Stalker

Name: Stalker
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Released: 1979-05-25
Duration: 2 h 42 min
Rating: 8.1
Cast: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko, Natasha Abramova

There's no need to speak. You must only...concentrate and recall all your past life. When a man thinks of the past, he becomes kinder.

Сталкер (1979)

Timing: 2:42 (162 min)

8.1/10
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8.1/10
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8/10
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Everything about the movie

Video 6

Photo 127

Actors and characters

Video for the film Stalker — Mark Kermode reviews Stalker (1979) | BFI Player

2:56

Photo 127

Release date

1979-05-25

Country

Soviet Union

Production

Mosfilm

Genre

Science Fiction, Drama

Budget

$6 000 000

Box office

Website

Director

Andrei Tarkovsky

Actors

Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko, Natasha Abramova, Faime Jurno, Evgeniy Kostin, Raymo Rendi, Vladimir Zamanskiy
All actors and roles (9)

Scenario

Arkadiy Strugatskiy, Boris Strugatskiy

Producer

Aleksandra Demidova

Camera operator

Aleksandr Knyazhinsky

Composer

Eduard Artemyev

Artist

Andrei Tarkovsky, Aleksan, Aleksandr Boym

Audition

Editing

Lyudmila Feiginova
Whole Team (26)

Short description

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.

