My innermost desire is that you enjoy this video... and check out my movie notebooks store.nebula.app/collections/maggie-mae-fish/products/maggie-mae-fish-movie-notebook
1:15:50 Losing My Religion didn't come out in 1994; it came out in 1991, the year reality ceased to exist - not just in media, but, in my case, personally. It was also the year my father committed suicide, when I was nine years old. This, combined with the fake state of the world at that time, created an unfixable rift in my life. Also, it came out a year before you were born. This is a justified response, wouldn't you think? These things matter.
It's interesting you make the comparison between Kevin Feige and He Who Remains in that scene. I got the impression that they were attempting to draw parallels between the Disney franchise and the Sacred Timeline, during that same scene. If you rewatch the scene, in the final episode, at multiple points the frame He Who Remains with three of his circular windows behind him. Together they form the iconic head and mouse ears of Mickey Mouse.
You ever get the feeling that you want to leave a comment, but the video was too rich in content that you can't possibly leave a comment that reflects the experience of watching it? This is one of those comments. Next time I'll just write: "I liked the video. Thanks for making it."
The Craziest part... Thanos creator, Jim Starlin, along with being a Detorit-boy like myself, he is a Vietnam Navy vet. He created Thanos, originally a nihilist courting death, as a way to manifest his feelings left over from seeing all the death as a photographer. He even got in trouble while serving for writing an anti-war fanzine charter called "Eagle".
He also uses large corporations, the American government (most notably Reagan, and intelligence agencies), and the Catholic church as basis for villains...when not actually using them...even in his Marvel and DC works.
I remember the Thanos of the comics ( yes i'm old. Like 50 ) . Man he was a deeply troubling character... I seem to remember he called himself "the death's lover"... which is creepy cause here in Spain the Legion ( shock troops of the army, deeply fash past, they were commanded by Franco and committed untold atrocities during the civil war and the years after.. and have been proven to be a radicalization path for anyone who serves there ) their anthem is " I am the death's boyfriend, she's my loyal companion... " Urghh. Those are the idiots you may see marching with their shirt open to the center of the chest and at 3 steps per second, cause "is tradition".
@@tonivazquez1081I like the points you made here, but later on Thanos literally dates Death, who is depicted as a hot girl. Maybe a later writer took that line a little too literally,
@@AxeMan808 I know I'm 2 years late, but the Mickey Mouse Punisher skull was for Disney Security... Privatized police. Who's worse? Private police for existing or Public police not pretending to protect and serve?
@@swiftee543 Yet the production and ingredients used are literally biocidal. You are programmed to get happy with fat and sugar. You are programmed not to hear the cattle crying. Break your programming Jeff
It's rare to see a politics/film essay that centers the importance of love in a truly deep way. That's only one reason this is such a wonderful video. Thank you.
*This Video*, One video i have in a playlist somewhere on “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and fascism/propaganda and love+vulnerability , or “Shera and the Princesses of Power” and it’s mention of trauma ( ~~and child in a military context / emotional abuse~~ ) and love and vulnerability , are SO GOOD YET *Break Me* Thanks for making this just so much; I’m literally crying and feeling good/vulnerable at the same time. *and reading into the story/video and inserting own experiences*
The key moment for me in Stalker was what comes after the group's realisation that the room does not grant you what you want or plan, but what you truly need. The Writer never enters the Room, as his lack of inspiration is just a symptom of his lack of self-knowledge - he can't know what he wants. The Professor never enters, and dismantles the bomb - if the Room truly does grant you your desire and his deepest desire was to destroy the Room, the bomb is actually redundant. Not one of them enters the Room because they are afraid of what their true desire is. And yet, thanks to going through this process of realisation, all three men arguably end up with exactly what they wanted. The Writer understands he was lacking inspiration because he didn't understand himself; he leaves with both inspiration and understanding. The Professor said he wanted to understand the Zone but planned to prevent its misuse by evil men; he leaves knowing it is beyond the whims of evil men, and with some understanding of what the Zone truly is. The Stalker wants to take people to the Zone but laments that people have lost the belief for traversing the Zone and living good lives; three men have safely navigated to the heart of the Zone and back again, and all three have a belief in something beyond them as a result. The Professor and the bomb literalise that thought - you get what you truly desire from the Room, but you do so from the act of reaching and understanding it. Entering the Room is redundant - and as the bomb is thrown away unused, so the Room is never used and even goes unseen. Understanding ourselves is the most powerful thing we have at our sole disposal. So many films, political plans, news angles here are about creating a narrative that suits, and so few challenge the necessity of it. Even when a story is about finding yourself in a narrative you don't control, it is almost always about seizing the narrative for yourself, or finding comfort within it. We are directed to fight the narratives that surround us on their grounds of greatest strength, and told that the correct victory is the one that leaves a narrative redirected but ultimately still in place. Stalker felt important to me as one of the few stories that tells you that you can exist outside of these narratives, so long as you are willing to abandon your narrative of self first. If you understand yourself you don't need to tell stories about yourself to fill that gap, and you find the gulf between you and the narratives that would drag you in is suddenly visible, so visible you don't know why you didn't see it before.
Tarkovsky had another quote about love that has forever stuck in my mind, from his 1973 film Solaris: "We love only that which we are most afraid to lose." And it's true, isn't it? When we say we love something, what we're really saying is that we can't imagine a world without that thing. The level of fear we experience at the thought of this loss is directly proportionate to the amount of love we feel. And I think that's the reason capitalism is on borrowed time in much the same way Soviet communism was in the mid to late 80s: people could and did imagine a world without it.
I'm going to disagree here. I really like the definition (by Scott Peck) that bell hooks uses in her book All About Love: New Visions of love "as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth". Quite contrary to your definition my first true experience of love was when I gladly gave up my friendship with my ex because it was the best solution for both of us. When you've committed to love you no longer fear losing someone because love also requires self-love and when you love yourself you no longer require other people to feel whole, you've completed yourself.
I would argue that time travel can be an allegorical representation of the benefits of hindsight, and studying history, especially modern history. We can't go back in time and change the way the decisions after 9/11 unfolded, but we *can* recognize that it was a mistake and endeavor that, when, inevitably, the potential for the next forever war arises, we say 'No'. At any moment we can learn from the past. All we need to do is go back and take a hard, critical look at the past to do it. You know, imagine the past and work out what decisions would have made the present better. Imagine a variant timeline, per say.
The thing is that we never learn, at least when it comes to war. War is always right. It's people who are wrong. The problem with the Iraq War was the Bush admin's handling of it. Same with Vietnam. They were marvelous wars ruined by people. Google and see how many voices you can find that see any problem with killing 30,000 Iraqis in the initial invasion, of which 7,500 were civilians. I don't think you will find a single one, at least outside of "radical" left wing websites. The consensus is that everything went well in Iraq until the Iraqis started to not do as we wanted them to do. Who could ever have predicted that the Iraqis were humans with wills of their own?
Tarkovsky making a film in an actually radioactive, toxic environment as a secret meta-commentary on being an artist trying to say something meaningful in the Soviet Union is kind of the ultimate crazy artistic gesture.
