaci yok, herkes kendi basrolunun derdinde.
Hergun her hafta her saat ve dakika hep ayni seyleri tekrarlayarak hayat bitiyor.. Aglayamiyoruz bile.. Boyle filmler olmasa hatirlamicaz bile donguyu,kaosu,Hicligimizi ve sacmalarla dolu hayati..
@TakovskyPoetOfCinema Indeed. In the "sculpting in time", he opposes symbolism in cinema, correct? Because he believed that the strongest message is an image so strong, that any human being can understand it and know what it is for. Not an analogy, not symbolism, but the one thing that cinema has gifted us with: Image.
I don't consider this stupid New Age music in the slightest. It is very much of the period, the sounds produced by the analogue synthesizers of the 70s, and fits the scene in the film perfectly in my view. In no sense is it the kind of normal music used to dictate to the "stupid viewer" what to feel; instead it's very open-ended. It is very much of an ilk with the kind of sounds/music produced by Artemiev for Tarkovsky films.
When I watched this movie on hbomax, this scene was in more of a sepia, heavily contrasted brown-and-tan color grade. does anyone know which is the original?
@atomicturist Yours is an opinion of course and somewhat valid for somebody with only a limited knowledge of cinema. I notice you do not mention any Eisenstein films in yr list of best movies, Kurosawa is also missing, no Truffaut, no Italians, no Bunuel ...
@michielrummens I bought a CD compilation of Eduard Artemiev's Tarkovsky film music from Electroshock records in Russia, which included this piece. why would this label, which is run by Artemiev's son, Artemiy, release this if, as you say "it certainly isn't Eduard Artemiev's music" it seems like a weird assertion to make.
On peut aussi voir cette séquence comme une sorte d'hommage funèbre...Le réalisateur est mort, les acteurs principaux aussi... You can also see this sequence as a kind of homage ... The funeral director is dead, the principal players also ...
I don't know... Tarkovsky's work is amazing in general, but honestly he could have probably done well to shave a MINUTE off of this scene. Just a minute.
What's with the lame music and surround effects? It's like they're trying to make it sound lime Blade Runner ( which I love btw). I don't recall the movie sounding or feeling like this during this scene when I watched it in mono recently.
This is one of the best ambient-music based soundtrack song ever composed.. btw. Stalker was shot in 1979, BladeRunner in 1982, get your self together....
These synths and sound effects were added by the good guys at the Ruschiko DVD company, who thought Tarkovsky and Artemyev could do with some improvement.
Shtwaan E. indeed. although tarkovksy was adamant that film should use music sparingly, i feel like the additions that were made to this scene make it all the more powerful
i believe all the actors are dead now and most of the crew.its said that making this film they all spent a lot of time in contaminated water which wasnt good for there health!
I think you say that only because you never really understud this film. If you don't know russian language and watched it looking at subtitles i fully understand you. Btw i dont think Terminator is better than STALKER, that sounds just stupid. Dunno about other movies, tho i've only seen Taxi Driver.
Possibly some of the most pretentious comments I've ever seen. Why should it matter to you if someone doesn't like Stalker but prefers a Hollywood film, Hollywood directors make a masterpiece every once and a while, not the stereotypical masterpiece thats slow and hard to follow but still the same. I also wouldn't call Stalker a masterpiece for numerous reasons. Mirror and The Sacrifice were MUCH better I thought, those were Tarkovsky's masterpieces.
I tried to watch this movie, I really did, but this is just not my cup of tea... I cant "enjoy" a 3 min scene showing 3 guys staring while traveling on a train, I just got bored where they were trying to get into some sort of a haunted house... Maybe I'll give it another chance when Im in the mood...
p3n37r470r - You better get some information before you resort to swearing. Do a Google search for "RusCiCo Stalker DVD". Go to the first link, find the "January 29, 2002" part, and start to read slowly... slowly...
This is just ... ugh, so goddamn brilliant. For a scene with no dialogue, sparse music and long shots, it manages to be so captivating. This scene alone proves why Tarkovsky was such a master filmmaker.
Except this scene is not how Tarkovsky conceived it. The spa music was not part of it. This cut is from the moronic Ruscico dvd edition, where the publisher wanted to "improve" on the original.