What's left behind the scenes

The Stalker was filmed in the vicinity of Tallinn (Estonia) in 1977–1978.
The working title of the script was “The Machine of Desires”.
In February 1976, Tarkovsky officially received approval to begin filming from the Chairman of the State Cinema Committee of the USSR, Filipp Yermash.
Tarkovsky himself, his wife Larisa (the film's second unit director), and the lead actor Anatoly Solonitsyn died from the same disease - bronchial cancer.
Actor Alexander Kaidanovsky, known for his fiery temper, had a fight with Tarkovsky on the set of “Stalker,” but was forgiven, and the film was still completed.
Initially, the required natural setting was found near the city of Isfara, in Tajikistan, but the city was destroyed by an earthquake. This circumstance did not interfere with the filming itself, but the film crew had nowhere to live.
In two episodes of the film, a page from a tear-off calendar is fleetingly visible – “December 28th”. The director was unable to explain to anyone why this episode was needed, or what it had to do with that date. Andrei Tarkovsky died on December 29, 1986.
The prolonged stay in the ecologically contaminated filming area negatively affected the health of all members of the film crew, including Andrei Tarkovsky himself. Only one person actually avoided illness and complications – the composer Eduard Artemyev, as he never visited the filming locations, working on the film's music in Moscow.
Due to a conflict with director Andrei Tarkovsky, the name of the chief cameraman Georgy Rerberg was not included in the film's credits.
Where the scene with the UN checkpoint was filmed, near the boiler room of the old Tallinn power plant, the inscription “UN” remains on the chimney to this day. In 2006, a commemorative plaque in Estonian and English was hung on the chimney stating that the film 'Stalker' was filmed in this location.
Working on the film was fraught with great difficulties, accompanied by numerous problems, and took about three years.
The film was reshot three times, with three different cinematographers and production designers, and the script continued to be rewritten during filming. As a result, the budget was significantly overspent due to constant revisions.
In April 1978, Tarkovsky suffered a heart attack and resumed work with the third team in a row.
Filming was completed on December 19, 1978. Ultimately, the film's budget was overspent by 300,000 rubles, exceeding one million rubles.
The director's fastidiousness exhausted the crew. Just staging a scene lasting only a few seconds on screen took the film's artists several days. Tarkovsky insisted that only green be visible on the lawn that would appear in the frame. Every blade of grass of the wrong shade was meticulously removed one by one.
The film was shot on Kodak film stock, which was scarce in the Soviet era and was only issued to select directors.
The film is based on the novel "Roadside Picnic" (1972) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
In 2008, it was proposed to name one of the road sections in the Rottermann Quarter in Tallinn Stalker's Lane (Estonian: Stalkeri käik) in honor of the film "Stalker", which was partially filmed in these locations.
On February 15, 1977, the first (studio) scene of the film was shot – Stalker's house. Location shooting in Estonia took place in May-August. Individual scenes were filmed near Leningrad, and studio shooting at the Mosfilm studio. The final scenes, as well as views of the industrial landscape from the open door of the bar, were filmed in Moscow, in the Zagorodnoye Shosse area. The pipes of TEC-20 are visible in the background.
On August 9, 1977, several thousand meters of filmed material were irrevocably lost in the laboratories of Mosfilm during film development. Various versions were put forward: from the substitution of the film by ill-wishers to a tactical move by Tarkovsky, who wanted to completely remake the film that did not suit him. The film crew suspected that the film might be shut down, but as early as July, the director was able to obtain permission from Goskino to increase the budget.
The premiere of the film took place in May 1980 at the Mir cinema on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. In Moscow, the film was shown in only three cinemas, and 196 prints were distributed throughout the country. In the first months after the premiere, the release of the film was not noted in the Soviet press. The first reviews and critiques appeared only in 1981 – after the film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1973, while still working on "Mirror", Andrei Tarkovsky left a note in his diary stating that he was interested in a new work by the Strugatsky brothers. In 1974, Tarkovsky first contacted the writers and informed them that he was interested in adapting the novella "Picnic on the Side of the Road".
Although Tarkovsky was not credited as a screenwriter, he was considered one of three co-authors, and his role consisted mainly of rejecting material. Boris Strugatsky recalled that no other work had taken as much effort from them as the film's script, and he described the work as endlessly exhausting. Work on the novella 'The Beetle in the Anthill' was postponed due to 'Stalker'. The Chairman of the USSR State Film Committee, Ermash, warned Tarkovsky before final approval that the brothers had a reputation for being 'unfilmable', especially after the failure of the previous attempt to adapt 'The Devil from the Underworld'. However, Tarkovsky firmly stood his ground.
'Stalker' was Tarkovsky's last film made in the USSR; he then worked abroad.
The film is based on the novel 'Roadside Picnic' (1972) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
In February 1976, Tarkovsky officially received the 'go-ahead' to begin filming from the chairman of Goskino USSR, Filipp Yermash.
Tarkovsky himself, his wife Larisa (the film's second director), and the lead actor Anatoly Solonitsyn all died from the same disease—bronchial cancer.
Actor Alexander Kaidanovsky, known for his fiery temperament, got into a fight with Tarkovsky on the set of Stalker, but was forgiven, and the film was completed nonetheless.
In two episodes of the film, a page from a tear-off calendar is briefly visible: "December 28." The director was never able to explain the purpose of this shot or what he associated with that date. Andrei Tarkovsky passed away on December 29, 1986.
Spending a long time in the ecologically polluted filming area adversely affected the health of everyone in the crew, including Andrei Tarkovsky himself. In fact, only one person avoided illness and complications—composer Eduard Artemyev, as he never visited the filming locations, working on the film's music in Moscow.
Due to a conflict with director Andrei Tarkovsky, the name of the chief cinematographer, Georgy Rerberg, was omitted from the film's credits.
On August 9, 1977, several thousand meters of filmed footage were irretrievably lost during processing in the Mosfilm laboratories. Various theories emerged: from the film being swapped by ill-wishers to a tactical move by Tarkovsky, who allegedly wanted to completely rework a film he was dissatisfied with. The film crew suspected the project might be shut down, but in July, the director had managed to obtain permission from Goskino to increase the budget.
In April 1978, Tarkovsky suffered a heart attack and began the work anew, this time with his third crew.
The film premiered in May 1980 at the Mir Cinema on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. In Moscow, the film was shown in only three cinemas, and 196 prints were distributed across the country. In the first few months after the premiere, the film's release went completely unnoticed in the Soviet press. The first reviews and critiques appeared only in 1981, following the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1973, while still working on *The Mirror*, Andrei Tarkovsky wrote in his diary that he was interested in a new work by the Strugatsky brothers. In 1974, Tarkovsky contacted the writers for the first time and informed them that he was interested in adapting the novella *Roadside Picnic*.
Although Tarkovsky was not listed as a screenwriter in the credits, he was considered one of three co-authors, and his role primarily consisted of weeding out material. Boris Strugatsky recalled that no other work had drained them of as much strength as the screenplay for the film, describing the process as infinitely exhausting. The writing of the novella *The Beetle in the Anthill* was postponed because of *Stalker*. Before final approval, the Chairman of Goskino USSR, Yermash, warned Tarkovsky that the brothers had a reputation for being 'unfilmable,' especially after the failure of a previous attempt to adapt *The Guy from Hell*. However, Tarkovsky stood his ground.
The director's fastidiousness exhausted the crew. The production designers spent several days on the staging of a single scene that lasts only a few seconds on screen. Tarkovsky insisted that the lawn appearing in the frame be exclusively green. Every single blade of grass of the wrong shade was meticulously removed one by one.
Stalker was the last film Tarkovsky shot in the USSR; thereafter, he worked abroad.