Lots of ways to interpret this and I think watching this at different times in your life will open new angles of understanding and reading the movie. The room obviously shines light on your true self, and upon entring it, you learn the ultimate truth of who you really are. Thats why both the artist and the scientist dont enter it as it would reveal to them that their artist and scientist personalities are only their outter shells that they use to navigate the world and their true desires are deeper than that, but what leads them tomthe room are those same personalities, they both understand that and dont go in. Seems like the room can only work in favor of that person, who knows himself to the deep down, granting him any wish. That means you can only really be satisfied with your life only when you accept yourself and finally become your true self.
I personally felt like the different characters represent different aspects of humanity trying to explain our reality - science, art and - stalker representing the unknown, faith and unconscious. Not reaching the room is to me personally, a statement that none of these methods of exploring reality will never truly grasp the core "truth", because of our human limitations.
I think indeed the truth is that our deepest wish is something we're not even consciously aware of often and I guess indeed most people are not prepared for the reveal. The Room would be the most dangerous place in the world for obvious reasons; professor talks about this aspect and it is what motivated him to go there.
100% agree that this film will last forever.. (read this comment to the end!)...the Greatest masterpiece of cinematography as we know it!! I watched it more then 3 dozen times over the decades: it’s not a movie for me, it’s more like a “Soul Therapy”... there are no better words to describe it, really... (and I’m fluent in russian, so that makes a huge difference : in terms of you can’t really translate poetry..) ... I hoped the speaker would have talked about the consequences of making this film on the health of Tarkovsky and others tho... (By the way, also I don’t know if the speaker was aware of the fact that the “Original” first film of Stalker in it’s entirety was filmed on a defective quality tape, which was rejected by Tarkovsky himself after discovering it “post production” (!!), and Andrey made a decision to shoot the ENTIRE movie ALL OVER again from the scratch..!!! He blamed the main camera man, (who he worked with for many years) and fired him, as a consequence, and had to gather resources to shoot the movie ALL over again ..!!) ... So, the entire New filming of Stalker was initiated , and totally new area was chosen by Andrey for the location of the “Zone”, which apparently was this abandoned “chemical facility” in remote and unpopulated area in USSR, which was still contaminated by chemical waste and hazardous to health (!!)...(btw, there’s a particular nature unman seen in a film (which demonstrates that drastically) where Andrey shot a particular area polluted with liquid chemicals, over which the blowing wind would create this magical clouds of fumes in spiral shape: quiet a seen..!!.. .. So, the point of this being, is that many crew members were seriously effected by the filming of this “second” version of Stalker (dew to this particular hazardous area), and the actual reason of Tarkovsky’s untimely death was dew to health problems (cancer) acquired in the process! Same goes to one of the main characters of the film, the “writer”: Solonitzin (the actor, who played the role of writer, who also was Andrey’s most “used” actor in previous films: Solaris, Mirror and Andrey Rublyov), also died from unexpected cancer shortly after the Stalker in 1982, at the age of 47..(!!).. After all, the “True Art” had to take it’s sacrifices to make (literary!!) , how tragic they may have been...
Stalker and all Tarkovsky wonderful films are all free to watch on RUclips. The Channel Mosfilm released them all legally in Hd to the public. I recommend watching ALL Tarkovsky's films why not they are Free and great films.
10:41 Porcupine didn't kill himself bc he wasn't this "Spiritual Guru", but because he didn't wish for his brother to come back to life (a brother who had died on his way to The Room). you'd think Geoff would know that having written a book about the film
Reading Geoff's Zona now and enjoying it very much! Stalker really is a wonderful film. If you're going to buy the bluray, get the MUCH better print which is the Criterion edition, NOT the fuzzy Artificial Eye version. (Although, the Chris Cresswell documentary about Tarkovsky and texture is very good (and, I think, available here on RUclips to view).
im probably mistaking but i feel angloamerican speakers often take professional public speach as occasions to bring about personal anecdotes. its weird
Geoff makes an interesting small error at about 18:50. The Strugatsky brothers' novel is called "Roadside Picnic" not "Another Roadside Picnic". He may have mixed up the title of this book with the (rather good) novel "Another Roadside Attraction" (1971) by the American Tom Robbins.
I've recently seen this film by a friend advice and my conclusion is : It is not an easy film to watch really because of the slow pace and It can be quite depressive watching that wet rotten locations but with patience you can finally finish It.. yes there are some metaphores begining w the meaning of the same zone that place where you can go but never return to get what you want but only if you go completely hopeless to survive the deadly maze..weird indeed!
