Stalker is a 1979 Science Fiction movie directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.
Stalker tells the story of a journey to find a mysterious forbidden area known as The Zone, where a secret room can grant visitors their deepest desires. The Stalker guides a Writer and Professor to the area, where they each confront their greatest insecurities and fears.
Stalker may be the most desolate, desperate, depressing movie ever that is somehow incredibly hopeful.
The opening scene perfectly sets a bleak tone. The Stalker quietly arises from bed in a grim apartment, trying not to wake his wife and crippled daughter. The wife knows he’s abandoning her again. She confronts him, he relents. He leaves and she crumples to the ground, thrashing her body and cursing her fate.
Tarkovsky’s choice of color is fascinating. The entire scene – along with the first 25 minutes of the movie – are painted in a monochrome sepia. The smoky, smudged windows and broken wall plaster in the apartment are vividly defined. This is a broken down place filled with hopeless people.
The early exterior scenes amplify this atmosphere. Factories are seen in the background and a haze of industrial smoke floats by. We meet The Writer, who is trying to seduce a young woman by lamenting the lack of the supernatural in society. “Don’t hope for flying saucers. That would be too interesting.”
It is only in The Zone where we finally see light. Among the forest, color snaps back to life – along with the Stalker’s sense of hope and wonder. His previous pensive, almost tortured expression and suffering eyes yield as he stretches out in a field of weeds, caressing the earth.
The Zone is presented as a dangerous environment where rules are both ephemeral and deadly. Yet, as the Stalker suggests, this strange world is also a malleable construct of each person’s mind. Its landscape is littered with unseen traps – and each visitor carries their own emotional baggage.
Despite its grim and potentially lethal nature, people seek out the rewards of The Zone. It’s fascinating that such a barren, ashen place can derive such hope. But Tarkovsky does such a brilliant job casting the world left behind as cruel and soulless that the comparison makes perfect sense.
The mystery of The Zone is told through Aleksandr Kaydenovskiy’s tortured eyes. He is eternally consumed by both the wonder and danger inherent in this environment – one that he is fiercely protective of. It’s also evident he carries a deeply troubled past. His wife references his spending time in jail. His pained expression signals some kind of trauma that he can’t escape.
Kaydenovskiy is the perfect foil for Anatoliy Solonitsyn’s Writer character. Solonitsyn is a scene-stealer – his Writer is a complex blend of bluster and indignant criticism. His depression is apparent. He lashes out at the world – he takes no joy in his craft and holds contempt for those he claims mindlessly consume his words.
He tests the Stalker throughout the journey by questioning his authority – which to a greater extent, challenges the order of The Zone. The Writer initially charts his own path to The Room, before a mysterious voice warns him. Later, he tries to carry a gun through the Grinder tunnel. Yet, as the men stand at the threshold of The Room – where their deepest desires will be granted – the Writer breaks down, revealing his greatest insecurities.
His pompous air is shown to be hollow. He confesses his failures – contending that he became a writer in order to change people’s minds. Instead, critics and readers have changed him in order to fit their own preconceived notions. Here, the Stalker’s former words are prophetic – a person constructs the Zone in their own mind. For the Writer, it appears that even The Room cannot save him from his own doubts.
While the Writer attempts to subvert the idealism of the Zone, the Professor is blatantly hostile towards it. Unlike the Writer, he appears more prepared for the journey – both in preparation and demeanor. He’s the stoic contrast compared to the Writer. His only act of defiance is when he leaves the path to retrieve his knapsack. At the time, this appears trivial – however, it’s later revealed that the Professor has packed a small explosive device.
As the men stand at the edge of The Room, the Professor reveals that he’s going to destroy all it represents. His Professor’s quest is one of scientific pragmatism, entangled in a personal and professional feud. He calls his rival/superior to inform him of his plan – defiantly stating that he’s no longer afraid of him.
