Andrei Rublev (1966)

Andrei Rublev
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Written by Andrey Konchalovskiy and Andrei Tarkovsky
1966/USSR
Mosfilm/Tvorsheskoe Obedinienie i Kinorabotnikov
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Andrei Rublyov: I am what I am. You couldn’t teach me integrity.[/box]

Frame after exquisite frame make up this sublime meditation on art, religion, faith, and life.

The setting is early 15th Century Russia.  The film pivots on real-life master icon painter Andrei Rublev.  Rather than an autobiography though, we get a complex portrait of medieval Russia delivered through several episodes, some of which do not feature Rublev. Included is a Tartar invasion, monastic life with a sort of Mozart-Salieri artistic jealousy thing going on, a very early hot air balloon, etc. etc.

My favorite episode is the one where a Prince orders a young man, the only survivor of a dynasty of bell-makers, to cast a humungous church bell.  The penalty for the bell’s failure to ring will be quick execution.  We get deep into the casting process and it is just fascinating.

This is a very long but endlessly rewarding film.  In only his second feature film, Tarkovsky pulls off shots that are literally jaw-dropping in their scale and beauty.  It ends by transitioning from B&W to glorious color as Tarkovsky takes an up-close view of Rublev’s icons.  The score is fantastic.  Very highly recommended.

I am ending 1966 on a high note.  I was stunned when I discovered this was not a List film for 1966 but it turns out that is the IMDb date based on a private screening for Soviet authorities.  The Book has the film dated 1969, which is when it was first publicly screened in the USSR.  1967 here we come!