Rather than life imitating art as he says I understood there had already been such nuclear catastrophes and these were in fact the inspiration for the film, and in fact the government lied to the townspeople (many of their children ended up deformed like the main character's daughter) and fabricated the meteor stories just as we see in the film.
One would think that it would be required reading to try to understand the movie. I suppose it doesn't change the deeper impressions and associations that it summons.
“One of our greatest living critics, not of the arts but of life itself, and one of our most original writers”. - Kathryn Schulz, New York Magazine" This guy writes books? Seriously? Apperently one can sale anything in US.
@@TastyZoidberg Cough buttons on microphones have been around for decades befoer covid was a thing. You sound brainwashed to connect his complaint to Covid.
He's giving a talk - about the film. It's not like he's just stood up in a cinema ranting whilst paying customers are trying to watch a film. They're attending his talk - about the film.
@@mindmesh7566 I only read the comment this morning. Maybe youtube should delete comments moments after they are uploaded to prevent people from the future commenting on opinions from the past. You're right about the music though . To be honest I was enjoying his coughing over the film more than anything. Plus the fact that most of the people in the room had not seen the film prior to attending the talk. Why were they there? Don't worry, I am breathing.
I've seen this film quite a few times now and had no idea it was 3 hours long. It's just magical.
Have you understood what the point of the movie is?
@@Muaddibkhan its not about understanding...
Lots of ways to interpret this and I think watching this at different times in your life will open new angles of understanding and reading the movie. The room obviously shines light on your true self, and upon entring it, you learn the ultimate truth of who you really are. Thats why both the artist and the scientist dont enter it as it would reveal to them that their artist and scientist personalities are only their outter shells that they use to navigate the world and their true desires are deeper than that, but what leads them tomthe room are those same personalities, they both understand that and dont go in. Seems like the room can only work in favor of that person, who knows himself to the deep down, granting him any wish. That means you can only really be satisfied with your life only when you accept yourself and finally become your true self.
I personally felt like the different characters represent different aspects of humanity trying to explain our reality - science, art and - stalker representing the unknown, faith and unconscious.
Not reaching the room is to me personally, a statement that none of these methods of exploring reality will never truly grasp the core "truth", because of our human limitations.
I think indeed the truth is that our deepest wish is something we're not even consciously aware of often and I guess indeed most people are not prepared for the reveal. The Room would be the most dangerous place in the world for obvious reasons; professor talks about this aspect and it is what motivated him to go there.
100% agree that this film will last forever.. (read this comment to the end!)...the Greatest masterpiece of cinematography as we know it!! I watched it more then 3 dozen times over the decades: it’s not a movie for me, it’s more like a “Soul Therapy”... there are no better words to describe it, really... (and I’m fluent in russian, so that makes a huge difference : in terms of you can’t really translate poetry..) ... I hoped the speaker would have talked about the consequences of making this film on the health of Tarkovsky and others tho... (By the way, also I don’t know if the speaker was aware of the fact that the “Original” first film of Stalker in it’s entirety was filmed on a defective quality tape, which was rejected by Tarkovsky himself after discovering it “post production” (!!), and Andrey made a decision to shoot the ENTIRE movie ALL OVER again from the scratch..!!! He blamed the main camera man, (who he worked with for many years) and fired him, as a consequence, and had to gather resources to shoot the movie ALL over again ..!!) ... So, the entire New filming of Stalker was initiated , and totally new area was chosen by Andrey for the location of the “Zone”, which apparently was this abandoned “chemical facility” in remote and unpopulated area in USSR, which was still contaminated by chemical waste and hazardous to health (!!)...(btw, there’s a particular nature unman seen in a film (which demonstrates that drastically) where Andrey shot a particular area polluted with liquid chemicals, over which the blowing wind would create this magical clouds of fumes in spiral shape: quiet a seen..!!..
.. So, the point of this being, is that many crew members were seriously effected by the filming of this “second” version of Stalker (dew to this particular hazardous area), and the actual reason of Tarkovsky’s untimely death was dew to health problems (cancer) acquired in the process! Same goes to one of the main characters of the film, the “writer”: Solonitzin (the actor, who played the role of writer, who also was Andrey’s most “used” actor in previous films: Solaris, Mirror and Andrey Rublyov), also died from unexpected cancer shortly after the Stalker in 1982, at the age of 47..(!!).. After all, the “True Art” had to take it’s sacrifices to make (literary!!) , how tragic they may have been...
