It gets better and better with every repeat viewing when you pick up more nuggets. There's been suggestion too that in the Zone, time and space is effected. Suggested in a moment when the characters are separated for a passage of time, until they reunite back at the same place, with them experiencing different times apart. Additionally there's this one random shot once they come to the outside of the grinder, of something dropping in the bottom of a well. It seems glaring at first, random, but later on we see the Writer giving a monologue, sat on the edge of a well (once inside, near the room). He drops a stone down the well. It's never really made a big focus point (it's kind of nonchalant how he does it) but it's yet another nugget. Just how dangerous the 'zones' traps are have often been theorised. Are there really 'traps'? But there are very definite suggestions that the Zone has a kind of sentience. One P.O.V tracking shot moves through, which we assume is one of the characters, until all three appear in shot, and suddenly, we're looking at them through the Zone's perspective. Then the time and space effected, the mist that appears outside it quite suddenly, etc. :) Yeah, I love the film.
what’s the time stamp for the shot at the bottom of the well when they’re just outside the grinder, is it around 1:07 where it kind of looks like a moon or is it a different scene I’m remembering? (great analysis btw i completely agree)
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199The zone doesn't actually grant your wishes, but your true innermost desires. How well does a person onow themselves? What do you *actually* desire? Is it a Nobel Prize or is it revenge? All three characters are granted their innermost desires, the professor gets to say "I win" the writer gets to say "I'm content in discontentness, contentness would be something I loathe" the Stalker comes home to his family. The dog follows the stalker home, she has unconditional and unquestioning love/loyalty, nobody has faith in anything, but the dog has faith in him. I didn't take a film course or anything I'm just voicing my subjective interpretation.
@@pwcgp2199 You've probably turned in your essay now but one of the best ways to look at the movie is through the lens of the book too (called Roadside Picnic). Because some things that are touched on in the movie take on a different meaning when you see them as adaptations of the book vs taken on their own. And both interpretations (adaption and solo) are valid. The book gets a lot more into his family and provides a lot of context as to why she got superpowers in the movie. A huge point in the book is that, if you go into the zone, all of the future children you produce will be mutated and strange. The book's main character also has a daughter, just like in the movie, but she is covered in hair and has gangly arms and legs like a monkey. In fact 'monkey' is his nickname for her. The movie, by contrast, doesn't talk about how the zone's effects extend beyond the zone itself or how people carry anomalous effects with them. In the book the zone doesn't actually do that much harm to that many people either. You more-so hear about the harm it does second hand. How someone got goop on their body and it burned off their hand and then proceeded to liquidate all their bones and the suffocated when their rib cage collapsed. Or how there are these two rusted cars that, if you walk between them, you die. And then points out some rotten stuff and bones between the two cars because someone found out the hard way. IIRC you only directly see two deaths caused by the zone. One in the first chapter and one toward the end. And the first chapter is freaky. A guy touches some spider webs and it causes him to have a violent heart attack a few hours later. And the book makes it crystal clear this isn't coincidence. There is something supernatural that is proven and tangible in the zone. One of the most interesting things is that the wish granters in both the book and the movie are entirely different. The movie's Room grants you your innermost desire. Regardless of what you truly ask from it. The book's Golden Sphere grants a person whatever is asked of it, but it's behind an anomaly called The Meat Grinder which... does exactly what it says on the tin. It is *possible* to reach but you have to be crazy, desperate, or both to even try. And going off of what justingoretoy said, perhaps the desires of the three were NOT granted. Or maybe they were. That's the beauty of the ending. Especially when it comes to the Stalker himself. What he fears (as I see it) is that if he gets his wish granted he will no longer have the misery needed to reach the room and guide others. And if he gets his wish then his family will be truly happy and they will be financially stable and he will therefore never be able to go into the zone again... Or maybe his true fear is that he loves the zone more than his family. And what will really happen is that by making a wish he will never get to see the family he loves again.
I just watched it. I thought it was okay. I missed some of the dialog with the subtitles going by quickly. And it's hard to take in the visuals when you're reading subtitles. Plus, the 3 voices sound similar to me, and I couldn't tell who was speaking most of the time. But, for me, it's not worth a second viewing to catch what I missed. It is slow, and I think pretentious is a good descriptor. But it probably would at least be a little better if they dubbed it in English.
The Zone, specifically the Room, doesn’t grant a wish, maybe. It grants your innermost desire, not necessarily what you think it is. His daughter, in my opinion, has telekinesis because his wish was for his daughter to be cured of her deformity, but his desire was for her to be able to survive in the world, and the Zone granted that, just not how he thought it may.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199when they are sitting in front of the room. It’s a pool of water with rain coming down from above. The waters below and the waters above. Take from that what you will i don’t really know what to fully make of it.
I have a theory that he DID go in the room, and that his innermost wish was that his daughter could "move around freely," but that this message got somehow garbled by the room...so that the things she can move around freely are not her legs but physical objects....
My brain can’t comprehend that something can be so awful to watch, but furthermore beautiful, unique, and even thought-provoking. It’s the kind of movie I want to watch again just after finishing it and simultaneously I never want to see Stalker again.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
Well kind of, it's an allegory for religion in a modern society. The stalker is a stand in for a priest guiding people through life, constantly in fear of what he doesn't understand and dependent on the faith of others to legitimize his existence. But people have found answers to life's questions in other form: through science and art and they no longer need religion and superstition.
@@mrzfunkpeople have not found answers in science and art. It's like you missed a major part of the movie. That's what the scientist and the writer stood for. Both had their faith in the material world that led them to despair and wanted to die.
@@SeriouslyAwesome the scientist and artist didn't despair they came to destroy religion because they thought it was dangerous but when they realized it was just an empty room they didn't need to destroy it so the left "gods poor fool" to his religion and Stalker is the one who despaired that he couldn't convert more people and collapsed in his bed wanting to die.
I saw this film recently and was just blown away. It is so beautiful and eerie. It is riveting even when there is nothing going on for minutes at a time. The Zone is ugly, trashed, polluted and yet astonishingly beautiful. The Stalker himself is a true believer trying to convert non-believers. Great acting, fantastic music what little there is. I will watch and study this movie again. I saw Solaris and it is just as long with beautiful segments that seem to make no sense. I love movies that are a visual feast and Stalker is one of them. Today, with way things are going, this film predicts our future world
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
A thing to note is that when the charachters that are in the zone the movie suddenly turns to color. But there are more than that. There are scenes outside the zone that have color. That doesn't make sense does it. The thing is, in all those scenes the stalkers daughter is in the pitchure. For example: the ending scene. I think the daughter is a part of the zone, an embodyment of It, therefore it is in color. Therefor she has powers. I think the zone is looking through her eyes.
I don't know about the zone being alive or not but she has the magic in her. That's why there is color. It's grey when the stalker isn't in the zone. The world is empty and meaningless to him. The zone is his purpose.
Another thing tooz a big them in the movie is having hope. All the adults have no hope in the world, and after they return from the zone not believing in the room they return with no hope, and if the stalker is anything to go off of after his speech at the end they may have even less hope. However his daughter, a child has hope which is why she sees the world I color
I found this movie to be theologically dense. They rumored Monkey being a "child of the zone". God is the Zone. Jesus told us to be like children and there was a speech in the film about young being strong and flexible and as we age we grown hard and weak.
This movie is a philosophical mind-fuck. I was constantly tugged between humanity's light and dark sides. The need for vindication and selfish desires is the impetus for their journey, but the end result is acceptance of their lot and humility. And the whole way through we see hard-headedness, doubt, sin (missing the mark/not knowing where to aim), disobedience, hope, love, absenteeism, and so much more. Just like real life, we spend all this time thinking we want something, working hard to get there, only to arrive at our destination and realize we don't want it anymore. I just watched it for the first time because I love the stalker video game series and find that it was inspired by this film. What a trip.
It’s not set in Russia, so much as in a nondescript authoritarian country with a quarantined zone, based on the storyline from the book “Roadside Picnic”.
It believe it’s insulating the US, due to the weaponry, police uniforms and motorcycles etc. Would help it get past Soviet arts councils for approval too
The stalker doesn't enter the room because deep down, he has a small doubt if the faith he feels is real. In fact, Tarkovsky never assures us that faith is real; the ending is like the beginning. At the start of the movie, a glass moves due to the passing of the train, and in the end, the same thing happens. But we see the stalker's daughter, perhaps having the power of telekinesis and making miracles something possible, something real. However, we also hear the train passing and how it moves the entire house, so Andrei never assures us of anything. It's incredible what Tarkovsky did with this film, being his last in Russia and his second shooting, as the first negative was destroyed. The final scenes of Stalker, with the stalker crying while dandelions are flying everywhere, or the tracking shot on the water - Tarkovsky was the Beethoven of cinema. Every time I watch it, I discover something new, a treasure, as if Andrei had it stored away to be uncovered when you watch it for the eighth time. By far, I always believed it was a religious movie rather than a science fiction one, as religion is the film's central theme. If you've never had existential doubts and believe that everything comes and goes into nothingness, in other words, if you completely lack faith, this movie will be a waste for you because the journey is long, and Andrei's message is for those who understand it, as those who don't care will remain unaffected
"If you've never had existential doubts and believe that everything comes and goes into nothingness, in other words, if you completely lack faith, this movie will be a waste for you because the journey is long, and Andrei's message is for those who understand it, as those who don't care will remain unaffected" "-I am not sure. I think it lets those through who've lost all hope."
