MIRROR: ANDREI TARKOVSKY: POCKET MOVIE GUIDE, MIRROR: ANDREI TARKOVSKY: POCKET MOVIE GUIDE

MIRRORANDREI TARKOVSKYPOCKET MOVIE GUIDEBy Jeremy Mark RobinsonA major new study of Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) and the 1975 film Mirror. Tarkovsky directed seven feature films, including Mirror, Andrei Roublyov, Solaris and The Sacrifice.Mirror (a.k.a. Zerkalo or The Bright, Bright Day) is Andrei Tarkovsky’s beloved project. It remained his favourite film, and closest to his concept of cinema. Mirror is loosely autobiographical, and combines many elements, ranging from poetry read in voiceover by the director’s father, to dream sequences, flashbacks, newsreel and memory devices. The movie is a poetic exploration of childhood. Film as personal psychogeography, self-reflexive, even indulgent.This study of Mirror explore aspects of Andrei Tarkovsky's output, including scripts, budget, production, shooting, editing, camera, sound, music, acting, themes, symbols, motifs, and spirituality. Mirror is analyzed in depth, with scene-by-scene discussions.Andrei Tarkovsky is one of the most fascinating of filmmakers. He is supremely romantic, an old-fashioned, traditional artist - at home in the company Leonardo da Vinci, Pieter Brueghel, Aleksandr Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoievsky and Byzantine icon painters. Tarkovsky is a magician, no question, but argues for demystification (even while films celebrate mystery). His films are full of magical events, dreams, memory sequences, multiple viewpoints, multiple time zones and bizarre occurrences.As genre films, Andrei Tarkovsky's movies are some of the most accomplished in cinema. As science fiction films, Stalker and Solaris have no superiors, and very few peers. Tarkovsky happily and methodically rewrote the rules of the sci-fi genre: Stalker and Solaris are definitely not routine genre outings. They don't have the monsters, the aliens, the visual effects, the battles, the laser guns, the stunts and action set-pieces of regular science fiction movies.Contains illustrations, of Andrei Tarkovsky's films, Tarkovsky at work, his favourite painters, and Mirror.Bibliography, filmographies and notes. Illustrated. 172pp.www.crmoon.com