Kiki De La Petite Flaque

On the set of Stalker directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979.

Photos by Gueorgui Pinkhassov

Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei Rublev, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966.

Nostalghia, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983.

Natalya Bondarchuk and Andrei Tarkovsky on the set of 'Solaris', 1972

Andrei Tarkovsky

– Andrei Tarkovsky

Never try to convey your idea to the audience – it is a thankless and senseless task. Show them life and they’ll find within themselves the means to assess and appreciate it.

— Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time: Reflections on the Cinema, page 152

The Sacrifice, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986.

Nostalghia, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Time is said to be irreversible. And this is true enough in the sense that ‘you can’t bring back the past,’ as they say. But what exactly is this ‘past?’ Is it what has passed? And what does ‘passed’ mean for a person when for each of us the past is the bearer of all this is constant in the reality of the present, of each current moment? In a certain sense the past is far more real, or at any rate more stable, more resilient than the present. The present slips and vanishes like sand between the fingers, acquiring material weight only in its recollection. [. . .] Time cannot vanish without trace for it is a subjective, spiritual category; and the time we have lived settles in our soul as an experience placed within time.

— Andrei Tarkovsky, from “Imprinted Time,” Sculpting in Time, trans. Kitty Hunter-Blair (University of Texas Press, 1987)

Andrei Tarkovsky's polaroid.

We can express our feelings regarding the world around us either by poetic or by descriptive means. I prefer to express myself metaphorically. Let me express: metaphorically, not symbolically. A symbol contains within itself a definite meaning, certain intellectual formula, while metaphor is an image. An image possessing the same distinguishing features as the world it represents. An image — as opposed to a symbol — is indefinite in meaning. One cannot speak of the infinite world by applying tools that are definite and finite. We can analyse the formula that constitutes a symbol, while metaphor is a being-within-itself, it’s a monomial. It falls apart at any attempt of touching it. Our life from beginning to end is a metaphor. All that surrounds us is a metaphor.

Interview “Le noir coloris de la nostalgie” with Hervé Guibert in ‘Le Monde”, 12 May 1983 (Pol. trans. Malgorzata Sporek-Czyzewska).

Photo by Hervé Guibert, 1986

… Every gift involves a sacrifice...”

Andrei Tarkovsky

The Sacrifice, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986

Andrei Tarkovsky, Tatyana Malykh (the neighbour's daughter), Vitaly Kerdimun (Berton's son) and Kris' father's dog.