I remember at one point it was stated that it didn't matter whether you were good or evil. I don't think it granted wishes. I don't know what it did because porcupine killed himself but was rich before he did. I think the stalker thought it granted wishes but to his despair I think the real gift that the zone ended up giving them was time to think about their own lives and circumstances. The writer realized he didn't want to die like he thought he did, and the professor abandoned his mission that he came so far to accomplish after realizing it wasn't worth it. One thing I noticed is that the stalker is always behind the characters like he's hiding or using them as like a meat shield, he rarely takes point. He knows it all but for some reason he's never in front. Being a guide you think he would be in front most of the time. I don't know still, I have to go back and watch it like 8 more times it was the slowest densest 3 hours I've sat through in a while
To me it kind of made sense for him to be at the back, his job is guiding them to the Room, and he has done so multiple times before with other people, soit kind of makes sense that the people who wish to enter the Room to take the risks, otherwise I'd assume he'd been a dead stalker a bit earlier. But who knows, I feel like this movie has a vast amount of interpretations, and i don't necessarily feel like there's a right one.
if the stalker went first and was wrong about his intuitions, he'd die and leave the other two stranded without a stalker. if one man besides the stalker dies, he can take the other one to the room and back still.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
so my interpretation of this story is while they're in the zone, they are literally on a spiritual journey to find themselves. every one of them embodies a group of people. the room raises the question of "what is you hearts desire?" and "if you had the chance to find out would you want to?" and this raises the philosophical questions. porcupine's story is he went into the room thinking his hearts desire would be for his brother to come back to life. instead it was greed and the room made him rich. porcupine was sad by this and decides to kill himself because he was ashamed. the ending, i believe represents a lot of things. so, stalker goes on an emotional rant and saying how there isn't any hope left and falls asleep. his wife talks to us the audience and gives us information that isn't that useful but that's besides the point. the point is that she broke the fourth wall. then it goes to the daughter (i think it shows the daughter because after stalker's rant of no hope, it shows a child, who is the future and hope) and as we know she is crippled. earlier stalker had said he never went into the room but i think he was lying. his hearts desire was for his daughter to be able to survive and defend herself. so she gets telekinesis. she can move things. she can "move." we see her move glass off the table with powers. but you have a choice. you can think it was the train or you can think it was her powers. the wife broke the fourth wall so the movie can end asking you a question. do you have faith or do you have no faith? did the daughter move the glass or the train? do you know who you are? do you wanna know you real hearts desire? what is your purpose?
The dog symbolizes the Zone, IMO. Why a dog I am not sure though the black dog has been used to symbolize not only the supernatural but also depression since the time of the Roman poet Horace. The Zone takes pity on the Stalker because of his suffering from lack of faith in humans. Notice it lies next to him as protecting him and then the Stalker lies next to the dog at the end. The dog follows him out of the Zone and once his family adopts the dog Monkey is seen in color signifying she has the power of the Zone but with human understanding of what is best for mankind which the Zone seemed to lack. You can hear the dog whining when Monkey moves the glasses which could symbolize the evolution of the Zone though I'm spit balling it here. Also, there is pollen in the air signifying the hope or new life that will be spread throughout the Earth because of her. The music "Ode to Joy" is obvious.
It's kinda beyond me why you westerners struggle so much with something so basic. It's simple: The movie discusses the nature of faith. The dog is a faithful follower.
About 10 years ago an old friend recommended this film to me, never heard of it! He kept asking me if I watched it ? did I like it etc. Anyway I told him how can I watch it, I can't find it! he sent me a link... I watched maybe 25min then it stop streaming. So I was record store, when record stores were a thing and saw it on sale purchased price $50! I thought ok this better be good for $50. Anyway I watched it and was a bit stunned initially! Then I watched it again and again and again and again, and yes indeed I can say for certain this film is a "Masterpiece" best $50 dollars I ever spent on a classic movie, I love it!
Regarding 9:31 - the first 20 minutes are not in Russia. The licence plate on the bike that a military guy rides are using latin letters (PL 321), not cyrillic ones. That may have been a mistake as the film creators wanted to avoid a reference to any country (the licence plate on the Land rover is using a letter "M" and the logo on the military bike rider's helmet and stalker's wife's cigarette pack are using letters "AT" which are common to latin and cyrillic scripts).
Though I enjoyed this film as I did “Solaris”, for similar reasons, I preferred the sci-fi/horror aspects of “Roadside Picnic” and would like to see a more book-faithful screenplay made possible by advances in visual effects. With regard to “Solaris”, I love the original 1972 film, and walked out of the 2002 American version within ten minutes.
This movie becomes so much more interesting when held in contrast against both the original book and the game that is also based on the book. Each one has stalkers. All three have deadly anomalies. All three have a wish granter. And yet all of these things are entirely different flavors. Especially the wish granter works. SPOILER WARNING!!! In the book the wish granter (aka The Golden Sphere) is truly impartial. You approach it. You ask for a wish. it's granted. The problem is that it's located behind an anomaly called The Meat Grinder which does exactly what the name implies via powerful gravitational forces. And the only way to get through The Meat Grinder is to activate it as it goes dormant for several hours once its been triggered. Essentially you have to trick or force another human to walk into it An animal could theoretically be used if you could get one large enough into the zone. Additionally, in the books, this zone isn't the only zone. There are zones all over the world due to how the zones were created. We only ever see the one in Russia though but its implied there are wonders and disasters in all of them. In the games the wish granter (aka The Monolith) is a monkey's paw. It is an apparently sapient thing that lures in people toward it. And has an entire cult worshiping it. It speaks in your mind while you approach it, killing cult members. And if you reach it you can ask it for a wish. And it will be granted. I don't know which of the wishes I saw are from the base game wishes are since the game basically requires mods to run properly, But the end result will generally leave you dead or worse than dead. In reality this device is an illusion. It uses the reality warping powers of the zone to falsely grant the desires of those who approach it and causes the zone as a whole to expand in all directions each and every time. In the movie the wish granter (aka The Room) is also impartial. But instead of granting the wish you ask of it, it will grant your innermost desire. This isn't always a bad thing but can result in people feeling immense guilt over what they wished for vs what they came to that place to wish for. The stalker in the movie knows this and that's why he will not go into the room. He's afraid, not of getting his wish granted, but of the consequences of it. Saying "I'll never be able to return" is not because there's something that would magically prevent him. Like "you've already had your wish. You can't come in" but because he'd have no reason to come back. For example if his wish was for a lovely, happy, perfect family who would want for nothing that means that it's no longer worth risking his life in the zone. Because, in the movie at least, the zone only lets those who are miserable pass.
If I remember correctly from Roadside Picnic, the zone in which the book take place is in an unknown country, they let it to the reader to imagine. They just says the name of the city : Harmont... also for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, it can turn very well without mods and are excellent! За Монолит!
@@xenf1365 Maybe I misremembered the detail about the location. Its been a good while. And as for the stalker games I suppose your mileage may vary. I couldn't launch the game without some fixes installed. It just crashed every time.
@@xenf1365 yeah it is very temperamental on certain hardware or hardware combinations. Or even where you have it installed etc. You might get lucky and it runs perfectly, but you also might get unlucky.
The end has 3 i think distinct answers. 1 he says to his wife what if we fail again? As in they have been to the room before and they were gifted a ceipple child, but kaybe it was a success all along? 2. The dog is part of the zone brought back and is able to spread its gifts to someone of pure heart or faith 3. The wife was right all along that she didnt need the zone as they were able to manifest thier own happiness if they only believe and thay is thier daughter
Stalker is the third Tarkovsky film I’ve watched after seeing Andrew Rubliev and Ivan’s Childhood some years ago. What has stayed with me since viewing this particular film is less the profundity of meaning than the beauty of Tarkovsky’s ability to create a cinematic tapestry of sound and vision. There were fleeting episodes of true beauty in this movie. A near fifty year old film that needs no surgery to appear strangely ageless. Take your time with Stalker. Its ugliness belies the dream.
great movie to watch while extremely high or on an acid trip, movie isn't very scary and kind of comforting, cinematography is ambiguous and feels like the meaning will all come together at some point, also just a beautiful movie.
The dog is the zone, as if it takes a physical form. The zone wants the stalker and the stalker wants the zone. It shows up in the dreams as a manifestation of itself that the stalker can perceive physically, it's almost a telepathic or quantum entanglement with the stalker. It manifests itself and goes home with the stalker to give him the hope he needs. This explains why the girl becomes entwined with it and her powers as well.
Stalker is very straightforwardly a metaphor for religion. The Stalker is a stand in for a priest whose job is to guide people through the mysteries of life promising them whatever their heart desires. But people no longer need faith because they've found answers and meaning in science and art. First the scientist and the artist are afraid of religion and want to destroy it but then they realize it has no real power and they might as well let "gods poor fools" keep their hokey religions.
It kinda is, they were inspired by it and roadside picnic of course, is I mix of both. Roadside picnic isn't that philosophical and focus more in it's world building while stalker 1979 is less straightforward and more philosophical.
In the directors cut the stalker cant enter the room because he hears a voice telling him "get out of here stalker get out of here stalker get out of here stalker"😂
theres a lot of shit in the movie that you dont take in on the first watch. watch it, the watch it again a few months later. you take in a lot of the deeper shit the 2nd go and it hits kinda hard. went to bed after watching it and had the best sleep ive had in a LONG fuckin time
0:52 …and _Andrei Rublev_ which is my favorite Tarkovsky film. All of his films are calming yet unsettling, and they are all very deep and introspective.
I thought it was told in the beginning of the film that the daughters disability was caused by being born within the zone , and probably has the telekinesis skill from there too. I first watched a bit of this movie with my Dad when i was very young in the early 80's . I only remember them driving along railway and going through the eerie area with broken down tanks and stuff. It stuck with me and have just rewatched it now, well over 40 years later.
its the "its good and deep trust me" but its not only the dumb youtuber saying it its also the whole move going " no no this has deep meaning you jsut dont get it bro" over and over and over
so my interpretation of this story is while they're in the zone, they are literally on a spiritual journey to find themselves. every one of them embodies a group of people. the room raises the question of "what is you hearts desire?" and "if you had the chance to find out would you want to?" and this raises the philosophical questions. porcupine's story is he went into the room thinking his hearts desire would be for his brother to come back to life. instead it was greed and the room made him rich. porcupine was sad by this and decides to kill himself because he was ashamed. the ending, i believe represents a lot of things. so, stalker goes on an emotional rant and saying how there isn't any hope left and falls asleep. his wife talks to us the audience and gives us information that isn't that useful but that's besides the point. the point is that she broke the fourth wall. then it goes to the daughter (i think it shows the daughter because after stalker's rant of no hope, it shows a child, who is the future and hope) and as we know she is crippled. earlier stalker had said he never went into the room but i think he was lying. his hearts desire was for his daughter to be able to survive and defend herself. so she gets telekinesis. she can move things. she can "move." we see her move glass off the table with powers. but you have a choice. you can think it was the train or you can think it was her powers. the wife broke the fourth wall so the movie can end asking you a question. do you have faith or do you have no faith? did the daughter move the glass or the train? do you know who you are? do you wanna know you real hearts desire? what is your purpose?
Just watched the movie and came to this video. There is a scene with the dog after the professor gets off the phone with his boss. The dog is lying next to two skeletons in bed next to each other. Could this be a reference to the professor's wife and her affair? Just a thought. I need to watch this movie a few more times.
I saw a metaphor about why nothing happened to the crew in the zone i really liked. The zone is like a mined field, you've been told the place is dangerous, nobody know the places is filled with mines but you know is dangerous. A guy guide tou trough the mine field with extreme precautions until you safely reach the end, you might think nothing was there since nothing happened but that's because the guide did an excellent job. That's of cour excluding all the philosophical meanings of the movie.
