Arseny Tarkovsky

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

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.

A documentary about the life of Andrei Tarkovsky in exile in Western Europe including Italy, Sweden, Germany and France until his sad demise to a fatal cancer.

The camera floats quietly to capture the beauty that emerges from the mundane. Accompanied by Ryuichi Sakamoto's composition, Arseny Tarkovsky's poem celebrates life.

In December 1941. For five days from the front line in besieged Leningrad arrives for re-forming company. The soldiers are placed in barracks outside the city. A young soldier Alexei Kazantsev pays attention to the girl Olya. She comes to the barracks every day to see her father, Private Koshkin, who among the St. Petersburg volunteers is going to go to the front. Olya is sick, and from hunger she can hardly stand on her feet. Koshkin gives her his tiny ration, which is given to soldiers. Alexei meets Olga and does his best to save the girl. On the eve of Alexei's return to the front, Olga becomes his wife.

"Poetic documentary about the prominent Russian poet Arseny Tarkovsky (1907/1989), father of director Andrei Tarkovsky. Arseny Tarkovsky translated countless poems from Georgian, Arabic, Armenian, Kyrghyz, Polish etc., but many of his own poems were also translated into other languages. The maker of the documentary, Viatcheslav Amirchanian, cared for Arseny Tarkovsky in the last years of the poet's life, shot many hours of film in that period, took countless photographs and, years later, he combined this with other material to form this documentary. Tarkovsky Sr, who was admired by colleagues such as Joseph Brodsky, Anna Achmatova and Marina Cvetaeva, was never published during the Stalin era, even though he had lost a leg as a soldier at the front. His first book (Before the Snow) only appeared in 1962 during the thaw under Khrushchev." - IFFR