If only Loki ended with Disney putting Marvel in the public domain, now that's a true multiverse. I think this is my favourite video of yours, it is incredibly dense and yet I could follow along really well. :) Thank you for making it!
FUN FACT! we need to make a law that says, when a FAMOUS ROCK STAR (or movie star or writer) DIES.....all their work becomes INSTANT Public Domain (since we the public did more to make them rich and famous icons...than their do-nothing KIDS did!)......rather than any of it going to the LAZY KIDS or wife.
I have to say I’ve watched a number of deep and pretentious Russian documentaries on Tarkovsky's work when I was younger in an attempt to understand what he was about. And you are the first who’ve managed to explain it to me clearly and in an accessible language (while using foreign language no less). Thank you again!
I saw Stalker being screened in 35MM print that was clearly seized from a Soviet vault at the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney, which is probably the best and worst way to see it.
As a trans guy I really needed to hear how love doesn’t equal revenge murder actually really helped because growing up as a dysphoric young trans guy, I internalized a lot of patriarchal ideas like those examples you showed; classic western revenge tales have always been a favourite of mine because of the catharsis it gives me but the whole idea is really harmful when you break it down like that. This was an amazing video overall, so thank you.
Revenge is certainly a human impulse but it's not the default reaction and it's certainly not the only true and valid path to justice. It must be so hard, harder than most of the rest of us have it, to figure out who "you" are and what you want when the society around you is giving you so many cruel and contradictory messages. I really liked the way this video talked about grief and revenge too 😊
It was great to see a list of Loki's influences from someone so far outside my bubble. In here, we're all convinced the series is just a mashup of Control, Cyberpunk, Doctor Who 2005, and Lost, with nobody able to name what influenced those in turn unless it was similarly mainstream.
Oh man, the part about patriarchal love hit me so hard. Like, I never actually noticed how freaking weird it is that centring the desire for revenge after a death isn't actually normative. It's specific and kinda creepy when you think about how universal it is
@@Anon26535 Is that the same as a desire for revence then though? Wanting to keep others safe and wanting to take your anger out on the source might be very different things.
Revenge is a bully's interpretation of what their victim feels, why they're fighting back. I don't want to hurt you in revenge, I just want you to stop.
Thanks for making this, you reached out and it hit me. As a schizoid shut-in I've told myself most of my life that love is something out of my reach and those grapes are probably sour anyway. These reminders of its central importance, though painful due to my history of failing to find that emotion, help me convince myself to keep trying, even if bashing my head against this wall will kill me eventually. I'd rather die like Tarkovsky than live like Snyder.
@Snehil Shrey I can recommend the videos on Snyder on this very channel to answer that question. Not denying that he's got some talent, and 300 and Sucker Punch are still some of my problematic favs, but both his politics and his approach to filmmaking (especially more recently) are pretty cringe.
Haven't had time to watch the whole video yet, but something I personally consider really valuable about your work is how accessible it is even for someone who doesn't necessarily possess all the jargon used. You have a knack for explaining concepts in a concise and very human way, which I think is an admirable quality to have. Especially considering how alienated I feel discussing some topics with people who simply label their own expertise's jargon as too hard to understand and avoid further discussion, claiming I just don't get it, even if I'm genuinely interested and very open to learning things. Also, a series of inexplicable edits is how I'd describe my general experience going through life.
Your work deserves more recognition. Your editing is fantastic, your characters are hilarious and your writing is so thoughtful. Thanks for this Maggie, I'm such a fan.
This videos only been out for a couple days, and so I don't know if it's underperforming, but seeing that it's got significantly fewer views than your Snyder trilogy for example and you didn't get a sponsor for it has worried me enough that I'm doing the engagement things I'm usually bad about doing, because this video was knock down drag out awesome! I hope that you have the chance to make more videos like this in the future! I can't imagine the effort but you're really doing the lord's work here. This was really inspiring!
Thank you Maggie Mae Fish for not skimping, not holding back, not falling into being just wacky, and not becoming like the rest of the RUclips feed. Instead, you instruct, entertain, provoke, and respect these ideas. Thank you!!!
Jiminy Christmas youve made a monster of a video maggie, Im hyped to watch it. Ive just loving seeing you grow and continue to make these absolute bangers, it seems you find yourself fulfilled in what you do which is a true rarity these days. But never feel unsure about taking a break if you need it. Your health always comes first!
as it happens, i'm fluent in both russian and swedish, so i've watched most of tarkovsky's films. in our part of the world he' venerated as a visionary, but i've never felt like his films speak to me. your video made me to appreciate him more, thanks a lot!
The TVA building is not only inspired by te San Francisco Hyatt Regency, but was partially filmed at the Atlanta Marriot Marquis, which was designed by the same architecture firm.
“Did you do it? Did you take advantage of people’s emotions and nostalgia to make the tenth film in a franchise that stems back to the 80’s? Just so you could make another dollar?” “…yes…” “What did it cost?” “…*Everything*…”
Thank you off the grid grifters, you lead me to a video essay I've waited for. Thank you Maggie Mae Fish for making and publishing both essays. Excellent work!
If you haven't, you should read "war is a racket" by general Smedley butler. One of the most decorated marines of all time who's opinion of war changed as he got to the top
As one of the bi weirdos who was born behind the iron curtain in early 70s, but had their halcyon years in the West in the 90s; this feels like MMF dropping a surprise essay on the mise-en-scène of my blimin' life. Umm .. day of the dead just passed... am I dead? I'm ok with eternity in bed watching MMF, but why the hangover universe?
This video is so incredibly good that I had to watch it a second time just to be sure I wasn't high the first time. So much food for though and the narrative was knit brilliantly. Man, I wish my brain worked like this. Save Martha.
I inherently contradict myself because I hate when films treat the audience like idiots and explicitly explain things to us like we're five, but the more things that are explained I also enjoy (as long as its not too obvious) because it adds depth to the world building aspect. I guess its also difference between an easter egg and a burnt crips omelette lol
I can see why you'd make the connection to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. Since, like most Marvel productions, Loki filmed in Atlanta, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis was used as the shooting location for many TVA scenes. Both hotels were designed by neo-futurist architect, and lover of massive atria, John C. Portman Jr..
thank you so so much for making this video. it’s obvious the time, research and effort put into this. the sets are beautiful, i can’t believe i get to just watch this on here
I'm fairly certain some of the scenes for Loki at the TVA were actually filmed in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which is by the same guy who did the Hyatt Regency!
They were! That shot looking upward into a long, ribcage-like tower that follows Loki and Mobius descending down an elevator was filmed in the Marriott Marquis. The only CGI in that shot is the two statues that appear at the bottom as they exit the elevator; the building itself is just that alien. In fact, all one has to do is watch social media on labor day weekend to see that same tower a million times. It's very common during Dragon*Con in Atlanta for people to take the same upward-facing photo and share to an instagram story for example.
There's plenty of diversity & great stories in the Star wars universe. It's just that Disney decided to completely ignore everything other than the original central saga. Just threw out thirty years worth of comics & novels that could have been adapted.
Such a beautiful essay. You convinced me to finally see Tarkovsky's work. I've been stuck in a bit of a "popcorn movie" loop this pandemic, not wanting to engage with anything that challenging. I'll come back to this video later too.
