TARKOVSKY FESTIVAL – A RETROSPECTIVE
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon St., London W1J 7TY,Box Office: 08717033989
www.curzoncinemas.com
7 – 13 DECEMBER CURZON MAYFAIR
Tickets: Features £10/£7 Curzon Members; Documentaries £6.50
“Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream.” Ingmar Bergman
As part of the Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of one of the undisputed masters of world cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky (1932 – 1986, Curzon Cinemas, Artificial Eye and Tarkovsky Festival present screenings of his feature films, documentaries and the reading of a stage play related to his work. Artificial Eye releases a brand new 35mm print of “The Sacrifice”. Most screenings will be introduced by an actor or member of the crew, followed by Q&A. Visit www.tarkovsky-festival.co.uk for information on other activities and exhibitions.
FRI 7 DECEMBER 7PM
Opening Gala plus Q&A: “The Sacrifice” (PG)
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Gudrun Gisladottir
Russia 1986 / 148 mins / Russian with English subtitles
Tarkovsky's final film unfolds in the hours before a nuclear holocaust. Alexander is celebrating his birthday when a crackly TV announcement warns of imminent nuclear catastrophe. Alexander makes a promise to God that he will sacrifice all he holds dear, if the disaster can be averted. The next day dawns and everything is restored to normality, but Alexander must now keep his vow.
We hope to welcome on stage Gudrun Gisladottir, the lead actress and Layla Alexander-Garrett, the interpreter on “The Sacrifice”.
“The Sacrifice” also plays at CURZON MAYFAIR on 8 December at 12NOON,
9 December at 12.30PM, 11 December at 3PM and 12 December at 1.30PM.
“A work of Genius” – The Times; “Miraculous” – Time Out; “This is a classic – no one in the cinema at present can compete with Tarkovsky at this level” – The Guardian
SAT 8 DECEMBER 2.45PM
“Directed by Tarkovsky” (12)
Director: Michal Leszczylowski
Sweden 1988 / 101 mins
During the making of “The Sacrifice”, some fifty hours of behind the scenes footage was shot by director - cameraman Arne Carlsson and was subsequently assembled, together with extracts from Tarkovsky's book, “Sculpting in Time”.
SAT 8 DECEMBER 5.30PM
“Andrei Rublev” (15) plus Q&A
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Anatoli Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Grinko
Russia 1969 / 180 mins / Russian with English subtitles
Widely regarded as Tarkovsky's finest film, “Andrei Rublev” charts the life of the great icon painter through a turbulent period of 15th Century Russian history, which was marked by endless fighting between rival Princes and Tatar invasions.
Followed by Q&A with Vadim Yusov, cameraman on “Andrei Rublev”.
With thanks to Mosfilm
“One of world cinema’s most enthralling films” – The Times; “The majestic vision of a master filmmaker” – Empire; “The cinema can offer no more” – The Financial Times
SUN 9 DECEMBER 4PM
Tickets £10 / £7.00 Curzon Members
THE ENGLISH PREMIERE OF ERLAND JOSEPHSON’S PLAY
“ONE SUMMER NIGHT IN SWEDEN”
Directed by Brian Stirner
The stage premiere, the reading, of Erland Josephson's play (Bergman's and Tarkovsky's favourite actor) "One Summer Night in Sweden" (“En natt I den svenska sommaren”). The play is dedicated to Tarkovsky's last masterpiece “The Sacrifice”. We will reveal the names of the actors reading the play on stage on 21 November.
SUN 9 DECEMBER 6PM
“Stalker” (PG) plus Q&A
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Aleksandr Kajdanovsky, Alica Frendlich, Anatoli Solonitsyn
Russia 1979 / 161 mins / Russian with English subtitles
Deep within the Zone, a bleak and devastated forbidden landscape, lies a mysterious room with the power to grant the deepest wishes of those strong enough to make the hazardous journey there. Desperate to reach it, a scientist and a writer approach the Stalker, one of the few able to navigate the Zone's menacing terrain, and begin a dangerous trek into the unknown.
Followed by a Q&A with Tarkovsky’s colleague Alexander Gordon, author of “Thirst Unquenched".