It's literally the backs of their heads, nothing brilliant about it. Lots of good cinematography in the film, but not 5 minutes of the back of heads
Without a word, this sequense is saying more than you could ever imagine.
I think this scene is meant to heighten your sense of awareness and almost put you in a dreamlike trance, in order to experience the highly deliberate, meditative pacing of the scenes in the zone. Brilliant.
Without a word the actors say more than whole movies.
God, Stalker is just so bloody brilliant. I think that scene alone has the most cuts than any scene in the entire film. So many long takes. I adore long takes and this film has many.
when i saw this movie i thought it was boring....now i have watched this scene more than 30 times. there are certain shots and situations i can´t forget
since i watched stalker for the first time (maybe 30 years ago) i never can't get enough of it! andrej tarkovsky was a visionary!
Most of Tarkovsky's films are not easily accessible to some viewers. They're slow-paced and tend to drag at times.
But I find some parts of it fascinating. It's surreal, creepy, tense, exciting...The images are beautiful, the music is mesmerizing and the entire film you're wondering about this place they call 'the room'.
This is one of those moments when images and sounds and music become one creation. One of the reasons why I consider Tarkovsky the best filmmaker the world has ever seen.
this is the most effective scenes/music combo ive seen in years. quite amazing.
very striking scene, they travel from one world to another
Yep, black and white for our 'mundane' world and then colour for the zone.
This is my favorite film! This is the bestiest film in the world! I watch it at least once a year.
This scene alone says more than the entire history of cinema combined, including this film and this scene.
If you play it at 0.25 speed it actually contains more information than the universe can theoretically hold. That's an official fact.
I cannot explain why... but this is probably the greatest scene that I have watched, probably over 10 times!
Always a pleasure to watch this. Thanks for the upload!
This scene says it all. The tone changes when they arrive at zone from black and white to color. It signifies they are in a dream or out of the daily burden of life. The professor and the writer mostly looking back, they have no hope, nothing rose their curiosity and nothing surprises them even this is there first visit, where as the Stalker sits in front, even though he has made many trips, still he looks forward, he has hope and curiosity in his eyes. He believes in the place and in the existence of the extra-ordinary. The sound is both meditative and also dream like, more close you get, more faded it is becoming, from metallic to hypnotic. The fallen telegraph lines means no communication with the outside world. The zone is green, but the world surrounding it is gray. This is poetry.
Wow. I've been meaning to see this film for a number of years now. I've seen only one Tarkovsky film, Ivan's Childhood. The crisp black and white photography in this sequence reminds me of Bela Tarr.
Sublime!. Greeting from Chile.
In my opinion film genius of this time is based on the insufficient range of special effects, understanding of human nature, and philosphical thoughts...in Eastern Europe during communism, this kind of high cinema type was strong because matter was more important than western impact and i'm very thankfull to persons like Tarkovsky or Lem for this kind of art.
"Fear what" then this plays out cinematic genius Tarkovsky man
Not any doubt about,this is one of the deepest mental scene in all times
me and my homies riding to go to our favorite day hiking spot
the shot of them sitting outside the room near the end had real "me and the boys" kind of vibe
unbelieveble, incredible....
what a sensibility...
Tarkowsky, the Top.
That is exactly why the 'Overfed' West could never have this sensibility.
'Pain makes man think, Thought makes man wise and wisdom makes life bearable.'
I know it’s been 13 years, but the CIA themselves literally confirmed the Soviets had equal if not almost-equal caloric intake to the west, so… they really weren’t that starving, that was propaganda. lol
Thanks for posting.
@Sallieri1: Talking about authors like Stanislaw Lem you shouldn't forget the Strugatzki Brothers who wrote "Roadside Picnic", the book "Stalker" is based on. :)
This was brilliant
It seems I can see the desolationed lansdcape on their faces. Oh my god...
La vida nunca vuelve a ser igual después de ver esta película.
*begins playing STALKER game*
@michielrummens "the stupid keyboard music" is the sound of ANS synthesizer that Artemiev used frequently, not only on Stalker.