I don't know if this art will "go viral" or make the money it deserves, but it reached out to me, so here I am reaching back. That, I can say for sure.
Enjoyed this video a lot. I've been watching streams of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, and I listened to an analysis of Roadside Picnic, and when you got into Loki I just had to pause the video and watch that show too. Still, haven't seen Tarkovsky's Stalker but it's on my list next. Thanks for analyzing these works, I honestly didn't even consider the connection with the Void and the Zone, so I learned a lot. Love your work.
1:13:42 it's posible that that feeling is also because they filmed near a lot of toxic waste and a lot of the production team suffer from illnesses derive from that.
This was a super cool video. I never think of movies this way. Movies have always just been something for me to enjoy which is probably why Stalker went way over my head even though I enjoyed watching it for its aesthetic.
On your statement about not knowing if your art is going to reach anyone, it has reached me time and time again. Thank you for creating. I don't know my hearts innermost desire, but your statement has reminded me of how much I want to create and how much I have put that off.
looking forward to this big time. a quick story: in 2019 i became obsessed with this movie and pushed by ostracization and circumstance started writing my thoughts down about it and it slowly became a white whale that i couldn't say enough about, a nesting doll where each inner doll was bigger than the last not smaller, the lead characters mannerisms started leaking into mine, his perspective and his world verdant meshes of brown and green that i couldn't help but see everywhere (they were draining the lake i live on at the time, further parallels with water in _solaris_ there somewhere) and it became something that crept into my music, so while writing a _stalker_ review i ended up writing a soundtrack for the writing of the review which i am pretty sure only i have been crazy enough to do. now i've seen this movie so much it is easily my favorite movie and whenever someone brings it up its a personal affair, mix of excitement and anxiety because i gave up a piece of me to it, one that was always due to return back so i don't miss it, but i do feel that ineffable hauntedness when someone else picks it up. so like i said, looking forward to this analysis!!! edit: here is the review and music i wrote if anyone felt anything like i did maybe its for you: letterboxd.com/thoughtworm/film/stalker/2/
Total nonsequitor but, I looked away for a second and came back to "The Room doesn't give you what you ask for, it gives you what you need." and my first thought was, wow, that _is_ a pretty deep meta-analysis of the successful appeal of Tommy Wiseau's work and his experience of that success as failure! Not sure when we got to _him,_ though... Just thought I'd share that. Brains are fascinating, yeah?
Love this. Absolutely fascinating. It’s so hard for me to not reach for symbolism like I’m taking a Rorschach test when I see Tarkovsky’s striking images. I wish I could tap into what he was going for, experience and emotion.
WoW!!! References to Ural Polytechnical, Dyatlov Pass and Stalker at the same video?! Were we going to the same E-burg drama club?! Why i am just finding this channel?
In the stalker commentary it is mentioned that Tarkovsky wanted the psychic power scene to happen just as the train goes by and that the glass moving/Monkey's abilities are as ambiguous as everything else. great video.
Regarding the authenticity of the first kiss, I was thinking about something like that for literally half my life. In German, to express one's love you'd say "Ich liebe dich.", yet in regular use of language, the "-e" gets dropped at the end. It gets even more pronounced (HA!) when you factor in dialects. You could have entire conversations in one's dialect only to hear the completely out of place "Ich liebe dich." that just feels copy-pasted into the situation.
That was refreshing, inspiring, beautiful, thought provoking, and way more than I ever could ask for from a person who puts videos on RUclips. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for this wonderfully put together take and perspective.
Easily the best video essay about Tarkovsky I've seen on RUclips. I certainly can't agree with all the politics this side of RUclips, but I can really recognize and admire when true effort, research, and thought is put in a video
Stalker was such a prominent movie from my art class on media and whenever I hear, "the Zone" i remember the movie, or at least my feelings after watching it and i would say that makes the film a huge success and would encourage everyone to watch it
Had to watch it in segments, but this was terrific. I didn't know anything about Tarkovsky and my only knowledge about Stalker movie was that it was very weird. Loved you message about love, and it gave me hope that things might change in the future.
This was a personally affecting piece for me. I always interpreted Stalker's wish-room as an existential moral horror, forcing you to confront your own potential shortfalls as a worse person than you wished you were. Reframing it as revealing authenticity is more hopeful, so thanks.
Consider your leap of faith a triumph cause it seems we all really enjoyed this! :) I certainly did’t think I’d be sticking around for the whole thing but I loved it, really well thought out
This is one of the best video essays I have ever seen. I am an artist and look to Tarkovsky and Parajanov for inspiration. I am also a fan of the Loki series. (I have a stack of REM CD's I regularly play while painting and have associated Losing my Religion with making art since childhood.) The insights about the relationship between the military industrial complex and Hollywood were disturbing and thought provoking. Now I am curious to rewatch phase 1 and compare the messaging to some of the more recent Marvel films. Anyways I love all your videos and this one in particular has left me rejuvenated and inspired to get to my studio and work. Thank you so much! I will be sharing this with as many people as I can.
You sometimes get a wave of new analysis of the really good classic filmmakers - a few months ago a lot of people started writing about Akira Kurosawa again. Sometimes it's anniversaries, but sometimes I think it's someone just writes a good article about it, which prompts people to think about excellent older films, which gets them writing on similar topics, and so on.
This is kind of a tangent but that whole thing about the innermost desire got me thinking: If Porcupine went to the room with the intent to get his brother back, if what he was asking for was to get his brother back, why does it matter that it wasn't his innermost desire? If what he chose was his brother, not the money. And if he killed himself over the money, clearly it wasn't his innermost desire. If it had been, wouldn't he have been satisfied? Even if he secretly wanted the money more than he wanted his brother back, he didn't ask for the money and once he got the money he was devastated, not pleased. So what does it even mean that the money was his innermost desire? Or did his innermost desire change as a result of realising what kind of a person he was? But even then, the kind of person he was, was a person who asked for his brother back. I wonder if this anecdote is actually more about the insecurity in your own moral character that Tarkovsky talked about. That we worry that we're only doing good things in order to appear good. But that kind of navel-gazing worry itself is very self-centered and unproductice. Porcupine knew what the right thing to do was. And he did the right thing. Is that not enough? I mean it's still a good story, I just want to engage with the premises
"If Porcupine went to the room with the intent to get his brother back, if what he was asking for was to get his brother back, why does it matter that it wasn't his innermost desire? If what he chose was his brother, not the money. And if he killed himself over the money, clearly it wasn't his innermost desire. If it had been, wouldn't he have been satisfied?" Well thats the trick of the room - it reveals what you are desiring most, and for most that is out of their understanding, no matter the intention(to the room wish-granting principle). "Even if he secretly wanted the money more than he wanted his brother back, he didn't ask for the money and once he got the money he was devastated, not pleased. So what does it even mean that the money was his innermost desire? Or did his innermost desire change as a result of realising what kind of a person he was?" It seems you presume porcupine knew himself so well to realize that he wanted his brother maybe even as much as money but thought\hoped that the room responded to the desire that is asked of it. The story to me implies that porcupine was not aware about that part of himself even a bit - and the devastation of the realization broke through his self-image so that even the prize but hollow one(seemingly reflective of his nature) couldnt prevent him from moral collapse. And, yes, the room doesnt care about what a person perceives as him seemingly morally pretexted desires. Well, yes, i agree on the layer of questioning about " worry that we're only doing good things in order to appear good", tho i think it works even better with the details installed - what a perfect poetical stage how the age old question of "human nature". Quite possibly the real morality is not in accepting our beastly, savage, egotist nature, but to maintain the air-castles of morality at least enacted, even if it is not sincere. Tho i still have my hopes about better sides of human nature, tho - exactly - that may be why i might also kill myself on the truth that the room might show me.
