The Sacrifice
The final film of Andrei Tarkovsky
Country
Production
Genre
Budget
$0
Box office
$316 043
Director
Actors
Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Guðrún Gísladóttir, Sven Wollter, Valérie Mairesse, Filippa Franzén, Tommy Kjellqvist, Per Källman, Tommy Nordahl
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Anna-Lena Wibom
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Anna Asp
Audition
Françoise Menidrey, Priscilla John, Claire Denis
Editing
Short description
Alexander, a journalist, philosopher and retired actor, celebrates a birthday with friends and family when it is announced that nuclear war has begun.
What's left behind the scenes
- The postman Otto, as a character in the painting, is a kind of tribute from Tarkovsky to one of his regular acting talismans, Anatoly Solonitsyn, who died of lung cancer in 1982.
- During filming, cinematographer Sven Nykvist long couldn't understand why Andrei Tarkovsky was constantly looking into the camera. He was even offended until Andrei explained to him that, only by looking through the camera lens, he could visualize the mise-en-scène.
- For the final scene, Tarkovsky made the following demands regarding the weather: it had to be cloudy; it would be good to have white, fluffy clouds and for the sun to suddenly appear. The effect seen in the frame is precisely this: the sun reflecting in the water and heavy white clouds crawling across the sky.
- Tarkovsky spent several days searching for a location for the scene of the atomic catastrophe, the panic. He found it, and it was a tunnel, a staircase, and a small square in front of them. That's where this terrible and beautiful scene was filmed. And shortly after, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was killed. The killer stood in the very place where the camera was during filming.
- The scene of the house burning was filmed twice – the first time, the Arriflex camera's intermittent mechanism failed, and the film stopped. The house burned down for nothing. A week later, the house set was rebuilt, and the shooting was done again. This time with three cameras.
- The film's idea was taken from the screenplay “The Witch” by the Strugatsky brothers.
- The film's aesthetics significantly influenced Western intellectuals. For example, the music video for the American rock band “R.E.M.’s” song “Losing My Religion” contains direct quotes from the film and repeats its visual style.
- The postman Otto, as a character in the film, serves as a kind of tribute from Tarkovsky to one of his regular acting talismans, Anatoly Solonitsyn, who died of lung cancer in 1982.
- During filming, cinematographer Sven Nykvist spent a long time wondering why Andrei Tarkovsky kept looking into the camera. He even felt offended until Andrei explained that he could only visualize the mise-en-scène by looking through the viewfinder.
- For the final scene, Tarkovsky set the following weather requirements: it had to be overcast, preferably with fluffy white clouds, and then the sun should suddenly appear. This exact effect is visible in the shot: the sun reflecting in the water and heavy white clouds drifting across the sky.
- Tarkovsky spent several days searching for a location for the scene of nuclear catastrophe and panic. He found a spot consisting of a tunnel, a staircase, and a small square in front of them. That is where this terrible and beautiful scene was filmed. Some time later, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated. The killer stood in the exact spot where the camera had been positioned during the filming.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
