"The mirror" is film with strong autobiographical elements. It gives an impression of the life of Alexei, who in reality stands for Andrei Tarkovsky himself. The film gives this impression by alternating between scenes were Alexei is 5 years old, 12 years old and a grown up man. The film also contains historical footings from the above mentioned periods. Adding to all this, different characters are sometimes played by the same actor / actress. This applies to the mother of Alexei when he is a child and the wife of Alexei when he is grown up. It also applies to Alexei at 12 years old and the son of Alexei as a grown up. As a result the storyline (if any) is difficult to follow, even for Tarkovski standards.
The film is however also a very personal one. During the film different poems are recited (written & spoken) by Arseny Tarkovsky, the father of Andrei. The mother of Andrei plays the mother of the grown up Alexei.
As usual in a Tarkovsky film there are very beautiful images. Very Russian ones such as wooden dacha's on the countryside, but also trademark Tarkovsky images such as a burning barn (see also "Sacrifice" (1986)) and drizzle dripping inside a building (see also "Stalker" (1979) and "Nostalghia" (1983)). The most remarkable image for me however was that of a young woman wih soaking wet hair after washing. It almost seems the ultimate inspiration for "Ringu" (1998, Hideo Nakata).