It's kind of tangential, but one of things that always stuck with me about Porcupine is that in fulfilling his innermost desire for money, the room reflects the ways in which social context supercede conscious need. Since his brother died on a trip into the Zone, I came away from it with the idea that the brothers were obviously seeking something that would materially fulfill them, and in the absence of that fulfillment, you get the brother's death, and ultimately Porcupine's as a consequence. And then, in Porcupine's case, that absence not only creates further absences in how he loses his brother, but supplants the need he has for his brother with something material. I know that's a pretty obvious read of the events, but it has always been especially tragic and poetic to me. I guess another way of putting it would be that love is transcendent only to the extent that the material world allows for, and if it doesn't, love will be supplanted or subsumed into it's demands. Edit: all of which you just said in the essay lmao
"love is only transcendent to the extent that the material world allows for" just... wow. if you put it like that i think i can get behind that idea. such a good observation.
Such a good video, tying very different topics into a work of art. Loved your explanations regarding Stalker as I just recently had seen it. The irony of declaring a 'war on terror' and therefore fighting terror with terror and therefore just creating terror ist astounding.
I found you via the Snyder videos after Just Write mentioned you and now I'm binging them allll. One of the things I want to know is the difference between platonic love between friends, and romantic love between couples, and how that fits into Tarkovsky's ideology.
Something to be cognizant of when discussing things like the Soviet Union's industrialization and the human cost is to remember the cost in capitalist countries was often worse and included slavery and colonialism
Tarkovsky's words montage cinema gave me pause and cut deep as I am a person who really loves the structure of that kind 'puzzle and riddle' cinema. I might not agree completely with Tarkovsky's implication that montage cinema only contains narrow conclusions and solutions, but it gave me a lot of food for thought.
I don't think calling Eisenstein a propagandist is all that unfair. Lenin and the Communist party of the USSR correctly identified film as a new and powerful means of ideological propaganda. It's why they invested to heavily into schools and studios to quickly develop the capabilities of Soviet film making. I also immensely enjoy Eisenstein's work, and still choke up at Battleship Potemkin. Leading the audience to the feeling and ideas you wish them to have is still worthwhile...for anything other than consumerism 😅
It could be argued that propaganda isn't inherently bad - it's just very effective at getting a point of view across. If that point of view is harmful then that's a different matter. Public health films are propaganda and they save lives.
@@PeteAshton Yeah propaganda is one of those words whose meaning has shifted over time. It used to be a value-neutral word describing anything intended to promote a particular point of view & it didn't imply deception. But nowadays it's synonymous with disinformation.
@@guy-sl3kr Actually, the original meaning of "propaganda" was just "publishing". It acquired its negative connotations when authoritarian governments started creating official public "Ministries of Propaganda" that were infamous for their extreme levels of dishonesty.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this essay! It's just so deep and thought-provoking! And, as a russian, I'm happy that someone FINALLY did a good job at analyzing Tarkovsky's work! You know what's funny though? You mentioned "Brothers Karamazov" and I immediately remembered that I saw a theatre play based on this exact book almost a week ago in Moscow. What's even funnier? One of the main characters is played by Philipp Yankovsky (a spectacular director and actor, btw), who, along with his father Oleg (ALSO an amazing actor), played a part in ANOTHER film of Tarkovsky, Зеркало/Mirror. Just... Now I feel somewhat closer to artists who are long gone by now.
My innermost desire is that you enjoy this video... and check out my movie notebooks store.nebula.app/collections/maggie-mae-fish/products/maggie-mae-fish-movie-notebook
1:15:50 Losing My Religion didn't come out in 1994; it came out in 1991, the year reality ceased to exist - not just in media, but, in my case, personally. It was also the year my father committed suicide, when I was nine years old. This, combined with the fake state of the world at that time, created an unfixable rift in my life. Also, it came out a year before you were born. This is a justified response, wouldn't you think? These things matter.
I seriously love all your content I’ve been following you since you were a bit player on cracked I love some Maggie Mae Fish .
It's interesting you make the comparison between Kevin Feige and He Who Remains in that scene. I got the impression that they were attempting to draw parallels between the Disney franchise and the Sacred Timeline, during that same scene. If you rewatch the scene, in the final episode, at multiple points the frame He Who Remains with three of his circular windows behind him. Together they form the iconic head and mouse ears of Mickey Mouse.
Maggie, this may be your magnum opus. For now, anyway. :)
Really great essay!
@@N3ur0m4nc3r po-tay-to, po-tah-to!
You ever get the feeling that you want to leave a comment, but the video was too rich in content that you can't possibly leave a comment that reflects the experience of watching it? This is one of those comments.
Next time I'll just write: "I liked the video. Thanks for making it."
The Craziest part...
Thanos creator, Jim Starlin, along with being a Detorit-boy like myself, he is a Vietnam Navy vet. He created Thanos, originally a nihilist courting death, as a way to manifest his feelings left over from seeing all the death as a photographer.
He even got in trouble while serving for writing an anti-war fanzine charter called "Eagle".
He also uses large corporations, the American government (most notably Reagan, and intelligence agencies), and the Catholic church as basis for villains...when not actually using them...even in his Marvel and DC works.
I remember the Thanos of the comics ( yes i'm old. Like 50 ) . Man he was a deeply troubling character... I seem to remember he called himself "the death's lover"... which is creepy cause here in Spain the Legion ( shock troops of the army, deeply fash past, they were commanded by Franco and committed untold atrocities during the civil war and the years after.. and have been proven to be a radicalization path for anyone who serves there ) their anthem is " I am the death's boyfriend, she's my loyal companion... " Urghh. Those are the idiots you may see marching with their shirt open to the center of the chest and at 3 steps per second, cause "is tradition".
@@tonivazquez1081I like the points you made here, but later on Thanos literally dates Death, who is depicted as a hot girl. Maybe a later writer took that line a little too literally,
What’s wild is that death is actually in love with Deadpool.
@@TGo-n-Roscoe Chicks dig a guy with a sense of humor.
That red, white, blue Mickey Mouse Punisher skull is the most cursed thing I've ever seen.
Timestamp? I somehow missed that and can't find it
@@gavinmcphie6936 1:43:14
Truly an abomination.
Police Punisher skulls are. Just take my word on this.
Yeah, that was fucking twisted.
@@AxeMan808 I know I'm 2 years late, but the Mickey Mouse Punisher skull was for Disney Security... Privatized police.
Who's worse?
