What makes Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’ one of sci-fi’s all-time greats?
In 1979, Andrei Tarkovsky’s science fiction masterpiece Stalker arrived on the big screen, offering audiences a mesmerising, world-changing visual narrative trip. Taking place in a desolate and barren landscape, it evokes the imagery of a post-apocalyptic world, and by focusing on the story of its titular guide, hired to lead a writer and a scientist through a treacherous area known as the Zone, Tarkovsky delivered a true masterwork of science fiction cinema.
The trio’s journey weaves and bends through time, space and memory before they eventually arrive at the Room, which is said to grant the deepest desires of those brave enough to enter. Thematically, Tarkovsky dives unflinchingly into the nature of religion, desire, art and the political landscape of the mid-late 20th century, but by inviting his audience to reflect on the endless yearning for meaning in humankind and its often tragic consequences, Stalker is a film that moves beyond cinema’s mere ability to tell narrative and rather arrives as a crucial exploration of the human experience.
The film’s status in the history of cinema was assured shortly after it was released – having suffered initial mixed reviews – but why should it be considered one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made today? For starters, it should be stated that there is a deliberate pacing to Stalker that allows for its meditative atmosphere to come to life, and this is all the more remarkable, considering the fact that Tarkovsky actually had to shoot the movie twice, following the first shoot’s film stock being ruined.
The negation of a traditional method of storytelling enables Tarkovsky to deliver a contemplative approach, mirroring the existential questions his main characters are faced with. In addition, the careful and slow pace of Stalker also creates a sense of anxiety and unease, which creeps over its audience – just as they are beginning to make sense of things, their perception changes completely, as is so often the case in life itself.
What’s more, is that Tarkovsky’s 1979 film is perhaps his most visually impressive with its powerful imagery and intelligent cinematography by Alexander Knyazhinsky, creating a world similar to our own but yet so distant and peculiar. The sheer desolation of the Zone, with its abandoned buildings amid overgrown flora, creates a juxtaposition between melancholic devastation and natural beauty, all delivered with the utmost respect and a grandiose aesthetic. Stalker is a film that will almost hypnotise with its imagery, which in turn allows the mind to wander and then snap back into consciousness.
However, even with the aesthetic and production choices of Tarkovsky, the film’s narrative and themes separate Stalker from many of its contemporary films as a marker of science fiction of the highest order. Written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsy, loosely based on their 1972 novel Roadside Picnic, Stalker wrestles with some of humanity’s most pertinent questions like, faith and the problem of reality.
There’s an undoubted reflection on the works of Martin Heidegger and Friedrich Nietzsche in how Stalker makes us question how we ought to live our lives and what makes them worthwhile. Approaching the Room, where our deepest wishes will come true, with the protagonists, we wonder what it is that would make us feel happy, content, and even human. But the journey through the Zone is one of peril, mirroring the fact that our real-life voyages to success and happiness are often filled with potential danger, showing that it’s often the act of wanting and desire itself that is, in fact, the problem.
In that light, Stalker is an essential work from a philosophical and humanist perspective, falling comfortably into the category of the most important pieces of science fiction ever made.
With an ending that creates as much debate and interpretation as it does fascination, Stalker is a true sci-fi classic, one that continues to be discussed in the most serious of terms. Some figures like to perceive the film’s journey as a descent into the human psyche and memory, whereas others see it as a reflection of the persistent evasion of truth from those who seek it. However, Stalker ought to be considered – it’s undoubtedly an eternally memorable cinematic experience, one that has found its place in the pantheon of masterpiece science fiction.
Check out the film’s trailer below.