Great video! I recently watched this and agree that it is really interesting. I don't necessarily agree with your assessment of the Stalker, however. I don't necessarily think he was moral and definitely not a standup guy. He leaves his wife and daughter, and doesn't really act like he cares or like it is any sacrifice to him. He is rather cold to his wife. I feel too like his faith is shook. He is struggling with his faith to the point where he relies on other people's faith to get him through. It seems like he believes that faithlessness has led to the shitty, drab world of hard times he lives in... when more likely it is the hard time world that led to the faithlessness. The best part about these types of movies is all the different interpretations that can come from them.
But it is also his wife's faith in him that makes him realize that his life outside the zone isn't so bad, she shows the power of faith. His faith is also rewarded when we see that his daughter has supernatural abilities. "It seems like he believes that faithlessness has led to the shitty, drab world of hard times he lives in... when more likely it is the hard time world that led to the faithlessness." This is because the Soviet Union banned religion, they banned faith, and as you know the Soviet Union went to shit. There are a lot of reasons why the Soviet Union went to shit, lack of faith and godlessness is just one of them, but in Tarkovsky's eyes, it is the main reason. You can observe how the lack of faith in the US is also corrupting it and causing a decline, so he might not be wrong.
I find the meaning of the movie to be along the lines of the Stalker "No body believes..." . I think this movie is about hope and how hope is a self referring concept. When I view the movie from a logical standpoint taking into account the scene when Stalker's daughter uses telepathy, I assume that Stalker has entered the room (maybe even before the visit with the writer and the professor), hence his desire became true. Furthermore, there is the scene before their return from the zone that they all sit outside of the room and the camera lens captures from within the room. Then it's how this movie sets up the audience to constantly anticipate a paranormal activity which doesn't happen (not until the end of the movie). It's like faith and miracle can only be experienced simultaneously. You cannot comprehend the miracle if you don't believe, as if you are outside of the room. Thus the miracle will be revealed only if you get in. A correlation that goes both ways around.
0:10 WRONG!! I love weird stuff like this, I really found it captivating. It reminds me of one of my favourite comedy movie "Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End" - which is similarly baffling and psychedlic in nature.
this is one of the rare cases when the games bring so much more to life than what the movie did. the lore of this IP is second to none. once you dive in and are apart of the zone you cannot leave. 2nd game releases TOMORROW
SPOILER ALERT: I have Questions about this movie maybe someone here can answer. 1. Is the Zone and it's the room in the movie's world just made up superstitions and it's only fenced off because it's a nuclear hotspot like Chernobyl? IRL the restricted Chernobyl world was closed off to the public as well and people called Stalkers would sneak into the zone. Other tips that the Zone isn't what our Stalker claims is we never see a single booby trap yet he claims they are all over and magically change places all the time. Other hints that the zone is just Stalker's imagination is that when he's outside the zone everything is monochromatic color and once we get into the zone everything is in color. It's very similar to wizard of oz how Dorothy's imagination of Oz is in color but black in white in her reality. 2. Were those dead bodies on the floor in front of the room? If so is this proof the room is magical and booby traps in fact do exist? 3. Did Porcupine's brother die because his innermost wish was to die? 4. Does Stalker's daughter have Jedi force powers or did the stuff move on it's own just because of the nearby train?
1. The zone is most likely a real place the colors have nothing to do with imagination since stalker's wife clearly knows of it's existence, the movie simply is about faith and destiny we don't know if the traps exist but if they do maybe it was just destiny that allowed them to go through or maybe it was the zone itself since it apears to be partially sentient it has nothing to do with anything nuclear this movie was shot prior to chernobyl. The stalkers who snuck into chernobyl were named AFTER this movie. 2. It might have been dead bodies however the zone does actually show paranormal activity like when they teleport in the middle of the film or when a dead phone rings it is heavily implied that what the stalker is saying IS true. 3. It might be, it may also be that he simply killed himself because he realised how pointless existence was with your wish granted. 4. It was not the train.
@@kiryowtk2869 Great point about Chernobyl of course it happened after this movie was made. I'm old enough to remember Chernobyl happening I should have caught that. The Zone is so freaking similar to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone it's creepy. How did Tarkovsky recreate something from the future so spot on? My guess is he based it on other Soviet Exclusion zones like where the Soviets created a lake by blowing up a Multiple nukes to create an artificial lake but then realized it's so radioactive we can't let people in here. The US had similar plans such as Project Plowshare but cancelled them due to radiation issues.
@@kiryowtk2869 Your right the girl was absolutely moving those glasses with her powers because if it was the train they ALL would have been moving at once but she deliberately moved one at a time as she focused on it. She basically Carry without legs. She deserves her own movie.
@@kiryowtk2869 The Zone clearly exists and wife is aware of it but the wife never say's she is convinced of it's supernatural power. The Zone being in Color clearly indicates something very important and I believe it's in color because Stalker believes in it's supernatural power and see's it through a lens of being more colorful where everyday life is such a drudge and he even calls it his prison so it's muted colorless with no magic. Again I believe we only see this through the lens of the Stalker and others that truly believe in it's power.
@@Wallyworld30 If we go down the Tarkovsky as a Prophet road, it's not only the Zone that seems to predict Chernobyl, but also the film Sacrifice that seems to predict the 1986 murder of the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. A recurring "disaster panic scene" is centered on the long stairs at the end of the cul-de-sac where Palme was shot, just a few months after the filming. Though without that connection, the actual scene is more like a New York 9/11 aftermath "in miniature". Note that the first comparison could be made from 1986 and on, while the 9/11 one had to wait another 15 years. Which brings us to numerous Nostradamus interpretation fallacies of a similar kind. There is a reason that we have the word "coincidence" (and equivalents) in most languages. Then again, towards the end of the book Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky quotes Pushkin's poem The Prophet, where God tells the poet to go out there and tell the world. Sooo ... in some sense Tarkovsky may just have seen himself as a prophet of sorts.
Supposedly the children of Stalkers in that universe are born deformed but with magic powers which was supposed to be gone into in more depth in a sequel that was never released.
In the book, the daughter is called Monkey because she has hair growing all over her body. Thr people who were living in the villages/areas where the zone(s) are, were either killed during the event, or blinded and deformed. Nobody is allowed to leave because very strange things seem to happen around these people, like terrible storms which destroy cities. The stalker is the guy who goes in illegally to earn a dollar.
I don't know for sure that the movie is set in Russia, my understanding was this was its own anonymous universe, there aren't really any cultural references that would make it clear that the story is set in Russia, some of the cars they have in the movie are specifically ones you would never find in the former Soviet Union, they clearly had to import them from somewhere outside of the Soviet Union when filming it, which would indicate the story actually was not meant to be set there
Ukraine “Chernobyl” exclusion zone. The book roadside picnic better explains all of this. As for the games are spin offs of the books I don’t know how accurate the games are to the movie although I recommend the book. The Main cultural reference we get is that it’s a exclusion zone i.e Chernobyl exclusion zone. Stalker is a term used during the period of the Soviet Union/Ukraine during the collapse of the Union. ✊
@@ShootinStims The Chernobyl nuclear accident was in 1986, while the film Stalker was made (finished) in 1979. The Stalker term's use in real life was apparently inspired by the book and film, not the other way around. Or the original russian word may be a "natural" word to use for such people in general, both before and after the book and film.
@@ShootinStims I cannot possibly be "completely inaccurate". I may be wrong about the term Stalker (in russian) and it's usage. But the film was made in 1979, seven years before the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the subsequent "zone" around it. Or are you saying that something else happened there, that required a zone before 1979; or before 1971 even, as that's when the book Roadside Picnic was written. Either you are misunderstanding me, or I'm misunderstanding you here.
Regarding 2:33 - a reference to Russia or any other country where the Zone is was deliberately avoided. There are no names of country, its regime (communism, capitalism,...), towns or places, car models and even of humans (aside from a former stalker and this stalker's daughter). All this so the audience worldwide can identify with their own situation.
Tells the story of people Staying with a familiar hell out of comfort of familiarity vs choosein an unfamiliar choice leading to a place of unfamiliarity
The only reason I found this movie was looking at stalker game videos Also the directors last name is used for the game escape from tarkov Likely pays tribute to him
I personally think that Stalker is more than just a movie, it's an experience. It's an amazing story with fascinating characters, it is something that every movie watcher should exlerience at least once. It is something truly special, and I think that it is THE best film that has ever been made.
I think there's a part where they talk about someone who went into the room to heal his sick child, but the room grants his real wish and kills his brother. It grants your real wish, not the one you think your want. So the guilt crushes him, knowing he wanted his brother dead more than he wanted his child to live
Fair assessment. I loved it for the same reasons I loved VALHALLA RISING. Found the full film of STALKER free here on TH-cam. Good resolution. Subbed to your channel.
Narcissism exists on a spectrum, the zone makes your deepest wishes come true. Upon realizing your deepest wishes may not actually benefit mankind its best to not partake. The zone comes alive in the presence of people and the traps constantly shifting like a narcissist. The iron rule suggests the eastern block and isolation by authoritarian systems that inform you of your needs and desires and manufacturers dissent.
For me, this movie is a good example of, "Don't judge a book by its cover". A simple summary would be: A Stalker abandons his unfulfilling life in order to embark on a journey with three men to the zone; a dangerous, lucrative place where there is a magical room to grant any deep desire. Very simple many would think. But this movie's dialogue, religious symbolism, score, editing, setting, and story keeps us hooked because it is how it disguises itself as a simple adventure story but turns into something more deep and treacherous. I love this movie so much. Dreamed about it so much before buying it criterion even though it's free on TH-cam. Very inspirational as well.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199 I would parallel the movie to Jesus Christ, his disciples, and the Roman's who wanted to hurt or disbelieve in his influence. I also would use this as a reflection of the true concept of science fiction. The energy and tone and how it encapsulates the main (or popular) themes of the genre. I would also include events in Russia during the time of Stalker that would fit in nicely into the essay.
Idk if he "abandoned" life. This is what he does for a living, hes gone into the zone times before and returned, unlike mamy who do venture in. He MUST go in to provide for his family.