“Tarkovsky conjures images like you’ve never seen before” – Time Out; “Transcends the world of science fiction” – Sight & Sound
MON 10 DECEMBER 5PM
“Cinema is a Mosaic Made up of Time”
Director: Donatella Baglivo
Italy 1984 / 65 mins / Italian with English subtitles
Appreciated in many important film events all over the world, this study of the great Russian filmmaker is the next best thing to having a new film by the director himself. In Baglivo’s portrait Tarkovsky talks more openly than ever before about his life, career and ideas, giving us greater understanding of his most famous films.
MON 10 DECEMBER 6.40PM
“Mirror” (U)
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Margarita Terekhova, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Ignat Daniltsev
Russia 1975 / 106 mins / Russian with English subtitles
“Mirror” is Tarkovsky’s most autobiographical work in which he reflects upon his own childhood and the destiny of the Russian people. The film’s many layers intertwine real life and family relationships – Tarkovsky’s father, the poet Arseny Tarkovsky reads his own poems and Tarkovsky’s mother appears as herself - with memories of childhood, dreams and nightmares.
Followed by Q&A with Marina Tarkovskaya, sister of Andrei Tarkovsky, author of “Fragments of the Mirror”.
“Mirror is an evocation of childhood without equal in the cinema” – The Sunday Times; “A dazzlingly beautiful film... It is an experience which should not be missed” – The Times
TUE 11 DECEMBER 6.50PM
“Ivan’s Childhood” (PG) plus Q&A
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Nikolai Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Ye. Zharikov
Russia 1961 / 94 mins / Russian with English subtitles
Andrei Tarkovsky’s prize-winning debut feature is an extraordinarily moving view of war and revenge. 12-year old Ivan is determined to avenge his family’s death at the hands of the Nazis, and he joins a Russian partisan regiment as a scout. His ability to slip through enemy lines more easily than an adult makes him useful to the army, but, as his missions become increasingly dangerous, it is decided that he must be removed from the front line. Ivan resists and convinces his commanding officers to allow him to carry out one last expedition.
Followed by Q&A with lead actor Nikolai Burlyaev.
“One of cinema’s great statements on war” – The Sunday Times; “With one blow the film annals a whole cinematheque of the war films of all lands” – Sight & Sound
WED 12 DECEMBER 4.30PM
“One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevitch” (U)
Director: Chris Marker
France 1999 / 55 mins / English, French, Russian and Italian with English subtitles
This appreciation of Tarkovsky made by his friend Chris Marker for the French television series “Cinema du Notre Temps” is both an illuminating personal portrait and a poetic study of the Russian master’s films.
With thanks to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
WED 12 DECEMBER 6PM
“Solaris” (PG) plus Q&A
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Natalia Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Juri Jarvet
Russia 1972 / 165 mins / Russian with English subtitles
On a space station orbiting the ocean-covered planet Solaris, cosmonaut Chris Kelvin arrives to investigate a series of mysterious and bizarre occurrences among the crew. What he discovers are supernatural phenomena that cause repressed and haunting memories to take physical form, including that of Kelvin's late wife.
Followed by Q&A with lead actress Natalia Bondarchuk.
“In every way a majestic work of art... A masterpiece” – Mark Le Fanu “The Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky
THU 13 DECEMBER 4.30PM
“Moscow Elegy”
Director: Alexander Sokurov
Russia 1988 / 87 mins
A collage of material from various documentaries made by Alexander Sokurov, which looks at the different places where Tarkovsky lived: his childhood house, his first own home, and finally the house in Moscow where he spent his last years in USSR.
THU 13 DECEMBER 6.30PM
“Nostalgia” (15) plus Q&A
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Oleg Yankovsky, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano
Russia 1983 / 125 mins / Italian and Russian with English subtitles
Tarkovsky’s unforgettably haunting film explores the melancholy of the expatriate through the film's protagonist, Gorchakov, a Russian poet researching in Italy. Arriving at a Tuscan village spa with Eugenia, his beautiful Italian interpreter, Gorchakov is visited by memories of Russia and of his wife and children, and encounters the local mystic, who sets him a challenging task.
Followed by Q&A with lead actor Oleg Yankovsky.
“Beautiful and extraordinary... a breathtaking power” – The Guardian; An allusive compilation of startling, sublime imagery” – Time Out
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon St., London W1J 7TY
Box Office: 0871 7033 989, www.curzoncinemas.com
Location & Transport
Tube: Green Park, Hyde Park Corner (exit 3)
Overground: Victoria
Busses: 14, 19, 22, 36, 38, 73, 82, 137