Private police for existing
or
Public police not pretending to protect and serve?
"What's the point of having 500 cereals to chose from if your emotional life is a wasteland?"
A distraction.
Fair
@@MaggieMaeFish Cinnamon Toast Crunch cures most of my existential woes.
@@swiftee543 Yet the production and ingredients used are literally biocidal. You are programmed to get happy with fat and sugar. You are programmed not to hear the cattle crying. Break your programming Jeff
1:21:47
It's rare to see a politics/film essay that centers the importance of love in a truly deep way. That's only one reason this is such a wonderful video. Thank you.
*This Video*,
One video i have in a playlist somewhere on “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and fascism/propaganda and love+vulnerability , or “Shera and the Princesses of Power” and it’s mention of trauma ( ~~and child in a military context / emotional abuse~~ ) and love and vulnerability , are SO GOOD YET *Break Me*
Thanks for making this just so much; I’m literally crying and feeling good/vulnerable at the same time. *and reading into the story/video and inserting own experiences*
The key moment for me in Stalker was what comes after the group's realisation that the room does not grant you what you want or plan, but what you truly need. The Writer never enters the Room, as his lack of inspiration is just a symptom of his lack of self-knowledge - he can't know what he wants. The Professor never enters, and dismantles the bomb - if the Room truly does grant you your desire and his deepest desire was to destroy the Room, the bomb is actually redundant. Not one of them enters the Room because they are afraid of what their true desire is. And yet, thanks to going through this process of realisation, all three men arguably end up with exactly what they wanted. The Writer understands he was lacking inspiration because he didn't understand himself; he leaves with both inspiration and understanding. The Professor said he wanted to understand the Zone but planned to prevent its misuse by evil men; he leaves knowing it is beyond the whims of evil men, and with some understanding of what the Zone truly is. The Stalker wants to take people to the Zone but laments that people have lost the belief for traversing the Zone and living good lives; three men have safely navigated to the heart of the Zone and back again, and all three have a belief in something beyond them as a result.
The Professor and the bomb literalise that thought - you get what you truly desire from the Room, but you do so from the act of reaching and understanding it. Entering the Room is redundant - and as the bomb is thrown away unused, so the Room is never used and even goes unseen.
Understanding ourselves is the most powerful thing we have at our sole disposal. So many films, political plans, news angles here are about creating a narrative that suits, and so few challenge the necessity of it. Even when a story is about finding yourself in a narrative you don't control, it is almost always about seizing the narrative for yourself, or finding comfort within it. We are directed to fight the narratives that surround us on their grounds of greatest strength, and told that the correct victory is the one that leaves a narrative redirected but ultimately still in place. Stalker felt important to me as one of the few stories that tells you that you can exist outside of these narratives, so long as you are willing to abandon your narrative of self first. If you understand yourself you don't need to tell stories about yourself to fill that gap, and you find the gulf between you and the narratives that would drag you in is suddenly visible, so visible you don't know why you didn't see it before.
Very well put!
This was beautiful, thank you
Maggie dressed in green accompanied by that snake reminds of how I always pictured the villainess of C.S Lewis's Silver Chair Lady of the Green Kirtle
Yeah 100%
My favorite of the series! 🐍
Of course this is where I encounter the Narnia deep cuts
It is really convenient to be able to just like things without having to type out my exact comment
I got major "Lair of The White Worm" Ken Russell vibes
Tarkovsky had another quote about love that has forever stuck in my mind, from his 1973 film Solaris: "We love only that which we are most afraid to lose." And it's true, isn't it? When we say we love something, what we're really saying is that we can't imagine a world without that thing. The level of fear we experience at the thought of this loss is directly proportionate to the amount of love we feel. And I think that's the reason capitalism is on borrowed time in much the same way Soviet communism was in the mid to late 80s: people could and did imagine a world without it.
I really needed to hear this. I'm not sure why yet, but thank you.
I'm going to disagree here. I really like the definition (by Scott Peck) that bell hooks uses in her book All About Love: New Visions of love "as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth". Quite contrary to your definition my first true experience of love was when I gladly gave up my friendship with my ex because it was the best solution for both of us. When you've committed to love you no longer fear losing someone because love also requires self-love and when you love yourself you no longer require other people to feel whole, you've completed yourself.
I would argue that time travel can be an allegorical representation of the benefits of hindsight, and studying history, especially modern history.
We can't go back in time and change the way the decisions after 9/11 unfolded, but we *can* recognize that it was a mistake and endeavor that, when, inevitably, the potential for the next forever war arises, we say 'No'.
At any moment we can learn from the past. All we need to do is go back and take a hard, critical look at the past to do it. You know, imagine the past and work out what decisions would have made the present better. Imagine a variant timeline, per say.
I guess time travel (sans paradox) is the ultimate wish fulfilment.
The thing is that we never learn, at least when it comes to war. War is always right. It's people who are wrong. The problem with the Iraq War was the Bush admin's handling of it. Same with Vietnam. They were marvelous wars ruined by people.
Google and see how many voices you can find that see any problem with killing 30,000 Iraqis in the initial invasion, of which 7,500 were civilians. I don't think you will find a single one, at least outside of "radical" left wing websites. The consensus is that everything went well in Iraq until the Iraqis started to not do as we wanted them to do. Who could ever have predicted that the Iraqis were humans with wills of their own?
In Soviet Russia, film analyses you.
holy shit
Tarkovsky making a film in an actually radioactive, toxic environment as a secret meta-commentary on being an artist trying to say something meaningful in the Soviet Union is kind of the ultimate crazy artistic gesture.
If only Loki ended with Disney putting Marvel in the public domain, now that's a true multiverse.
I think this is my favourite video of yours, it is incredibly dense and yet I could follow along really well. :) Thank you for making it!
Dont get crazy now
Disney? Public domain?
Maybe in one timeline....
@@michaelhird432 Mickey Mouse is entering the public domain next year. He'll still be trademarked though
FUN FACT!
we need to make a law that says, when a FAMOUS ROCK STAR (or movie star or writer) DIES.....all their work becomes INSTANT Public Domain (since we the public did more to make them rich and famous icons...than their do-nothing KIDS did!)......rather than any of it going to the LAZY KIDS or wife.
I have to say I’ve watched a number of deep and pretentious Russian documentaries on Tarkovsky's work when I was younger in an attempt to understand what he was about. And you are the first who’ve managed to explain it to me clearly and in an accessible language (while using foreign language no less). Thank you again!
I saw Stalker being screened in 35MM print that was clearly seized from a Soviet vault at the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney, which is probably the best and worst way to see it.
The most thorough viewing. Should have really projected it on a bedsheet in a burned out barn though.
Loneliness is the weapon of choice for social control, as you can't have social awakening if everyone is alone in the crowd.
As a trans guy I really needed to hear how love doesn’t equal revenge murder actually really helped because growing up as a dysphoric young trans guy, I internalized a lot of patriarchal ideas like those examples you showed; classic western revenge tales have always been a favourite of mine because of the catharsis it gives me but the whole idea is really harmful when you break it down like that. This was an amazing video overall, so thank you.
As a trance guy, this video had none of it.