Also thebonly shots outside the zone in color are of the dsughter who has miracle powers. Which i thibk represents her being a miracle of the zone, the stalkers gift for his faith
Stalker, Solaris, The Mirror.. Its the filming, with all its details and sounds and weird things going on, I love them, and have seen them 'a few' times, same with the American Motorama, and Bladerunner.. :)
I don’t think the daughter has powers. It was the passing train that moved the jars. It did not look like she was moving the jars, it looked like she was watching the jars move. I would expect this director to be able to show the difference. What I think it is meant to imply is that the stalkers are touched by the zone and the their children hold a piece of the room in them. The room being a manifestation of hope(hope perverted is desire). That children are the hope and what must be look to and fostered for a better future.
I think that the reason the daughter monkey has telepathy is because of some supernatural force in the zone. The wife says “Remember the kind of children stalkers have” in the movie. Also the book describes the topic of the stalkers having strange children even further.
The visuals are incredible as is the soundtrack. The ending with the girl is duality, as there is a train passing that may be vibrating the glass away OR the girl has powers. You can choose to believe in magic or choose to believe the boring sepia toned "reality".
ome themes in conclusion reminded me of Buddhist philosophy. Suffering is inherent to living. Suffering arises from clinging/grasping to desires (attachments). The wife in the end wraps up the conclusion: without suffering there can be no happiness.
i mean this in the best way possible....i think your videos would be better without the background music playing while your talking. it's a little distracting
It's nice to see your subscriber numbers slowly climbing. I really enjoy watching your takes on different films, and you have good recommendations. I watched "Riders of Justice" a couple of weeks back and enjoyed it. I'll try giving "Stalker" (1979) a watch. I find it fascinating that the two guys who make it to the room both try to use fronts as to why they won't actually enter it. I think perhaps they are too afraid to really want to know the truth. I'm also curious if the Stalker has the gifts to navigate the zone because he's sort of like a genie in a lamp. Did he make a wish in that room and be forced to assist others to get there in exchange? If so, is he needing someone else to make a wish so that they take his place and he is then free from being a Stalker?
although I dont agree with what you're saying alot of the time, this is exactly what Tarkovski intends with his films. He hates blatant symbolysim and wants his viewers to discover their own meaning. What you're saying is completelty correct, at the same time as being completely wrong, its left up to each individuals interpretation. This is why he is great.
You must watch this movie at least once to appreciate to work that Andrei put into it. This movie did what it was meant to do. To keep the audience in suspense for any "traps" to occur which he succeeded to do. Also about faith and about focusing on what is in front of you like family, instead of focusing on some obsession which life just passes you by.
Is this what the game is based after, obviously the game has completely different elements to this but I mean the movie name is stalker maybe a rhetorical question but I got to ask
Right, so getting into the room can be very dangerous, at least based on what the Stalker says. Apparently, what you get is NOT what you ask for but what you wish for the most inside. i.e. he tells a story when a father went into the room and asked for his daughter's life saved and he got money...
What made me want to see this film was seeing the same image on your computer screen--the large room with sand dunes? What is that place? I agree this film is a masterpiece. When I started it the first time I thought yep an art house film and it is. Great actors, breathtaking cinematography and I got a kind of spiritual high off it. Because it is so long I watched it in segments over several nights. I have watched it twice. It is a film that stays with you. Solaris is equally as wonderful although I recommend reading the book first. I am making a point of viewing as many of Tarkovsky's films as possible. I think he might be better than Bergman whose films I find a bit mentally traumatizing. Cries and Whispers!
The Stalker is like LOTR if LOTR took place in communist Russia lmao. I guess my problem with the movie is I wish there were more anomalies in the zone and the subtitles were a bit too fast, not that it matters since I speak Russian. I appreciate this movie a lot because it lays down some heavy philosophy while giving you time to think about the philosophy of what the characters are saying with long gorgeous scenes of nature and abandoned factories and structures in between. Maybe it was a bit too slow for me? but also, I think I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half, after a while I started to fall asleep lol, but it was a pleasant experience, I enjoyed it a lot more than the modern bullshit we see with explosions and cheesy effects. Maybe it was just the right length, but I had to watch the movie in two sittings. This movie felt... wholesome, it had some heavy Doestovsky vibes, especially all the religious undertones regarding faith. I've recently been rediscovering my own faith in the divine and supernatural. So I watch this film at an interesting time in my life. I think it's important to understand that the Soviet Union banned religion, it was a purely materialistic empire, which is ironic because communism tries to criticize materialism so hard, aka capitalism. I guess capitalism and communism lead to the same result once they begin destroying religion, faith, tradition. (Look at detroit, LA, Baltimore, etc) This movie is probably confusing for people who don't know much about life in the Soviet Union, religion, history, philosophy. It's a deep piece that requires a lot of thought. I do have a lot to say about this movie but I think I have already ranted enough.
@@RendanLovell It’s not that big of a deal it just would’ve a been a little more convenient to mention if you’re about to go into spoiler stuff in the future but it is what it is lol. That’s the pain of being really excited for something you just discovered, I read the book and while I’m waiting for my friend to finish it so we can watch the movie together, it’s like I’m looking for stuff to hype it up while also wanting to find out as much as I can about the movie without knowing too much. It’s hard to balance my curiosity with caution. Especially with how peculiar this movie seems to be from the trailers and descriptions I see and how few people are really talking about it in English lol. I’ll be back to finish this when we finally watch it-hopefully soon!
The zone isnt necessarilly set in russie I dont think its stated where it is in the movie and i know its alluded in the book that the zone is in canada
I just watched it (and found your video looking for others thoughts 😐). One thing I really noticed was how the sound enhanced the overall feelings of unease and "otherness".
Nothing really happens because the Stalker is there. I know it's kind of a cop-out, but we dont see how the guy found his way. We are with the group, and we as an audience are assumed to be trusting in the Stalker. A lot of viewers think about what they would wish for, but we don't know what we actually want when the chance is right in front of us. I think the hope and faith references are really grounding.
I just watched this for the first time. I loved the introspective conversations, but I wish they were in English so I could understand them without missing too much of the visuals. It was very slow, and I definitely missed a lot, which is why I’m here to see what the Easter eggs were lol. And then ending confused the shit out of me - he left his daughter in the Zone? She has powers? Wut. But the visuals were awesome.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
I watched this movie for the first time today and I must say, while it's visually very impressive, and the cinematography is definitely worth noting, I was left at the end with this thought of "what just happened exactly?" Take, for instance, the choice of sepia vs. color. While watching the movie, the sepia toned scenes to me were the "real" world (or anything outside of the zone), the in-color scenes were anything inside the zone. It made it apparent that the outside "world" (so to speak) was bleak, miserable, and full of bad things to the Stalker. But when the three main characters are inside of the zone, there are certain points where the sepia toned scenes return, notably when the Stalker is falling asleep. I pictured these as dreams maybe. Dreams or flashbacks to times the Stalker spent outside of the zone. But I think the dog (I have no idea what the dog symbolizes, if it symbolizes anything at all) was first introduced in one of the sepia toned scenes. So where did the dog come from exactly? The zone, or outside of it? You noted that at the end of the movie there are scenes that aren't sepia toned, which shows that the Stalker no longer looks at his ordinary surroundings as bleak, he starts to see the true beauty of his life outside of the zone. Which makes sense, after what he went through, but I had a hard time figuring out what scenes were in "the zone" and which ones weren't. If one was pictured solely in one color tone, and the other in full color, it'd 100% make more sense, but they aren't (apparently). I know you're just interpreting the film yourself and anyone else could have a differing view, but it really threw me for a loop. Like what is what? Which "world" are we in? If we can't simply go off the color tones used, then why are there varying color tones? They have to represent something. I do think maybe you're right though, maybe the colored scenes in Russia at the end were used to show that the Stalker had clearly realized that even if true happiness could be found by simply walking into a room that grants your wishes, maybe there is more beauty around his every day life that he hadn't seen before. After all he took two people out there to have their dreams come true, and both refused. But he did mention taking his wife and child to the zone since no one could bother them there, so in the very last scenes I just assumed that was where they were (it was in color, and I just assume color = the zone). It''s one of those movies you could watch 5 different times and come out with something extra with each viewing, but seeing as the runtime is just under 3 hours, I find it hard for me to do that myself. It's very beautiful, but also very slow.
I just don't get it. At the end the wife asks if she should go with him but he says: No. What if it should not work like it did for him? That implied he went into the room which upended the whole movie.
He might have gotten into the room and that's how his dream became true, he became a stalker someone capable of guiding people trough the zone and helping people.
It gets better and better with every repeat viewing when you pick up more nuggets. There's been suggestion too that in the Zone, time and space is effected. Suggested in a moment when the characters are separated for a passage of time, until they reunite back at the same place, with them experiencing different times apart.
Additionally there's this one random shot once they come to the outside of the grinder, of something dropping in the bottom of a well. It seems glaring at first, random, but later on we see the Writer giving a monologue, sat on the edge of a well (once inside, near the room). He drops a stone down the well. It's never really made a big focus point (it's kind of nonchalant how he does it) but it's yet another nugget. Just how dangerous the 'zones' traps are have often been theorised. Are there really 'traps'? But there are very definite suggestions that the Zone has a kind of sentience. One P.O.V tracking shot moves through, which we assume is one of the characters, until all three appear in shot, and suddenly, we're looking at them through the Zone's perspective. Then the time and space effected, the mist that appears outside it quite suddenly, etc. :)
Yeah, I love the film.
what’s the time stamp for the shot at the bottom of the well when they’re just outside the grinder, is it around 1:07 where it kind of looks like a moon or is it a different scene I’m remembering? (great analysis btw i completely agree)
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199The zone doesn't actually grant your wishes, but your true innermost desires. How well does a person onow themselves? What do you *actually* desire? Is it a Nobel Prize or is it revenge? All three characters are granted their innermost desires, the professor gets to say "I win" the writer gets to say "I'm content in discontentness, contentness would be something I loathe" the Stalker comes home to his family. The dog follows the stalker home, she has unconditional and unquestioning love/loyalty, nobody has faith in anything, but the dog has faith in him. I didn't take a film course or anything I'm just voicing my subjective interpretation.
@@pwcgp2199 You've probably turned in your essay now but one of the best ways to look at the movie is through the lens of the book too (called Roadside Picnic). Because some things that are touched on in the movie take on a different meaning when you see them as adaptations of the book vs taken on their own. And both interpretations (adaption and solo) are valid.
The book gets a lot more into his family and provides a lot of context as to why she got superpowers in the movie. A huge point in the book is that, if you go into the zone, all of the future children you produce will be mutated and strange. The book's main character also has a daughter, just like in the movie, but she is covered in hair and has gangly arms and legs like a monkey. In fact 'monkey' is his nickname for her. The movie, by contrast, doesn't talk about how the zone's effects extend beyond the zone itself or how people carry anomalous effects with them.
