In the realm of cinema, there are few filmmakers that rival the influence and power of Andrei Tarkovsky. Thousands of pieces have been written about his effect on the medium, and thanks to the release of new 2K restorations of films like “Mirror,” hopefully new generations of film fans will discover the brilliance of the filmmaker.
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Janus Films and Film at Lincoln Center are once again combining forces to bring another stunning 2K restoration of a classic film to the masses. This time, they’re working together to distribute “Mirror,” which is one of Tarkovsky’s most renowned films, which sadly was a bit misunderstood during its original release.
Describing the plot of “Mirror” to someone is very difficult. The film throws the conventional narrative structure out the window in favor of what some might call a visual poem featuring different film stocks and types of footage, all combining to tell the story of a man’s life from childhood until his impending death.
The 2K restoration of “Mirror” opens at Film at Lincoln Center on January 29. You can watch the new trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
A senses-ravishing odyssey through the halls of time and memory, Andrei Tarkovsky’s sublime reflection on 20th century Russian history is as much a film as it is a poem composed in images, as much a work of cinema as it is a hypnagogic hallucination. In a richly textured collage of varying film stocks and newsreel footage, the recollections of a dying poet flash before our eyes, dreams mingling with scenes of childhood, wartime, and marriage, all imbued with the mystic power of a trance. Largely dismissed by Soviet critics upon its release due to its elusive narrative structure, Mirror has since taken its place as one of the titan director’s most renowned and influential works, a stunning personal statement from an artist transmitting his innermost thoughts and feelings directly from psyche to screen.