Essentially, the Professor doesn’t want the ideal of The Room to fall into more sinister, exploitative hands. We’re not given anymore backstory but evidently the Professor casts his rival/superior in this light. Destroying The Room ultimately protects it. Yet, despite what he sees as justifiable evidence, the Professor can’t bring himself to commit this action.
Nikolay Grinko gives a quiet, yet effective performance. His Professor appears to be the most emotionally secure of the three men. His subtle exchanges with The Writer are a highlight of the movie. The Writer continually attempts to penetrate the Professor’s logical defenses. It’s an exploration of the merits of art and science – made intriguing given that The Writer doesn’t believe in either.
Of course, the movie belongs to Kaydanovskiy’s Stalker. He builds the intrigue of The Zone simply through his wounded demeanor. It’s apparent he is in awe of The Zone – equally terrified of its power, yet fully captivated by its possibility. The mysterious area also represents a sort of home for him – the rare place where he can establish an identity.
As the three men sit at the edge of The Room, the Stalker undergoes his own painful self-realization. “My happiness, my freedom, my dignity are all here in The Zone.” He knows his moral value is tied to delivering people the promise of The Room.
Yet his mission is tinged with irony as he recounts the story of Porcupine, his former teacher. Porcupine entered The Room and asked for relief from his brother’s death. Instead, he was given a pile of money. Desperate, Porcupine later hangs himself.
The echoes of this parable ring out as none of the men choose to enter The Room. Perhaps they conclude that the ideal of The Room and the hope it represents is more powerful than any material or emotional desire it could grant them.
This sentiment is beautifully presented as The Stalker and his wife reunite. In a movie full of arresting speeches, Alisa Freyndlikh delivers the most touching. The Stalker is emotionally drained – he realizes that he can deliver people to The Room, but that they ultimately do not need it. He’s questioning his value in the mysterious nether world and unsatisfied with his real world.
Freyndlikh’s soulful, worn eyes capture the essence of her character’s message. Without sadness, she urges – there would be no happiness and no hope. This philosophy is amplified by the movie’s final scene, where she comments on the brilliant light in their crippled daughter’s eyes. The final moments of the movie are a brilliant, hopeful mystery.
The cinematography of The Stalker is fascinating. Tarkovsky creates a brutal, desperate but oddly gorgeous landscape. There’s a dystopian feel – there’s few background actors and a hazy, congested atmosphere lingers throughout. The alternation of sepia and color seems to reflect the wonder and torment of both worlds.
The Stalker is also an incredibly deliberate movie. Tarkovsky is exceptionally measured in his pacing. He lets his camera linger on his characters’ faces – their expressions are a rich subtext. Similarly, there are multiple scenes where the camera points to a void, painting its own narrative.
The BEST – That Final Scene
One of my rules here is not to give away big spoilers, so I’ll just say the final moments are either coincidental or extraordinarily moving.
The BEST Part 2 – The Mystery of Monkey
The beauty of The Stalker is that it leaves you asking a lot of open-ended questions. The Stalker’s daughter, Monkey, is crippled – yet she may be capable of some astonishing powers. One possible theory is that The Stalker has entered The Room (he claims he has no need to do such a thing) and asked for a cure. The Room clearly had other ideas.
The BEST Part 3 – Family First
The movie closes with an affirming view of family. Despite their earlier struggles and the untenable nature of the Stalker’s vocation and Monkey’s condition, we’re left with an uplifting message of the strength that family can provide.
The BEST Part 4 – The Dog Finds a Home
Happy endings for dogs always make me happy.
The WORST – The Crown of Thorns Scene
This scene may have landed over my head but I felt the significance of the Writer wearing the crown of thorns while airing his grievances against the Stalker was a bit elaborate for its purpose. Or again, I completely misinterpreted the message here.
FOX FORCE FIVE RATING – 4.75/5
The Stalker is an extraordinary movie. It’s completely unique in its story and setting. Tarkovsky creates a remarkable bleak, tense environment that is somehow filled with wonder. The characters are sparse, yet represent dynamic archetypes that touch on many facets of ourselves. The movie is a beautiful contradiction of hope and futility.
