Andrei Tarkovsky’s seminal film Andrei Rublev, recounts the life and inner turmoil of an icon painter who renounces his art due to the turbulent and soul-destroying scenes he faces in 15th century Russia, including the endless fighting between the Princes as well as the ferocious atrocities of the Tatar invaders.
We actually only see Rublev’s paintings at the climax of the film and initially I found this slightly unsatisfying because, due to the nature of the medium, the paintings don’t come across as quite as miraculously as they do in real life.
Right from the start, where a man attempts to fly in a hot air balloon, Tarkovsky’s imagery is rich in symbolism, highly evocative and breath-takingly beautiful, poetry in film. The theological discussions are deeply profound but not difficult to watch due to the Russian master’s perfect sense of both use of dialogue and mise en scène.
As well as astutely capturing the monastic way of life we also see paganism at work in a festival with orgiastic revelry; and the violence of the times appears in the sacking of the city of Vladimir, filmed with excruciating veracity.
Perhaps the most crucial chapter in this epic narrative is the casting of a bell by a teenage boy. After the venture is a success the young man confesses to Rublev that he didn’t really have the secret of bell-making as he had claimed. But the monk replies, quite transformed: “Don’t cry! You will go on to cast many bells, and I will go on to paint icons.”
Visually stunning with great emotional and spiritual depth this is a grand tale of sacrifice and redemption that deserves its place as one of the greatest Russian films of the 20th century.
Andrei Roublev plays at Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds on Sunday 22nd February, 3pm.