A journey within themselves...
@KippenhanFilms He is not totally wrong: it's by Artemyev, but edited from the original sequence with added background music and pumped up volume. By Tarkovsky's intentions the music had to be confused with natural sounds in this sequence (search wkpdia for more details), so it could not be so prominent as it is in this remix. To watch the original sequence search the vid "Stalker (1979) (English subtitles). Part 2/7. ".
Also consider I'm basing on facts: I watched the original frames recently.
@rockorsario You can find it on itunes Look for the album of music of Tarkovsky movies
3 guys driving in that "vehicle"(dunno how its called in english) in silence, greate... marvelous.
You will never have a soul that more spiritual than a machine
Wtf...
That railroad handycar was named draisine? Very musical, efficacous. Music is natural and artificial at the same time.
Looking how great this movie is, Andrei would have been the best person to direct a Fallout movie.
real arthouse,
i love it!
Hipnótico...
koca bir kaosun içinde, koca dünyanın içinde bir hiç'iz , yine korkunç döngünün içinde sıkışıp kalmış hissediyorum kendimi, arayisim hiç bitmiyor ve herhangi bir yerli olamıyorum tam anlamıyla. Gitmeler ve kalmalar arasindayim. Böyle acınası bir ruh halinde yine Stalker'e çeviriyorum yüzümü. İz sürücünün biraz umudundan birazda inancindan aliyorum, yazarın isyaninda ise tam anlamiyla kendimi görüyorum. Kimselerin bize ihtiyaci yok, herkes kendi basrolunun derdinde.
Hergun her hafta her saat ve dakika hep ayni seyleri tekrarlayarak hayat bitiyor.. Aglayamiyoruz bile.. Boyle filmler olmasa hatirlamicaz bile donguyu,kaosu,Hicligimizi ve sacmalarla dolu hayati..
Zorlama
Best moment in the movie!
I don't remember this music playing in the actual movie
Genius!
the head turns to the left, we are in the zone.
@TakovskyPoetOfCinema
Indeed. In the "sculpting in time", he opposes symbolism in cinema, correct? Because he believed that the strongest message is an image so strong, that any human being can understand it and know what it is for. Not an analogy, not symbolism, but the one thing that cinema has gifted us with: Image.
I don't consider this stupid New Age music in the slightest. It is very much of the period, the sounds produced by the analogue synthesizers of the 70s, and fits the scene in the film perfectly in my view. In no sense is it the kind of normal music used to dictate to the "stupid viewer" what to feel; instead it's very open-ended.
It is very much of an ilk with the kind of sounds/music produced by Artemiev for Tarkovsky films.
Damn, you are right. This music is aweful.
Trains going across SK/UA border crossing between Čierna nad Tisou and Čop have the same exact same rhytm of rail clap, fyi.
L'eterna ricerca di se stessi...😘
Hallucinogen!!!
what a classic...
When I watched this movie on hbomax, this scene was in more of a sepia, heavily contrasted brown-and-tan color grade. does anyone know which is the original?
see videoresponse...
I had fun putting our music under this scene.
But all respect to Eduard Artemiev ofcourse...amazing soundtrack!
FOR ME, IT IS THE BEST!
@TwirlingSun: I meant to thumb's up for the intent of your comment,
though Evelyn Glennie would probably have something to say in response.
i always think the actor in the black bobble hat looks like paul whitehouse in the the fast show "brilliant!..."
@LeLimeLine Lem as a writer of course.
@atomicturist Yours is an opinion of course and somewhat valid for somebody with only a limited knowledge of cinema. I notice you do not mention any Eisenstein films in yr list of best movies, Kurosawa is also missing, no Truffaut, no Italians, no Bunuel ...
anyone know where can i download the soundtrack?
please
perfect for reading to it ... try it!
Lustmord and Robert Rich did an ambient album inspired by this movie. This score is very fitting too. "Stalker" is an amazing film.
It's funny you mention him, Tarkovsky supposedly really liked The Terminator
@bradshawvincent
Tarkovsky and 1 crew member suffered of lung cancer because of contaminated air (caused by heavily contaminated water).