In the book the zone doesn't actually do that much harm to that many people either. You more-so hear about the harm it does second hand. How someone got goop on their body and it burned off their hand and then proceeded to liquidate all their bones and the suffocated when their rib cage collapsed. Or how there are these two rusted cars that, if you walk between them, you die. And then points out some rotten stuff and bones between the two cars because someone found out the hard way. IIRC you only directly see two deaths caused by the zone. One in the first chapter and one toward the end. And the first chapter is freaky. A guy touches some spider webs and it causes him to have a violent heart attack a few hours later. And the book makes it crystal clear this isn't coincidence. There is something supernatural that is proven and tangible in the zone.
One of the most interesting things is that the wish granters in both the book and the movie are entirely different. The movie's Room grants you your innermost desire. Regardless of what you truly ask from it. The book's Golden Sphere grants a person whatever is asked of it, but it's behind an anomaly called The Meat Grinder which... does exactly what it says on the tin. It is *possible* to reach but you have to be crazy, desperate, or both to even try.
And going off of what justingoretoy said, perhaps the desires of the three were NOT granted. Or maybe they were. That's the beauty of the ending. Especially when it comes to the Stalker himself. What he fears (as I see it) is that if he gets his wish granted he will no longer have the misery needed to reach the room and guide others. And if he gets his wish then his family will be truly happy and they will be financially stable and he will therefore never be able to go into the zone again... Or maybe his true fear is that he loves the zone more than his family. And what will really happen is that by making a wish he will never get to see the family he loves again.
I just watched it. I thought it was okay. I missed some of the dialog with the subtitles going by quickly. And it's hard to take in the visuals when you're reading subtitles. Plus, the 3 voices sound similar to me, and I couldn't tell who was speaking most of the time. But, for me, it's not worth a second viewing to catch what I missed. It is slow, and I think pretentious is a good descriptor. But it probably would at least be a little better if they dubbed it in English.
The Zone, specifically the Room, doesn’t grant a wish, maybe. It grants your innermost desire, not necessarily what you think it is. His daughter, in my opinion, has telekinesis because his wish was for his daughter to be cured of her deformity, but his desire was for her to be able to survive in the world, and the Zone granted that, just not how he thought it may.
That is an incredibly cool theory
Wow!
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199when they are sitting in front of the room. It’s a pool of water with rain coming down from above. The waters below and the waters above. Take from that what you will i don’t really know what to fully make of it.
I have a theory that he DID go in the room, and that his innermost wish was that his daughter could "move around freely," but that this message got somehow garbled by the room...so that the things she can move around freely are not her legs but physical objects....
My brain can’t comprehend that something can be so awful to watch, but furthermore beautiful, unique, and even thought-provoking. It’s the kind of movie I want to watch again just after finishing it and simultaneously I never want to see Stalker again.
Very well said
😂 Understandable
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@pwcgp2199 I'd write something about faith, desire, and happiness, and these 3 concepts interact with each other.
@@saierwe what makes a work of art good isn't how well it fits into a pre-established genre
This whole movie is like an allegory of living as a fallen human in a fallen world. Kind of mind blowing.
5:30 faith
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
Well kind of, it's an allegory for religion in a modern society. The stalker is a stand in for a priest guiding people through life, constantly in fear of what he doesn't understand and dependent on the faith of others to legitimize his existence. But people have found answers to life's questions in other form: through science and art and they no longer need religion and superstition.
@@mrzfunkpeople have not found answers in science and art. It's like you missed a major part of the movie. That's what the scientist and the writer stood for. Both had their faith in the material world that led them to despair and wanted to die.
@@SeriouslyAwesome the scientist and artist didn't despair they came to destroy religion because they thought it was dangerous but when they realized it was just an empty room they didn't need to destroy it so the left "gods poor fool" to his religion and Stalker is the one who despaired that he couldn't convert more people and collapsed in his bed wanting to die.
I saw this film recently and was just blown away. It is so beautiful and eerie. It is riveting even when there is nothing going on for minutes at a time. The Zone is ugly, trashed, polluted and yet astonishingly beautiful. The Stalker himself is a true believer trying to convert non-believers. Great acting, fantastic music what little there is. I will watch and study this movie again. I saw Solaris and it is just as long with beautiful segments that seem to make no sense. I love movies that are a visual feast and Stalker is one of them. Today, with way things are going, this film predicts our future world
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199 i know this is kinda late but how did the essay go? :D
A thing to note is that when the charachters that are in the zone the movie suddenly turns to color. But there are more than that. There are scenes outside the zone that have color. That doesn't make sense does it. The thing is, in all those scenes the stalkers daughter is in the pitchure. For example: the ending scene. I think the daughter is a part of the zone, an embodyment of It, therefore it is in color. Therefor she has powers. I think the zone is looking through her eyes.
I don't know about the zone being alive or not but she has the magic in her. That's why there is color.
It's grey when the stalker isn't in the zone. The world is empty and meaningless to him. The zone is his purpose.
@@Kneejair Ever read Road Side Picnic? This movie is loosely based off that book.
Another thing tooz a big them in the movie is having hope. All the adults have no hope in the world, and after they return from the zone not believing in the room they return with no hope, and if the stalker is anything to go off of after his speech at the end they may have even less hope.
However his daughter, a child has hope which is why she sees the world I color
I found this movie to be theologically dense. They rumored Monkey being a "child of the zone". God is the Zone. Jesus told us to be like children and there was a speech in the film about young being strong and flexible and as we age we grown hard and weak.
I came here to say the exact same thing.
This movie is a philosophical mind-fuck. I was constantly tugged between humanity's light and dark sides. The need for vindication and selfish desires is the impetus for their journey, but the end result is acceptance of their lot and humility. And the whole way through we see hard-headedness, doubt, sin (missing the mark/not knowing where to aim), disobedience, hope, love, absenteeism, and so much more. Just like real life, we spend all this time thinking we want something, working hard to get there, only to arrive at our destination and realize we don't want it anymore. I just watched it for the first time because I love the stalker video game series and find that it was inspired by this film. What a trip.
It’s not set in Russia, so much as in a nondescript authoritarian country with a quarantined zone, based on the storyline from the book “Roadside Picnic”.
It believe it’s insulating the US, due to the weaponry, police uniforms and motorcycles etc.
Would help it get past Soviet arts councils for approval too
The stalker doesn't enter the room because deep down, he has a small doubt if the faith he feels is real. In fact, Tarkovsky never assures us that faith is real; the ending is like the beginning. At the start of the movie, a glass moves due to the passing of the train, and in the end, the same thing happens. But we see the stalker's daughter, perhaps having the power of telekinesis and making miracles something possible, something real. However, we also hear the train passing and how it moves the entire house, so Andrei never assures us of anything. It's incredible what Tarkovsky did with this film, being his last in Russia and his second shooting, as the first negative was destroyed.
The final scenes of Stalker, with the stalker crying while dandelions are flying everywhere, or the tracking shot on the water - Tarkovsky was the Beethoven of cinema. Every time I watch it, I discover something new, a treasure, as if Andrei had it stored away to be uncovered when you watch it for the eighth time. By far, I always believed it was a religious movie rather than a science fiction one, as religion is the film's central theme. If you've never had existential doubts and believe that everything comes and goes into nothingness, in other words, if you completely lack faith, this movie will be a waste for you because the journey is long, and Andrei's message is for those who understand it, as those who don't care will remain unaffected
"If you've never had existential doubts and believe that everything comes and goes into nothingness, in other words, if you completely lack faith, this movie will be a waste for you because the journey is long, and Andrei's message is for those who understand it, as those who don't care will remain unaffected"
"-I am not sure. I think it lets those through who've lost all hope."
Apparently the film was shot three times, because he didn't like the second version.
I remember at one point it was stated that it didn't matter whether you were good or evil.
I don't think it granted wishes.
I don't know what it did because porcupine killed himself but was rich before he did.
I think the stalker thought it granted wishes but to his despair I think the real gift that the zone ended up giving them was time to think about their own lives and circumstances.
The writer realized he didn't want to die like he thought he did, and the professor abandoned his mission that he came so far to accomplish after realizing it wasn't worth it.
One thing I noticed is that the stalker is always behind the characters like he's hiding or using them as like a meat shield, he rarely takes point.
He knows it all but for some reason he's never in front. Being a guide you think he would be in front most of the time.
I don't know still, I have to go back and watch it like 8 more times it was the slowest densest 3 hours I've sat through in a while
To me it kind of made sense for him to be at the back, his job is guiding them to the Room, and he has done so multiple times before with other people, soit kind of makes sense that the people who wish to enter the Room to take the risks, otherwise I'd assume he'd been a dead stalker a bit earlier. But who knows, I feel like this movie has a vast amount of interpretations, and i don't necessarily feel like there's a right one.
if the stalker went first and was wrong about his intuitions, he'd die and leave the other two stranded without a stalker. if one man besides the stalker dies, he can take the other one to the room and back still.
The stalker is a Priest. He guides on your journey. He doesn't lead it.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
so my interpretation of this story is while they're in the zone, they are literally on a spiritual journey to find themselves. every one of them embodies a group of people. the room raises the question of "what is you hearts desire?" and "if you had the chance to find out would you want to?" and this raises the philosophical questions. porcupine's story is he went into the room thinking his hearts desire would be for his brother to come back to life. instead it was greed and the room made him rich. porcupine was sad by this and decides to kill himself because he was ashamed. the ending, i believe represents a lot of things. so, stalker goes on an emotional rant and saying how there isn't any hope left and falls asleep. his wife talks to us the audience and gives us information that isn't that useful but that's besides the point. the point is that she broke the fourth wall. then it goes to the daughter (i think it shows the daughter because after stalker's rant of no hope, it shows a child, who is the future and hope) and as we know she is crippled. earlier stalker had said he never went into the room but i think he was lying. his hearts desire was for his daughter to be able to survive and defend herself. so she gets telekinesis. she can move things. she can "move." we see her move glass off the table with powers. but you have a choice. you can think it was the train or you can think it was her powers. the wife broke the fourth wall so the movie can end asking you a question. do you have faith or do you have no faith? did the daughter move the glass or the train? do you know who you are? do you wanna know you real hearts desire? what is your purpose?
