Ingmar Bergman once said of the great Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, “Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream.” Indeed, a kind of forerunner in meditative, “slow cinema”— which always feels like a pejorative instead of the mystic contribution to cinema that it is, at least in this filmmakers hands— Tarkovsky’s gift was hypnotic sculpting of time that bestowed us stone-cold arthouse classics like “Solaris,” “Stalker” and “Ivan’s Childhood” and more (frankly, his entire, very-short, 7-dramatic feature-length filmography is essential).
READ MORE: Andrei Tarkovsky: The Essential Films, A Retrospective
The Criterion Collection knew what time it was back in the day. Tarkovsky’s second film, 1966’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” about the great 15th-century Russian icon painter (a film suppressed by the Soviet Union and unseen until 1971), was their 34th release way back in 1999.
Now, in the lead up to the newly restored Criterion Blu-Ray/DVD edition of “Andrei Rublev,” which is scheduled for a September 25 release, Janus Films will release the film theatrically later this summer. The restoration will premiere at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on August 24 and will be followed by a nationwide roll-out.
Two versions of the film are on the DVD, Tarkovsky’s preferred 185-minute cut and the censored version by Russian authorities. The Film Society will screen the director’s cut.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Tracing the life of a renowned icon painter, the second feature by Andrei Tarkovsky vividly conjures the murky world of medieval Russia. This dreamlike and remarkably tactile film follows Andrei Rublev as he passes through a series of poetically linked scenes-snow falls inside an unfinished church, naked pagans stream through a thicket during a torchlit ritual, a boy oversees the clearing away of muddy earth for the forging of a gigantic bell-gradually emerging as a man struggling mightily to preserve his creative and religious integrity. Appearing here in the director’s preferred 185-minute cut the masterwork Andrei Rublev is one of Tarkovsky’s most revered films, an arresting meditation on art, faith, and endurance.
Fun, slightly baffling fact: “Andrei Rublev” co-writer Andrei Konchalovsky went on to direct “Tango & Cash” (and the awesome 1985 cult picture “Runaway Train“). Now you know. We’re lucky enough to present the exclusive trailer for this new restoration of the director’s preferred cut. Mark your calendar for August 24 if you’re in New York, September 25 for the Blu-Ray/DVD and keep an ear out for news and dates on the national rollout.