Author: maybe you should post it in the video description that this isn't the original soundtrack?
@michielrummens I bought a CD compilation of Eduard Artemiev's Tarkovsky film music from Electroshock records in Russia, which included this piece. why would this label, which is run by Artemiev's son, Artemiy, release this if, as you say "it certainly isn't Eduard Artemiev's music" it seems like a weird assertion to make.
@TalonWolf Just download it from internent and no problem.
its this guy the same from Dexter's Laboratory?
There's no musical score during this scene in the actual movie. Why is there music playing here? It ruins the scene.
On peut aussi voir cette séquence comme une sorte d'hommage funèbre...Le réalisateur est mort, les acteurs principaux aussi...
You can also see this sequence as a kind of homage ... The funeral director is dead, the principal players also ...
Tu peux développer stp?
@Strannik191
No you just walk through a normal Oblivion gate to get there!
indeed
wait a second, Master and Commander? XD
is this a thriller???
stalker in time
The terrifying way into oblivion...
So fucking good.
be easy on them; taken out of context this sequence might not have the same "feel" for someone who has never seen the movie
Coolist sci-fi
@itchyrodent32 Yes i know but it's well known truth that during hard times the high culture is borning.
@Sallieri1 They (the Communists) also censored up the wazoo though. So it wasn't really an ideal situation for filmmakers.
sometimes you can take a train to travel to starts....
I don't know... Tarkovsky's work is amazing in general, but honestly he could have probably done well to shave a MINUTE off of this scene. Just a minute.
@leprechaun2011 Not even the greatest symphony will ever please the deaf.
Alexander Kaidenovsky looks like a badass mofo in this movie.
What's with the lame music and surround effects? It's like they're trying to make it sound lime Blade Runner ( which I love btw). I don't recall the movie sounding or feeling like this during this scene when I watched it in mono recently.
This is one of the best ambient-music based soundtrack song ever composed.. btw. Stalker was shot in 1979, BladeRunner in 1982, get your self together....
BYNN FYI A lot of this audio wasn't on the original film. Of course I know the film came out before BR.
Kurt Rivero
You are right, this isn`t the original music!
These synths and sound effects were added by the good guys at the Ruschiko DVD company, who thought Tarkovsky and Artemyev could do with some improvement.
Shtwaan E. indeed. although tarkovksy was adamant that film should use music sparingly, i feel like the additions that were made to this scene make it all the more powerful
@cineasta71
Now I know what you meant.
:)
i believe all the actors are dead now and most of the crew.its said that making this film they all spent a lot of time in contaminated water which wasnt good for there health!
@Sallieri1
При чем здесь Лем
I think you say that only because you never really understud this film. If you don't know russian language and watched it looking at subtitles i fully understand you.
Btw i dont think Terminator is better than STALKER, that sounds just stupid. Dunno about other movies, tho i've only seen Taxi Driver.
monitoron nem is érdemes elkezdeni.
well, yes its lacking virtual dogs, so it cant be very good.
Atomicturist go back to your Incredible Hulk and High School Musical...
Y kazhdogo svoi stalker, chem bolshe zhivy tem bolshe vizhy naskolko realnost realno!
go and watch Uwe Boll
like chernobyl but before chernobyl... hmm...
Possibly some of the most pretentious comments I've ever seen. Why should it matter to you if someone doesn't like Stalker but prefers a Hollywood film, Hollywood directors make a masterpiece every once and a while, not the stereotypical masterpiece thats slow and hard to follow but still the same. I also wouldn't call Stalker a masterpiece for numerous reasons. Mirror and The Sacrifice were MUCH better I thought, those were Tarkovsky's masterpieces.
I tried to watch this movie, I really did, but this is just not my cup of tea... I cant "enjoy" a 3 min scene showing 3 guys staring while traveling on a train, I just got bored where they were trying to get into some sort of a haunted house...
Maybe I'll give it another chance when Im in the mood...
p3n37r470r - You better get some information before you resort to swearing. Do a Google search for "RusCiCo Stalker DVD". Go to the first link, find the "January 29, 2002" part, and start to read slowly... slowly...
@leprechaun2011
You're not even capable of thinking in abstractions.