The dog symbolizes the Zone, IMO. Why a dog I am not sure though the black dog has been used to symbolize not only the supernatural but also depression since the time of the Roman poet Horace. The Zone takes pity on the Stalker because of his suffering from lack of faith in humans. Notice it lies next to him as protecting him and then the Stalker lies next to the dog at the end. The dog follows him out of the Zone and once his family adopts the dog Monkey is seen in color signifying she has the power of the Zone but with human understanding of what is best for mankind which the Zone seemed to lack. You can hear the dog whining when Monkey moves the glasses which could symbolize the evolution of the Zone though I'm spit balling it here. Also, there is pollen in the air signifying the hope or new life that will be spread throughout the Earth because of her. The music "Ode to Joy" is obvious.
It's kinda beyond me why you westerners struggle so much with something so basic. It's simple: The movie discusses the nature of faith. The dog is a faithful follower.
Cerberus was the dog in greek mythology who guarded the entrance to the underworld
@@DustWolphy”You WeSTERns” man shut up, you don’t even know where west is you’re so far up your own ass.
About 10 years ago an old friend recommended this film to me, never heard of it! He kept asking me if I watched it ? did I like it etc. Anyway I told him how can I watch it, I can't find it! he sent me a link... I watched maybe 25min then it stop streaming.
So I was record store, when record stores were a thing and saw it on sale purchased price $50! I thought ok this better be good for $50.
Anyway I watched it and was a bit stunned initially! Then I watched it again and again and again and again, and yes indeed I can say for certain this film is a "Masterpiece" best $50 dollars I ever spent on a classic movie, I love it!
It's fascinating how all the people who say the movie is difficult/awful to watch are americans.
I’m Norwegian, and i think the movie suck.
This film is like a fever dream
The most beautiful masterpiece ive ever seen, genuinely a life changing movie
Regarding 9:31 - the first 20 minutes are not in Russia. The licence plate on the bike that a military guy rides are using latin letters (PL 321), not cyrillic ones. That may have been a mistake as the film creators wanted to avoid a reference to any country (the licence plate on the Land rover is using a letter "M" and the logo on the military bike rider's helmet and stalker's wife's cigarette pack are using letters "AT" which are common to latin and cyrillic scripts).
It was filmed in Estonia at Soviet Empire.
Though I enjoyed this film as I did “Solaris”, for similar reasons, I preferred the sci-fi/horror aspects of “Roadside Picnic” and would like to see a more book-faithful screenplay made possible by advances in visual effects. With regard to “Solaris”, I love the original 1972 film, and walked out of the 2002 American version within ten minutes.
This movie becomes so much more interesting when held in contrast against both the original book and the game that is also based on the book. Each one has stalkers. All three have deadly anomalies. All three have a wish granter. And yet all of these things are entirely different flavors. Especially the wish granter works.
SPOILER WARNING!!!
In the book the wish granter (aka The Golden Sphere) is truly impartial. You approach it. You ask for a wish. it's granted. The problem is that it's located behind an anomaly called The Meat Grinder which does exactly what the name implies via powerful gravitational forces. And the only way to get through The Meat Grinder is to activate it as it goes dormant for several hours once its been triggered. Essentially you have to trick or force another human to walk into it An animal could theoretically be used if you could get one large enough into the zone. Additionally, in the books, this zone isn't the only zone. There are zones all over the world due to how the zones were created. We only ever see the one in Russia though but its implied there are wonders and disasters in all of them.
In the games the wish granter (aka The Monolith) is a monkey's paw. It is an apparently sapient thing that lures in people toward it. And has an entire cult worshiping it. It speaks in your mind while you approach it, killing cult members. And if you reach it you can ask it for a wish. And it will be granted. I don't know which of the wishes I saw are from the base game wishes are since the game basically requires mods to run properly, But the end result will generally leave you dead or worse than dead. In reality this device is an illusion. It uses the reality warping powers of the zone to falsely grant the desires of those who approach it and causes the zone as a whole to expand in all directions each and every time.
In the movie the wish granter (aka The Room) is also impartial. But instead of granting the wish you ask of it, it will grant your innermost desire. This isn't always a bad thing but can result in people feeling immense guilt over what they wished for vs what they came to that place to wish for. The stalker in the movie knows this and that's why he will not go into the room. He's afraid, not of getting his wish granted, but of the consequences of it. Saying "I'll never be able to return" is not because there's something that would magically prevent him. Like "you've already had your wish. You can't come in" but because he'd have no reason to come back. For example if his wish was for a lovely, happy, perfect family who would want for nothing that means that it's no longer worth risking his life in the zone. Because, in the movie at least, the zone only lets those who are miserable pass.
If I remember correctly from Roadside Picnic, the zone in which the book take place is in an unknown country, they let it to the reader to imagine. They just says the name of the city : Harmont... also for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, it can turn very well without mods and are excellent! За Монолит!
@@xenf1365 Maybe I misremembered the detail about the location. Its been a good while.
And as for the stalker games I suppose your mileage may vary. I couldn't launch the game without some fixes installed. It just crashed every time.
@AgentSapphire ah damn.. I remember I finished the first one without any patches, haha... I guess I am lucky
@@xenf1365 yeah it is very temperamental on certain hardware or hardware combinations. Or even where you have it installed etc. You might get lucky and it runs perfectly, but you also might get unlucky.
I feel like I’ve read this comment before and it’s freaking me out.
Correction. It does not take place in Russia. In the book it's based of it's Canada.
It’s low budget wizard of oz remake in the Russian dystopian style
I was thinking exactly the same thing about wizard of Oz. I am not the only one
The end has 3 i think distinct answers.
1 he says to his wife what if we fail again? As in they have been to the room before and they were gifted a ceipple child, but kaybe it was a success all along?
2. The dog is part of the zone brought back and is able to spread its gifts to someone of pure heart or faith
3. The wife was right all along that she didnt need the zone as they were able to manifest thier own happiness if they only believe and thay is thier daughter
Stalker is the third Tarkovsky film I’ve watched after seeing Andrew Rubliev and Ivan’s Childhood some years ago. What has stayed with me since viewing this particular film is less the profundity of meaning than the beauty of Tarkovsky’s ability to create a cinematic tapestry of sound and vision. There were fleeting episodes of true beauty in this movie. A near fifty year old film that needs no surgery to appear strangely ageless. Take your time with Stalker. Its ugliness belies the dream.
great movie to watch while extremely high or on an acid trip, movie isn't very scary and kind of comforting, cinematography is ambiguous and feels like the meaning will all come together at some point, also just a beautiful movie.
The dog is the zone, as if it takes a physical form. The zone wants the stalker and the stalker wants the zone. It shows up in the dreams as a manifestation of itself that the stalker can perceive physically, it's almost a telepathic or quantum entanglement with the stalker. It manifests itself and goes home with the stalker to give him the hope he needs. This explains why the girl becomes entwined with it and her powers as well.
Stalker is very straightforwardly a metaphor for religion. The Stalker is a stand in for a priest whose job is to guide people through the mysteries of life promising them whatever their heart desires. But people no longer need faith because they've found answers and meaning in science and art. First the scientist and the artist are afraid of religion and want to destroy it but then they realize it has no real power and they might as well let "gods poor fools" keep their hokey religions.
I feel like Annihilation is the spiritual successor to Stalker in film
It kinda is, they were inspired by it and roadside picnic of course, is I mix of both. Roadside picnic isn't that philosophical and focus more in it's world building while stalker 1979 is less straightforward and more philosophical.
In the directors cut the stalker cant enter the room because he hears a voice telling him
"get out of here stalker get out of here stalker get out of here stalker"😂
theres a lot of shit in the movie that you dont take in on the first watch. watch it, the watch it again a few months later. you take in a lot of the deeper shit the 2nd go and it hits kinda hard. went to bed after watching it and had the best sleep ive had in a LONG fuckin time
0:52 …and _Andrei Rublev_ which is my favorite Tarkovsky film. All of his films are calming yet unsettling, and they are all very deep and introspective.
I thought it was told in the beginning of the film that the daughters disability was caused by being born within the zone ,
and probably has the telekinesis skill from there too.
I first watched a bit of this movie with my Dad when i was very young in the early 80's .
I only remember them driving along railway and going through the eerie area with broken down tanks and stuff.
It stuck with me and have just rewatched it now, well over 40 years later.
its the "its good and deep trust me" but its not only the dumb youtuber saying it its also the whole move going " no no this has deep meaning you jsut dont get it bro" over and over and over
so my interpretation of this story is while they're in the zone, they are literally on a spiritual journey to find themselves. every one of them embodies a group of people. the room raises the question of "what is you hearts desire?" and "if you had the chance to find out would you want to?" and this raises the philosophical questions. porcupine's story is he went into the room thinking his hearts desire would be for his brother to come back to life. instead it was greed and the room made him rich. porcupine was sad by this and decides to kill himself because he was ashamed. the ending, i believe represents a lot of things. so, stalker goes on an emotional rant and saying how there isn't any hope left and falls asleep. his wife talks to us the audience and gives us information that isn't that useful but that's besides the point. the point is that she broke the fourth wall. then it goes to the daughter (i think it shows the daughter because after stalker's rant of no hope, it shows a child, who is the future and hope) and as we know she is crippled. earlier stalker had said he never went into the room but i think he was lying. his hearts desire was for his daughter to be able to survive and defend herself. so she gets telekinesis. she can move things. she can "move." we see her move glass off the table with powers. but you have a choice. you can think it was the train or you can think it was her powers. the wife broke the fourth wall so the movie can end asking you a question. do you have faith or do you have no faith? did the daughter move the glass or the train? do you know who you are? do you wanna know you real hearts desire? what is your purpose?
Just watched the movie and came to this video. There is a scene with the dog after the professor gets off the phone with his boss. The dog is lying next to two skeletons in bed next to each other. Could this be a reference to the professor's wife and her affair? Just a thought. I need to watch this movie a few more times.
Good theory
Roadside Picnic, Stalker 1979, and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R Trilogy+ is some of the best pieces of Sci-fi I've ever seen
I saw a metaphor about why nothing happened to the crew in the zone i really liked. The zone is like a mined field, you've been told the place is dangerous, nobody know the places is filled with mines but you know is dangerous. A guy guide tou trough the mine field with extreme precautions until you safely reach the end, you might think nothing was there since nothing happened but that's because the guide did an excellent job. That's of cour excluding all the philosophical meanings of the movie.
Great video! I recently watched this and agree that it is really interesting. I don't necessarily agree with your assessment of the Stalker, however. I don't necessarily think he was moral and definitely not a standup guy. He leaves his wife and daughter, and doesn't really act like he cares or like it is any sacrifice to him. He is rather cold to his wife. I feel too like his faith is shook. He is struggling with his faith to the point where he relies on other people's faith to get him through. It seems like he believes that faithlessness has led to the shitty, drab world of hard times he lives in... when more likely it is the hard time world that led to the faithlessness. The best part about these types of movies is all the different interpretations that can come from them.