You a dude
I’m a straight guy. I cannot understand why people hate you. They are wrong. Hugs from 🇨🇦
Revenge is certainly a human impulse but it's not the default reaction and it's certainly not the only true and valid path to justice. It must be so hard, harder than most of the rest of us have it, to figure out who "you" are and what you want when the society around you is giving you so many cruel and contradictory messages. I really liked the way this video talked about grief and revenge too 😊
If you need a revenge narrative to successfully merc Jef be zos then it's both cool and good.
Maggie: “- give you what you m o s t d e s i r e..”
My fragile homosexuality: “uh-oh”
my fragile bisexuality : "nice"
This video made me realize I'm a lesbian on top of already being trans. Thanks Maggie
@@Raph584 nice
My submissive heterosexuality: Oh my
The lack of a descent sex life period.
Are we sure Maggie isn't the loki in our reality that settled down and made a youtube channel?
this video confirms that i am!
It was great to see a list of Loki's influences from someone so far outside my bubble. In here, we're all convinced the series is just a mashup of Control, Cyberpunk, Doctor Who 2005, and Lost, with nobody able to name what influenced those in turn unless it was similarly mainstream.
Oh man, the part about patriarchal love hit me so hard.
Like, I never actually noticed how freaking weird it is that centring the desire for revenge after a death isn't actually normative. It's specific and kinda creepy when you think about how universal it is
It's definitely a genuine emotion but is a very self-centered one.
@@adrianjas284 It can be. But there's also the desire to stop the person or persons responsible before they make others suffer.
@@Anon26535 Is that the same as a desire for revence then though? Wanting to keep others safe and wanting to take your anger out on the source might be very different things.
Revenge is a bully's interpretation of what their victim feels, why they're fighting back.
I don't want to hurt you in revenge, I just want you to stop.
What makes you think this is patriarchal love?
Thanks for making this, you reached out and it hit me. As a schizoid shut-in I've told myself most of my life that love is something out of my reach and those grapes are probably sour anyway. These reminders of its central importance, though painful due to my history of failing to find that emotion, help me convince myself to keep trying, even if bashing my head against this wall will kill me eventually. I'd rather die like Tarkovsky than live like Snyder.
@Snehil Shrey I can recommend the videos on Snyder on this very channel to answer that question. Not denying that he's got some talent, and 300 and Sucker Punch are still some of my problematic favs, but both his politics and his approach to filmmaking (especially more recently) are pretty cringe.
Haven't had time to watch the whole video yet, but something I personally consider really valuable about your work is how accessible it is even for someone who doesn't necessarily possess all the jargon used. You have a knack for explaining concepts in a concise and very human way, which I think is an admirable quality to have. Especially considering how alienated I feel discussing some topics with people who simply label their own expertise's jargon as too hard to understand and avoid further discussion, claiming I just don't get it, even if I'm genuinely interested and very open to learning things.
Also, a series of inexplicable edits is how I'd describe my general experience going through life.
Your work deserves more recognition. Your editing is fantastic, your characters are hilarious and your writing is so thoughtful. Thanks for this Maggie, I'm such a fan.
This videos only been out for a couple days, and so I don't know if it's underperforming, but seeing that it's got significantly fewer views than your Snyder trilogy for example and you didn't get a sponsor for it has worried me enough that I'm doing the engagement things I'm usually bad about doing, because this video was knock down drag out awesome! I hope that you have the chance to make more videos like this in the future! I can't imagine the effort but you're really doing the lord's work here. This was really inspiring!
I shared!
Thank you Maggie Mae Fish for not skimping, not holding back, not falling into being just wacky, and not becoming like the rest of the RUclips feed. Instead, you instruct, entertain, provoke, and respect these ideas. Thank you!!!
I wasn’t sure if I’d get anything out of this having seen neither Stalker nor Loki, but I’m happy to be proven wrong. Maggie frequently over-delivers
Stalker is quite good, I recommend you check it out.
Jiminy Christmas youve made a monster of a video maggie, Im hyped to watch it. Ive just loving seeing you grow and continue to make these absolute bangers, it seems you find yourself fulfilled in what you do which is a true rarity these days. But never feel unsure about taking a break if you need it. Your health always comes first!
as it happens, i'm fluent in both russian and swedish, so i've watched most of tarkovsky's films. in our part of the world he' venerated as a visionary, but i've never felt like his films speak to me. your video made me to appreciate him more, thanks a lot!
Okay so that was a masterpiece. The segment on the gulf war answered a lot of questions I unknowningly had.. wow.
I saw the runtime and thought “Ooo, is this gonna be too much?” but I was deeply moved by this, and you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
The TVA building is not only inspired by te San Francisco Hyatt Regency, but was partially filmed at the Atlanta Marriot Marquis, which was designed by the same architecture firm.
The story of Porcupine is one of the most chilling moments in cinema and has stayed with me for years.
This was absolutely powerful! Thanks for making this. So much in it, so much to digest, so much to ponder on! Excellent! Save Martha ;)
“Did you do it? Did you take advantage of people’s emotions and nostalgia to make the tenth film in a franchise that stems back to the 80’s? Just so you could make another dollar?”
“…yes…”
“What did it cost?”
“…*Everything*…”
sad that I'm not even sure which film this refers to
Thank you off the grid grifters, you lead me to a video essay I've waited for. Thank you Maggie Mae Fish for making and publishing both essays. Excellent work!
If you haven't, you should read "war is a racket" by general Smedley butler. One of the most decorated marines of all time who's opinion of war changed as he got to the top
Holy shit, this is the most exciting announcement since the armistice in 1918.
Hopefully it will not have the same magnitude of consequences
As one of the bi weirdos who was born behind the iron curtain in early 70s, but had their halcyon years in the West in the 90s; this feels like MMF dropping a surprise essay on the mise-en-scène of my blimin' life.
Umm .. day of the dead just passed... am I dead? I'm ok with eternity in bed watching MMF, but why the hangover universe?
This video is so incredibly good that I had to watch it a second time just to be sure I wasn't high the first time.
So much food for though and the narrative was knit brilliantly.
Man, I wish my brain worked like this.
Save Martha.
I inherently contradict myself because I hate when films treat the audience like idiots and explicitly explain things to us like we're five, but the more things that are explained I also enjoy (as long as its not too obvious) because it adds depth to the world building aspect. I guess its also difference between an easter egg and a burnt crips omelette lol
this is officially my favourite youtube video of all time.
i love you miss maggie mae fish.
I can see why you'd make the connection to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. Since, like most Marvel productions, Loki filmed in Atlanta, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis was used as the shooting location for many TVA scenes. Both hotels were designed by neo-futurist architect, and lover of massive atria, John C. Portman Jr..
thank you so so much for making this video. it’s obvious the time, research and effort put into this. the sets are beautiful, i can’t believe i get to just watch this on here
I'm fairly certain some of the scenes for Loki at the TVA were actually filmed in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which is by the same guy who did the Hyatt Regency!
They were! That shot looking upward into a long, ribcage-like tower that follows Loki and Mobius descending down an elevator was filmed in the Marriott Marquis. The only CGI in that shot is the two statues that appear at the bottom as they exit the elevator; the building itself is just that alien.
