Une journée d'Andrei Arsenevitch

ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF ANDREI ARSENEVICH is just about the best analysis you will find of Andrei Tarkovsky's film style. It was made by director Chris Marker for the French TV series "Cinema de notre temps" ("Film in Our Time") and in it, I found a lot to meditate on. Tarkovsky was a filmmaker who wanted to elevate film to the level of the other great arts (literature, painting, and music) and this documentary clearly shows how Tarkovsky did it with his own unique way of filmmaking.

Marker's film does a pretty good job editing the final days of Tarkovsky's life, along with how he directed his last film THE SACRIFICE, as well as giving a fine analysis of Tarkovsky's film style. For instance, Marker compares what he calls the typical camera angle of Hollywood (slightly low, framing people against the sky) with the typical camera angle of Tarkovsky's films (slightly high, framing people against the ground). He also analyzes the way that fire and water are typical elements seen in nature, as well as the films of the Russian master.

The film will confuse many who are not familiar with the life and work of film's greatest mystic, but it will satisfy all those who want to view a superb analysis of a cinematic genius!

In this exceptional film Chris Marker, in his stylistic video essay format, parallels the life of Russia's most talented director, Andrei Tarkovskij, with his most recognized films. He points out that in the first scene of Tarkovskij's first film a boy is standing at the foot of a live tree, and in his last film a man is lying at the foot of a dying tree. He points out how this symbolizes the great circle of Tarkovskij's life which was encompassed within his films. I feel that this metaphor best puts the film, and the life and works of Tarkovskij into perspective.

Marker is second to none when it comes to interpreting film. He helps explain many of the obscurities found within Andrei's films perfectly, helping you realize something that you may have missed watching them the first time around. Simultaneously, he describes the life and mind of Tarkovskij; discussing how the great director thought and was involved in every aspect of the making of his films.

Marker was granted complete access to the set of Tarkovskij's final film, "The Sacrifice", and the room in which the greatest Russian director of all time lay on his deathbed. This is some of the greatest footage of Andrei ever taken, and is a MUST see for all of his fans. In the footage in which Tarkovskij is editing this, his final film, from his hospital bed, Marker succeeds in showing how the frail man was able to keep up his and the spirits of others, despite the obvious fate that would soon follow.

Tarkovskij would die before this film was released. Thus Marker was given the privilege of creating a final testament on the life and work of one of, if not the, greatest director's in the history of cinema; and i couldn't imagine anyone doing a better job. Rest in Peace Andrei, the world is a much bleaker place without you, but you will NEVER be forgotten!