But it is also his wife's faith in him that makes him realize that his life outside the zone isn't so bad, she shows the power of faith. His faith is also rewarded when we see that his daughter has supernatural abilities.
"It seems like he believes that faithlessness has led to the shitty, drab world of hard times he lives in... when more likely it is the hard time world that led to the faithlessness."
This is because the Soviet Union banned religion, they banned faith, and as you know the Soviet Union went to shit. There are a lot of reasons why the Soviet Union went to shit, lack of faith and godlessness is just one of them, but in Tarkovsky's eyes, it is the main reason.
You can observe how the lack of faith in the US is also corrupting it and causing a decline, so he might not be wrong.
I find the meaning of the movie to be along the lines of the Stalker "No body believes..." . I think this movie is about hope and how hope is a self referring concept. When I view the movie from a logical standpoint taking into account the scene when Stalker's daughter uses telepathy, I assume that Stalker has entered the room (maybe even before the visit with the writer and the professor), hence his desire became true. Furthermore, there is the scene before their return from the zone that they all sit outside of the room and the camera lens captures from within the room. Then it's how this movie sets up the audience to constantly anticipate a paranormal activity which doesn't happen (not until the end of the movie). It's like faith and miracle can only be experienced simultaneously. You cannot comprehend the miracle if you don't believe, as if you are outside of the room. Thus the miracle will be revealed only if you get in. A correlation that goes both ways around.
As I’m sure many fans know, it’s adapted from Road Side Picnic. These two pieces of media then spawned the Stalker video games.
When does the 4th wall breaks in this movie?
The wife's monolog, for one
0:10 WRONG!! I love weird stuff like this, I really found it captivating. It reminds me of one of my favourite comedy movie "Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End" - which is similarly baffling and psychedlic in nature.
Big respect for not trying to BS answers for the symbolism. Sometimes there’s no correct take
Very candid and honest analysis. Just talking about a movie using brains and emotion. Kudos. Have a like.
this is one of the rare cases when the games bring so much more to life than what the movie did. the lore of this IP is second to none. once you dive in and are apart of the zone you cannot leave. 2nd game releases TOMORROW
SPOILER ALERT: I have Questions about this movie maybe someone here can answer.
1. Is the Zone and it's the room in the movie's world just made up superstitions and it's only fenced off because it's a nuclear hotspot like Chernobyl? IRL the restricted Chernobyl world was closed off to the public as well and people called Stalkers would sneak into the zone. Other tips that the Zone isn't what our Stalker claims is we never see a single booby trap yet he claims they are all over and magically change places all the time. Other hints that the zone is just Stalker's imagination is that when he's outside the zone everything is monochromatic color and once we get into the zone everything is in color. It's very similar to wizard of oz how Dorothy's imagination of Oz is in color but black in white in her reality.
2. Were those dead bodies on the floor in front of the room? If so is this proof the room is magical and booby traps in fact do exist?
3. Did Porcupine's brother die because his innermost wish was to die?
4. Does Stalker's daughter have Jedi force powers or did the stuff move on it's own just because of the nearby train?
1. The zone is most likely a real place the colors have nothing to do with imagination since stalker's wife clearly knows of it's existence, the movie simply is about faith and destiny we don't know if the traps exist but if they do maybe it was just destiny that allowed them to go through or maybe it was the zone itself since it apears to be partially sentient it has nothing to do with anything nuclear this movie was shot prior to chernobyl. The stalkers who snuck into chernobyl were named AFTER this movie.
2. It might have been dead bodies however the zone does actually show paranormal activity like when they teleport in the middle of the film or when a dead phone rings it is heavily implied that what the stalker is saying IS true.
3. It might be, it may also be that he simply killed himself because he realised how pointless existence was with your wish granted.
4. It was not the train.
@@kiryowtk2869 Great point about Chernobyl of course it happened after this movie was made. I'm old enough to remember Chernobyl happening I should have caught that. The Zone is so freaking similar to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone it's creepy. How did Tarkovsky recreate something from the future so spot on? My guess is he based it on other Soviet Exclusion zones like where the Soviets created a lake by blowing up a Multiple nukes to create an artificial lake but then realized it's so radioactive we can't let people in here. The US had similar plans such as Project Plowshare but cancelled them due to radiation issues.
@@kiryowtk2869 Your right the girl was absolutely moving those glasses with her powers because if it was the train they ALL would have been moving at once but she deliberately moved one at a time as she focused on it. She basically Carry without legs. She deserves her own movie.
@@kiryowtk2869 The Zone clearly exists and wife is aware of it but the wife never say's she is convinced of it's supernatural power. The Zone being in Color clearly indicates something very important and I believe it's in color because Stalker believes in it's supernatural power and see's it through a lens of being more colorful where everyday life is such a drudge and he even calls it his prison so it's muted colorless with no magic. Again I believe we only see this through the lens of the Stalker and others that truly believe in it's power.
@@Wallyworld30 If we go down the Tarkovsky as a Prophet road, it's not only the Zone that seems to predict Chernobyl, but also the film Sacrifice that seems to predict the 1986 murder of the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme.
A recurring "disaster panic scene" is centered on the long stairs at the end of the cul-de-sac where Palme was shot, just a few months after the filming. Though without that connection, the actual scene is more like a New York 9/11 aftermath "in miniature".
Note that the first comparison could be made from 1986 and on, while the 9/11 one had to wait another 15 years. Which brings us to numerous Nostradamus interpretation fallacies of a similar kind. There is a reason that we have the word "coincidence" (and equivalents) in most languages.
Then again, towards the end of the book Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky quotes Pushkin's poem The Prophet, where God tells the poet to go out there and tell the world. Sooo ... in some sense Tarkovsky may just have seen himself as a prophet of sorts.
i'm wondering what the black dog represents in the movie. it puzzled me
i've seen it twice in the last few years and i'm starting to get it
Supposedly the children of Stalkers in that universe are born deformed but with magic powers which was supposed to be gone into in more depth in a sequel that was never released.
In the book, the daughter is called Monkey because she has hair growing all over her body.
Thr people who were living in the villages/areas where the zone(s) are, were either killed during the event, or blinded and deformed.
Nobody is allowed to leave because very strange things seem to happen around these people, like terrible storms which destroy cities.
The stalker is the guy who goes in illegally to earn a dollar.
I don't know for sure that the movie is set in Russia, my understanding was this was its own anonymous universe, there aren't really any cultural references that would make it clear that the story is set in Russia, some of the cars they have in the movie are specifically ones you would never find in the former Soviet Union, they clearly had to import them from somewhere outside of the Soviet Union when filming it, which would indicate the story actually was not meant to be set there
Ukraine “Chernobyl” exclusion zone. The book roadside picnic better explains all of this. As for the games are spin offs of the books I don’t know how accurate the games are to the movie although I recommend the book. The Main cultural reference we get is that it’s a exclusion zone i.e Chernobyl exclusion zone. Stalker is a term used during the period of the Soviet Union/Ukraine during the collapse of the Union. ✊
@@ShootinStims The Chernobyl nuclear accident was in 1986, while the film Stalker was made (finished) in 1979. The Stalker term's use in real life was apparently inspired by the book and film, not the other way around. Or the original russian word may be a "natural" word to use for such people in general, both before and after the book and film.
@@fox23fox completely inaccurate. As a foreigner from Ukraine this isn’t true. 🤣
@@ShootinStims I cannot possibly be "completely inaccurate". I may be wrong about the term Stalker (in russian) and it's usage. But the film was made in 1979, seven years before the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the subsequent "zone" around it.
Or are you saying that something else happened there, that required a zone before 1979; or before 1971 even, as that's when the book Roadside Picnic was written.
Either you are misunderstanding me, or I'm misunderstanding you here.
Regarding 2:33 - a reference to Russia or any other country where the Zone is was deliberately avoided. There are no names of country, its regime (communism, capitalism,...), towns or places, car models and even of humans (aside from a former stalker and this stalker's daughter). All this so the audience worldwide can identify with their own situation.
Tells the story of people
Staying with a familiar hell out of comfort of familiarity vs choosein an unfamiliar choice leading to a place of unfamiliarity
The degree of vivid colour indicates the hope that their hearts feel.
Just watched this for the first time last week and then you make a video, how nice 🙃
Just for you
Read CG Jung , Synchronicity .......... !
The only reason I found this movie was looking at stalker game videos
Also the directors last name is used for the game escape from tarkov
Likely pays tribute to him
I personally think that Stalker is more than just a movie, it's an experience. It's an amazing story with fascinating characters, it is something that every movie watcher should exlerience at least once. It is something truly special, and I think that it is THE best film that has ever been made.
It’s a piece of shit, and the longest 3 hours of my life. We all know Sausage Party is the best film ever made.
@@DJNITON Sausage Party is amazing, you are amazing person
I think there's a part where they talk about someone who went into the room to heal his sick child, but the room grants his real wish and kills his brother. It grants your real wish, not the one you think your want. So the guilt crushes him, knowing he wanted his brother dead more than he wanted his child to live
Fair assessment. I loved it for the same reasons I loved VALHALLA RISING. Found the full film of STALKER free here on TH-cam. Good resolution. Subbed to your channel.
Narcissism exists on a spectrum, the zone makes your deepest wishes come true. Upon realizing your deepest wishes may not actually benefit mankind its best to not partake. The zone comes alive in the presence of people and the traps constantly shifting like a narcissist. The iron rule suggests the eastern block and isolation by authoritarian systems that inform you of your needs and desires and manufacturers dissent.
For me, this movie is a good example of, "Don't judge a book by its cover". A simple summary would be: A Stalker abandons his unfulfilling life in order to embark on a journey with three men to the zone; a dangerous, lucrative place where there is a magical room to grant any deep desire. Very simple many would think. But this movie's dialogue, religious symbolism, score, editing, setting, and story keeps us hooked because it is how it disguises itself as a simple adventure story but turns into something more deep and treacherous. I love this movie so much. Dreamed about it so much before buying it criterion even though it's free on TH-cam. Very inspirational as well.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
@@pwcgp2199 I would parallel the movie to Jesus Christ, his disciples, and the Roman's who wanted to hurt or disbelieve in his influence. I also would use this as a reflection of the true concept of science fiction. The energy and tone and how it encapsulates the main (or popular) themes of the genre. I would also include events in Russia during the time of Stalker that would fit in nicely into the essay.
Idk if he "abandoned" life. This is what he does for a living, hes gone into the zone times before and returned, unlike mamy who do venture in.