In fact, all one has to do is watch social media on labor day weekend to see that same tower a million times. It's very common during Dragon*Con in Atlanta for people to take the same upward-facing photo and share to an instagram story for example.
Yeah they use the same location in The Hunger Games Catching Fire
That red glowing neon symbol at 3:37 reminds me of the symbol for Judy. Course I'm sure Maggie won't even talk about her.
There's plenty of diversity & great stories in the Star wars universe. It's just that Disney decided to completely ignore everything other than the original central saga. Just threw out thirty years worth of comics & novels that could have been adapted.
I can't put it to words but this is just magical
Such a beautiful essay. You convinced me to finally see Tarkovsky's work. I've been stuck in a bit of a "popcorn movie" loop this pandemic, not wanting to engage with anything that challenging. I'll come back to this video later too.
I don't know if this art will "go viral" or make the money it deserves, but it reached out to me, so here I am reaching back. That, I can say for sure.
YEAH NEW MAGGIE VIDEO, CAN'T WAIT
You pick the best movies and topics, and this one has a voice cameo from Mia too! Really dig it, thank you.
that was beautiful, just completely flooring and beautiful.
There is a place in my brain where this video was suppposed to fit, I love you for making it
Enjoyed this video a lot. I've been watching streams of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, and I listened to an analysis of Roadside Picnic, and when you got into Loki I just had to pause the video and watch that show too. Still, haven't seen Tarkovsky's Stalker but it's on my list next. Thanks for analyzing these works, I honestly didn't even consider the connection with the Void and the Zone, so I learned a lot. Love your work.
1:13:42 it's posible that that feeling is also because they filmed near a lot of toxic waste and a lot of the production team suffer from illnesses derive from that.
This was a super cool video. I never think of movies this way. Movies have always just been something for me to enjoy which is probably why Stalker went way over my head even though I enjoyed watching it for its aesthetic.
On your statement about not knowing if your art is going to reach anyone, it has reached me time and time again. Thank you for creating.
I don't know my hearts innermost desire, but your statement has reminded me of how much I want to create and how much I have put that off.
looking forward to this big time. a quick story:
in 2019 i became obsessed with this movie and pushed by ostracization and circumstance started writing my thoughts down about it and it slowly became a white whale that i couldn't say enough about, a nesting doll where each inner doll was bigger than the last not smaller, the lead characters mannerisms started leaking into mine, his perspective and his world verdant meshes of brown and green that i couldn't help but see everywhere (they were draining the lake i live on at the time, further parallels with water in _solaris_ there somewhere) and it became something that crept into my music, so while writing a _stalker_ review i ended up writing a soundtrack for the writing of the review which i am pretty sure only i have been crazy enough to do. now i've seen this movie so much it is easily my favorite movie and whenever someone brings it up its a personal affair, mix of excitement and anxiety because i gave up a piece of me to it, one that was always due to return back so i don't miss it, but i do feel that ineffable hauntedness when someone else picks it up. so like i said, looking forward to this analysis!!!
edit: here is the review and music i wrote if anyone felt anything like i did maybe its for you: letterboxd.com/thoughtworm/film/stalker/2/
Your links broken!
@@elkpapa fixed, thx for th heads up! the music also on my yt page ("Spurt")
Total nonsequitor but, I looked away for a second and came back to "The Room doesn't give you what you ask for, it gives you what you need." and my first thought was, wow, that _is_ a pretty deep meta-analysis of the successful appeal of Tommy Wiseau's work and his experience of that success as failure! Not sure when we got to _him,_ though...
Just thought I'd share that. Brains are fascinating, yeah?
Love this. Absolutely fascinating. It’s so hard for me to not reach for symbolism like I’m taking a Rorschach test when I see Tarkovsky’s striking images. I wish I could tap into what he was going for, experience and emotion.
By far my favorite of all your essays; I do feel less alone. Thank you Maggie Mae for making a weary old man's outlook a little brighter this day.
Set my reminder and clearing my schedule cause I know it'll be fantastic, love your work
Wasn't wrong, worth every second
This is quite possibly the best film analytical channel on RUclips
WoW!!! References to Ural Polytechnical, Dyatlov Pass and Stalker at the same video?! Were we going to the same E-burg drama club?! Why i am just finding this channel?
I simply love the historical backgrounds and conmnections you make here. Fascinating!
In the stalker commentary it is mentioned that Tarkovsky wanted the psychic power scene to happen just as the train goes by and that the glass moving/Monkey's abilities are as ambiguous as everything else. great video.
I don't know if this is the video I wanted to watch, but it sure is the one I needed. What an incredible piece of work. Thank you.
Regarding the authenticity of the first kiss, I was thinking about something like that for literally half my life.
In German, to express one's love you'd say "Ich liebe dich.", yet in regular use of language, the "-e" gets dropped at the end. It gets even more pronounced (HA!) when you factor in dialects. You could have entire conversations in one's dialect only to hear the completely out of place "Ich liebe dich." that just feels copy-pasted into the situation.
I did not expect this to be a video about the War on Terror, but I'm extremely pleased and impressed that it was. This *went* places.
That was refreshing, inspiring, beautiful, thought provoking, and way more than I ever could ask for from a person who puts videos on RUclips. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for this wonderfully put together take and perspective.
Maggie this has to be one of the best video essays I've seen on the site, you've truly outdone yourself.
Easily the best video essay about Tarkovsky I've seen on RUclips. I certainly can't agree with all the politics this side of RUclips, but I can really recognize and admire when true effort, research, and thought is put in a video
Stalker was such a prominent movie from my art class on media and whenever I hear, "the Zone" i remember the movie, or at least my feelings after watching it and i would say that makes the film a huge success and would encourage everyone to watch it
Had to watch it in segments, but this was terrific. I didn't know anything about Tarkovsky and my only knowledge about Stalker movie was that it was very weird. Loved you message about love, and it gave me hope that things might change in the future.
I love how this piece of media analysis is basically a video about everything, and it works
This was a personally affecting piece for me. I always interpreted Stalker's wish-room as an existential moral horror, forcing you to confront your own potential shortfalls as a worse person than you wished you were. Reframing it as revealing authenticity is more hopeful, so thanks.
That mic drop about Loki helping us perceive the end of capitalist realism was just *chef kiss*.
Consider your leap of faith a triumph cause it seems we all really enjoyed this! :) I certainly did’t think I’d be sticking around for the whole thing but I loved it, really well thought out
This is one of the best video essays I have ever seen. I am an artist and look to Tarkovsky and Parajanov for inspiration. I am also a fan of the Loki series. (I have a stack of REM CD's I regularly play while painting and have associated Losing my Religion with making art since childhood.) The insights about the relationship between the military industrial complex and Hollywood were disturbing and thought provoking. Now I am curious to rewatch phase 1 and compare the messaging to some of the more recent Marvel films. Anyways I love all your videos and this one in particular has left me rejuvenated and inspired to get to my studio and work. Thank you so much! I will be sharing this with as many people as I can.
My life has really been full of Tarkovsky the last couple of weeks, is there an aniversery or something?
Just timelessly relevant !