A terrible tragedy that could’ve been avoided
Glorious video about the best movie ever
Stalker and all Tarkovsky wonderful films are all free to watch on RUclips. The Channel Mosfilm released them all legally in Hd to the public. I recommend watching ALL Tarkovsky's films why not they are Free and great films.
I bought the book. It's fantastic !
My favorite film. Beyond magical.
10:41 Porcupine didn't kill himself bc he wasn't this "Spiritual Guru", but because he didn't wish for his brother to come back to life (a brother who had died on his way to The Room). you'd think Geoff would know that having written a book about the film
I think he just didn't want to spoil too much for those who hadn't seen it. Also, he was constrained for time.
it the same thing. it means he found out he was greedy and wasnt as spiritual as he thought he was
Reading Geoff's Zona now and enjoying it very much! Stalker really is a wonderful film. If you're going to buy the bluray, get the MUCH better print which is the Criterion edition, NOT the fuzzy Artificial Eye version. (Although, the Chris Cresswell documentary about Tarkovsky and texture is very good (and, I think, available here on RUclips to view).
im probably mistaking but i feel angloamerican speakers often take professional public speach as occasions to bring about personal anecdotes. its weird
10:38 he went in to save his brother, but he got money instead
Sato IV exactly and that’s why he killed himself. Deep down he learned he wanted riches more than his brothers life back.
Geoff Dyer is a gem
Geoff makes an interesting small error at about 18:50. The Strugatsky brothers' novel is called "Roadside Picnic" not "Another Roadside Picnic". He may have mixed up the title of this book with the (rather good) novel "Another Roadside Attraction" (1971) by the American Tom Robbins.
I've recently seen this film by a friend advice and my conclusion is : It is not an easy film to watch really because of the slow pace and It can be quite depressive watching that wet rotten locations but with patience you can finally finish It.. yes there are some metaphores begining w the meaning of the same zone that place where you can go but never return to get what you want but only if you go completely hopeless to survive the deadly maze..weird indeed!
Amazing ❤️
Rather than life imitating art as he says I understood there had already been such nuclear catastrophes and these were in fact the inspiration for the film, and in fact the government lied to the townspeople (many of their children ended up deformed like the main character's daughter) and fabricated the meteor stories just as we see in the film.
Brilliant
Also the final shot of Stlaket is creepy
Is stalkers wish, Cheeki Breeki ?
oasis setting was taken from the movie
professor brought a 20 kiloton nuclear weapon.....dont forget that
This guy hasn't read Roadside Picnic.
One would think that it would be required reading to try to understand the movie. I suppose it doesn't change the deeper impressions and associations that it summons.
“One of our greatest living critics, not of the arts but of life itself, and one of our most original writers”. - Kathryn Schulz, New York Magazine" This guy writes books? Seriously? Apperently one can sale anything in US.
Not a comment that makes particular much sense, but yes, he's written numerous books.
Way to cough it up ffs.
This was from a time before you managed to get brainwashed into cough-paranoia.
@@TastyZoidberg has nothing to do with what you just said. It's just annoying hearing someone cough for 20 minutes
@@Mike_v_E How do you know?
@@TastyZoidberg Cough buttons on microphones have been around for decades befoer covid was a thing. You sound brainwashed to connect his complaint to Covid.
Dude how dare you talk over that haunting soundtrack by a legendary Russian composer. That movie is visual and audible poetry.
He's giving a talk - about the film. It's not like he's just stood up in a cinema ranting whilst paying customers are trying to watch a film. They're attending his talk - about the film.
@@jamespotter3660 ……Dude...Breath……I wasn’t being serious..Annnnddddd…this was many months ago…?
But also...Artimiev’s music are stunning works of art...Just sayin’.
@@mindmesh7566 I only read the comment this morning. Maybe youtube should delete comments moments after they are uploaded to prevent people from the future commenting on opinions from the past. You're right about the music though . To be honest I was enjoying his coughing over the film more than anything. Plus the fact that most of the people in the room had not seen the film prior to attending the talk. Why were they there? Don't worry, I am breathing.
@@jamespotter3660 …🤣😂😂😂✌️✌️✌️✌️🔥😎