He MUST go in to provide for his family.
Also thebonly shots outside the zone in color are of the dsughter who has miracle powers. Which i thibk represents her being a miracle of the zone, the stalkers gift for his faith
Stalker, Solaris, The Mirror.. Its the filming, with all its details and sounds and weird things going on, I love them, and
have seen them 'a few' times, same with the American Motorama, and Bladerunner.. :)
I don’t think the daughter has powers. It was the passing train that moved the jars. It did not look like she was moving the jars, it looked like she was watching the jars move. I would expect this director to be able to show the difference. What I think it is meant to imply is that the stalkers are touched by the zone and the their children hold a piece of the room in them. The room being a manifestation of hope(hope perverted is desire). That children are the hope and what must be look to and fostered for a better future.
I think that the reason the daughter monkey has telepathy is because of some supernatural force in the zone. The wife says “Remember the kind of children stalkers have” in the movie. Also the book describes the topic of the stalkers having strange children even further.
In the original novel by Strugatsky Brothers the daughter was a real monkey.
The visuals are incredible as is the soundtrack. The ending with the girl is duality, as there is a train passing that may be vibrating the glass away OR the girl has powers. You can choose to believe in magic or choose to believe the boring sepia toned "reality".
Very well presented and going to - and through - the quintessence of this cinematographic masterpiece.
ome themes in conclusion reminded me of Buddhist philosophy. Suffering is inherent to living. Suffering arises from clinging/grasping to desires (attachments). The wife in the end wraps up the conclusion: without suffering there can be no happiness.
i mean this in the best way possible....i think your videos would be better without the background music playing while your talking. it's a little distracting
It's nice to see your subscriber numbers slowly climbing. I really enjoy watching your takes on different films, and you have good recommendations.
I watched "Riders of Justice" a couple of weeks back and enjoyed it. I'll try giving "Stalker" (1979) a watch.
I find it fascinating that the two guys who make it to the room both try to use fronts as to why they won't actually enter it. I think perhaps they are too afraid to really want to know the truth.
I'm also curious if the Stalker has the gifts to navigate the zone because he's sort of like a genie in a lamp. Did he make a wish in that room and be forced to assist others to get there in exchange? If so, is he needing someone else to make a wish so that they take his place and he is then free from being a Stalker?
One of the greatest film creators ever, you can tell the film was created with talent, no wonder american film directors are fanbois
Great video
2:30 i think the zone is taken place in Canada and not Russia at least that's how i remember it from the book
although I dont agree with what you're saying alot of the time, this is exactly what Tarkovski intends with his films. He hates blatant symbolysim and wants his viewers to discover their own meaning. What you're saying is completelty correct, at the same time as being completely wrong, its left up to each individuals interpretation. This is why he is great.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R stand for scavengers, trespassers, adventurers, loners, killers, explorers and robbers
You must watch this movie at least once to appreciate to work that Andrei put into it. This movie did what it was meant to do. To keep the audience in suspense for any "traps" to occur which he succeeded to do. Also about faith and about focusing on what is in front of you like family, instead of focusing on some obsession which life just passes you by.
I accidentally watched it fully in black and white guess I get to rewatch it no problem
Is this what the game is based after, obviously the game has completely different elements to this but I mean the movie name is stalker maybe a rhetorical question but I got to ask
Right, so getting into the room can be very dangerous, at least based on what the Stalker says. Apparently, what you get is NOT what you ask for but what you wish for the most inside. i.e. he tells a story when a father went into the room and asked for his daughter's life saved and he got money...
What made me want to see this film was seeing the same image on your computer screen--the large room with sand dunes? What is that place? I agree this film is a masterpiece. When I started it the first time I thought yep an art house film and it is. Great actors, breathtaking cinematography and I got a kind of spiritual high off it. Because it is so long I watched it in segments over several nights. I have watched it twice. It is a film that stays with you. Solaris is equally as wonderful although I recommend reading the book first. I am making a point of viewing as many of Tarkovsky's films as possible. I think he might be better than Bergman whose films I find a bit mentally traumatizing. Cries and Whispers!
I don't like this movie, but I do.
It doesn't take place in Russia. It's an unspecified country
The Stalker is like LOTR if LOTR took place in communist Russia lmao.
I guess my problem with the movie is I wish there were more anomalies in the zone and the subtitles were a bit too fast, not that it matters since I speak Russian.
I appreciate this movie a lot because it lays down some heavy philosophy while giving you time to think about the philosophy of what the characters are saying with long gorgeous scenes of nature and abandoned factories and structures in between. Maybe it was a bit too slow for me? but also, I think I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half, after a while I started to fall asleep lol, but it was a pleasant experience, I enjoyed it a lot more than the modern bullshit we see with explosions and cheesy effects. Maybe it was just the right length, but I had to watch the movie in two sittings.
This movie felt... wholesome, it had some heavy Doestovsky vibes, especially all the religious undertones regarding faith. I've recently been rediscovering my own faith in the divine and supernatural. So I watch this film at an interesting time in my life. I think it's important to understand that the Soviet Union banned religion, it was a purely materialistic empire, which is ironic because communism tries to criticize materialism so hard, aka capitalism.
I guess capitalism and communism lead to the same result once they begin destroying religion, faith, tradition. (Look at detroit, LA, Baltimore, etc)
This movie is probably confusing for people who don't know much about life in the Soviet Union, religion, history, philosophy. It's a deep piece that requires a lot of thought. I do have a lot to say about this movie but I think I have already ranted enough.
This 🎯
I thought this was going to be spoiler free. Was listening along to try to show my friend who I’ve wanted to watch it with for the first time. Dang
Sorry man but if a movie is 40 years old, you’re on your own.
@@RendanLovell It’s not that big of a deal it just would’ve a been a little more convenient to mention if you’re about to go into spoiler stuff in the future but it is what it is lol.
That’s the pain of being really excited for something you just discovered, I read the book and while I’m waiting for my friend to finish it so we can watch the movie together, it’s like I’m looking for stuff to hype it up while also wanting to find out as much as I can about the movie without knowing too much. It’s hard to balance my curiosity with caution. Especially with how peculiar this movie seems to be from the trailers and descriptions I see and how few people are really talking about it in English lol. I’ll be back to finish this when we finally watch it-hopefully soon!
All a man needs is a good woman and a dog
Ти ме не слушаш?
Ви сакрили, ја нашо. Старо здање, бункер 4.
Проста бомба, двад’сет килотона.
Movie is gold.
The zone isnt necessarilly set in russie
I dont think its stated where it is in the movie and i know its alluded in the book that the zone is in canada
@12:38 the black dog?
I just watched it (and found your video looking for others thoughts 😐). One thing I really noticed was how the sound enhanced the overall feelings of unease and "otherness".
Best of luck with your TH-cam career!
Thanks 🙏
There is no Zone and there is no Room. It's a metaphor for hope in a hopeless society in the waning days of the Soviet Union.
The time you spend to watch it is relational to the time spent in the zone itself. Tis the journey мой друг. Also the wife's speech 😢
Its for film students?? Experimental for sure
Nothing really happens because the Stalker is there. I know it's kind of a cop-out, but we dont see how the guy found his way. We are with the group, and we as an audience are assumed to be trusting in the Stalker. A lot of viewers think about what they would wish for, but we don't know what we actually want when the chance is right in front of us. I think the hope and faith references are really grounding.
I just watched this for the first time. I loved the introspective conversations, but I wish they were in English so I could understand them without missing too much of the visuals. It was very slow, and I definitely missed a lot, which is why I’m here to see what the Easter eggs were lol. And then ending confused the shit out of me - he left his daughter in the Zone? She has powers? Wut. But the visuals were awesome.
I’m writing a philosophy essay right now on stalker. Do you have any interesting ideas or approaches to the movie from a philosophical perspective? There are so many things to write about but I just can’t think of any concrete ideas to explore. Obviously I could say something about desire, search for meaning, etc… but I’m not sure what stance the film might be taking on these things and how the film explores these ideas.
You forgot to tell that the movie is based on on Sci Fi novel "Roadside picnic", by the Russian brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
The Word is the most timeless piece in 3 dimensional existence. Not trendy, just eternal.
Thanks idubbz
Won’t like it? Stalker is amazing.
Stalker is so great!
you alive?
I watched this movie for the first time today and I must say, while it's visually very impressive, and the cinematography is definitely worth noting, I was left at the end with this thought of "what just happened exactly?"
Take, for instance, the choice of sepia vs. color. While watching the movie, the sepia toned scenes to me were the "real" world (or anything outside of the zone), the in-color scenes were anything inside the zone. It made it apparent that the outside "world" (so to speak) was bleak, miserable, and full of bad things to the Stalker. But when the three main characters are inside of the zone, there are certain points where the sepia toned scenes return, notably when the Stalker is falling asleep. I pictured these as dreams maybe. Dreams or flashbacks to times the Stalker spent outside of the zone. But I think the dog (I have no idea what the dog symbolizes, if it symbolizes anything at all) was first introduced in one of the sepia toned scenes. So where did the dog come from exactly? The zone, or outside of it?
You noted that at the end of the movie there are scenes that aren't sepia toned, which shows that the Stalker no longer looks at his ordinary surroundings as bleak, he starts to see the true beauty of his life outside of the zone. Which makes sense, after what he went through, but I had a hard time figuring out what scenes were in "the zone" and which ones weren't. If one was pictured solely in one color tone, and the other in full color, it'd 100% make more sense, but they aren't (apparently). I know you're just interpreting the film yourself and anyone else could have a differing view, but it really threw me for a loop. Like what is what? Which "world" are we in? If we can't simply go off the color tones used, then why are there varying color tones? They have to represent something.
I do think maybe you're right though, maybe the colored scenes in Russia at the end were used to show that the Stalker had clearly realized that even if true happiness could be found by simply walking into a room that grants your wishes, maybe there is more beauty around his every day life that he hadn't seen before. After all he took two people out there to have their dreams come true, and both refused. But he did mention taking his wife and child to the zone since no one could bother them there, so in the very last scenes I just assumed that was where they were (it was in color, and I just assume color = the zone).
It''s one of those movies you could watch 5 different times and come out with something extra with each viewing, but seeing as the runtime is just under 3 hours, I find it hard for me to do that myself. It's very beautiful, but also very slow.
I just don't get it. At the end the wife asks if she should go with him but he says: No. What if it should not work like it did for him? That implied he went into the room which upended the whole movie.
He might have gotten into the room and that's how his dream became true, he became a stalker someone capable of guiding people trough the zone and helping people.