You sometimes get a wave of new analysis of the really good classic filmmakers - a few months ago a lot of people started writing about Akira Kurosawa again. Sometimes it's anniversaries, but sometimes I think it's someone just writes a good article about it, which prompts people to think about excellent older films, which gets them writing on similar topics, and so on.
This was such a phenomenally well done video essay. Thank you for pouring yourself into this, it very much shows.
This is kind of a tangent but that whole thing about the innermost desire got me thinking:
If Porcupine went to the room with the intent to get his brother back, if what he was asking for was to get his brother back, why does it matter that it wasn't his innermost desire? If what he chose was his brother, not the money. And if he killed himself over the money, clearly it wasn't his innermost desire. If it had been, wouldn't he have been satisfied?
Even if he secretly wanted the money more than he wanted his brother back, he didn't ask for the money and once he got the money he was devastated, not pleased. So what does it even mean that the money was his innermost desire? Or did his innermost desire change as a result of realising what kind of a person he was?
But even then, the kind of person he was, was a person who asked for his brother back.
I wonder if this anecdote is actually more about the insecurity in your own moral character that Tarkovsky talked about. That we worry that we're only doing good things in order to appear good. But that kind of navel-gazing worry itself is very self-centered and unproductice.
Porcupine knew what the right thing to do was. And he did the right thing. Is that not enough?
I mean it's still a good story, I just want to engage with the premises
"If Porcupine went to the room with the intent to get his brother back, if what he was asking for was to get his brother back, why does it matter that it wasn't his innermost desire? If what he chose was his brother, not the money. And if he killed himself over the money, clearly it wasn't his innermost desire. If it had been, wouldn't he have been satisfied?"
Well thats the trick of the room - it reveals what you are desiring most, and for most that is out of their understanding, no matter the intention(to the room wish-granting principle).
"Even if he secretly wanted the money more than he wanted his brother back, he didn't ask for the money and once he got the money he was devastated, not pleased. So what does it even mean that the money was his innermost desire? Or did his innermost desire change as a result of realising what kind of a person he was?"
It seems you presume porcupine knew himself so well to realize that he wanted his brother maybe even as much as money but thought\hoped that the room responded to the desire that is asked of it. The story to me implies that porcupine was not aware about that part of himself even a bit - and the devastation of the realization broke through his self-image so that even the prize but hollow one(seemingly reflective of his nature) couldnt prevent him from moral collapse. And, yes, the room doesnt care about what a person perceives as him seemingly morally pretexted desires.
Well, yes, i agree on the layer of questioning about " worry that we're only doing good things in order to appear good", tho i think it works even better with the details installed - what a perfect poetical stage how the age old question of "human nature". Quite possibly the real morality is not in accepting our beastly, savage, egotist nature, but to maintain the air-castles of morality at least enacted, even if it is not sincere. Tho i still have my hopes about better sides of human nature, tho - exactly - that may be why i might also kill myself on the truth that the room might show me.
I felt compelled to write this: I found your video on Tarkovksky/Loki way more nuanced, moving and layered than I would have thought possible.
It's kind of tangential, but one of things that always stuck with me about Porcupine is that in fulfilling his innermost desire for money, the room reflects the ways in which social context supercede conscious need.
Since his brother died on a trip into the Zone, I came away from it with the idea that the brothers were obviously seeking something that would materially fulfill them, and in the absence of that fulfillment, you get the brother's death, and ultimately Porcupine's as a consequence. And then, in Porcupine's case, that absence not only creates further absences in how he loses his brother, but supplants the need he has for his brother with something material.
I know that's a pretty obvious read of the events, but it has always been especially tragic and poetic to me.
I guess another way of putting it would be that love is transcendent only to the extent that the material world allows for, and if it doesn't, love will be supplanted or subsumed into it's demands.
Edit: all of which you just said in the essay lmao
"love is only transcendent to the extent that the material world allows for" just... wow. if you put it like that i think i can get behind that idea. such a good observation.
Such a good video, tying very different topics into a work of art. Loved your explanations regarding Stalker as I just recently had seen it. The irony of declaring a 'war on terror' and therefore fighting terror with terror and therefore just creating terror ist astounding.
Now that's a title that gets my attention!
This was so in depth and thoughtful that I don't know what to say - thoroughly enjoyed it
"yknow like living under the bush admin....but that cant be relevant"
*nervously checks timestamp*
Maggie is never not lovely in these videos. So damn insightful
I hadn't seen Stalker, but watched Solaris. There's so much to dig into here, so thanks!
I found you via the Snyder videos after Just Write mentioned you and now I'm binging them allll.
One of the things I want to know is the difference between platonic love between friends, and romantic love between couples, and how that fits into Tarkovsky's ideology.
Something to be cognizant of when discussing things like the Soviet Union's industrialization and the human cost is to remember the cost in capitalist countries was often worse and included slavery and colonialism
Wow.. I love your deep analysis of Loki themes ❤️
Tarkovsky's words montage cinema gave me pause and cut deep as I am a person who really loves the structure of that kind 'puzzle and riddle' cinema. I might not agree completely with Tarkovsky's implication that montage cinema only contains narrow conclusions and solutions, but it gave me a lot of food for thought.
(I also don't fully agree with him either haha) but it IS food for thought !!!
I can't describe how incredible this video was. Your work has always been exceptional, but this is on a different level. Thank you
I hope you mention the strugatsky brothers. Nobody ever talks about the book (roadside picnic).
We mention them in passing. We almost included a paragraph on them, but ended up cutting it.
Thanks!
I don't think calling Eisenstein a propagandist is all that unfair. Lenin and the Communist party of the USSR correctly identified film as a new and powerful means of ideological propaganda. It's why they invested to heavily into schools and studios to quickly develop the capabilities of Soviet film making.
I also immensely enjoy Eisenstein's work, and still choke up at Battleship Potemkin. Leading the audience to the feeling and ideas you wish them to have is still worthwhile...for anything other than consumerism 😅
It could be argued that propaganda isn't inherently bad - it's just very effective at getting a point of view across. If that point of view is harmful then that's a different matter. Public health films are propaganda and they save lives.
@@PeteAshton Yeah propaganda is one of those words whose meaning has shifted over time. It used to be a value-neutral word describing anything intended to promote a particular point of view & it didn't imply deception. But nowadays it's synonymous with disinformation.
@@guy-sl3kr True
The Left could use some good propagandists
@@guy-sl3kr Actually, the original meaning of "propaganda" was just "publishing".
It acquired its negative connotations when authoritarian governments started creating official public "Ministries of Propaganda" that were infamous for their extreme levels of dishonesty.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this essay! It's just so deep and thought-provoking! And, as a russian, I'm happy that someone FINALLY did a good job at analyzing Tarkovsky's work!
You know what's funny though? You mentioned "Brothers Karamazov" and I immediately remembered that I saw a theatre play based on this exact book almost a week ago in Moscow. What's even funnier? One of the main characters is played by Philipp Yankovsky (a spectacular director and actor, btw), who, along with his father Oleg (ALSO an amazing actor), played a part in ANOTHER film of Tarkovsky, Зеркало/Mirror.
Just... Now I feel somewhat closer to artists who are long gone by now.