Andrei Rublev (1966) Andrey Rublyov (original title)

Director:

Andrey Tarkovskiy

Writers:

Andrey Tarkovskiy
Andrey Konchalovskiy

Release Date:

1973 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | War

Plot:

Andreiv Rublev charts the life of the great icon painter through a turbulent period of 15th Century Russian history...

Plot Keywords:

Invasion | Russian | 15th Century | Painter | Icon

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Anatoliy Solonitsyn	...	Andrei Rublyov
Ivan Lapikov	...	Kirill
Nikolay Grinko	...	Danil Chorny
Nikolai Sergeyev	...	Theophanes the Greek
Irma Raush	...	Idiot girl (Durochka)
Nikolay Burlyaev	...	Boriska
Yuriy Nazarov	...	The Grand Prince / The Lesser Prince
Yuri Nikulin	...	Monk Patrikey
Rolan Bykov	...	The jester
Nikolai Grabbe	...	Stepan
Mikhail Kononov	...	Foma
Stepan Krylov	...	Head Bell-founder
Irina Miroshnichenko	...	Mary Magdalene
Bolot Beyshenaliyev	...	Tatar Khan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
K. Aleksandrov
S. Bardin
E. Borisovsky
I. Bykov
Igor Donskoy	...	Christ
Nikolai Glazkov	...	Efim
Vladimir Guskov		(as Vova Guskov)
Nikolai Kutuzov		(as N. Kutuzov)
I. Loskoy
B. Matysik
Anatoli Obukhov
Tamara Ogorodnikova	...	Mother of Jesus
Dmitri Orlovsky	...	Old Stonemason
G. Pokorsky
P. Radolitskaya
Muratbek Ryskulov		(as M. Ryskulov)
G. Sachevsko
Nelly Snegina	...	Marfa (as N. Snegina)
Aleksandr Titov
Vladimir Titov		(as Volodya Titov)
Vyacheslav Tsaryov		(as Slava Tsarev)
A. Umuraliyev
Vasili Vasilyev		(as Vasya Vasilyev)
Vladimir Volkov
Zinaida Vorkul
N. Vykov

Directed by
Andrey Tarkovskiy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Andrey Konchalovskiy		(as Andrey Mikhalkov-Konchalovskiy)
Andrey Tarkovskiy

Produced by
Tamara Ogorodnikova	....	producer (as T. Ogorodnikova)

Original Music by
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

Cinematography by
Vadim Yusov

Film Editing by
Lyudmila Feiginova
Olga Shevkunenko		(as O. Shevkunenko)
Tatyana Yegorychyova		(as T. Yegorychyova)

Production Design by
Yevgeni Chernyayev
Ippolit Novoderyozhkin
Sergei Voronkov

Costume Design by
Maya Abar-Baranovskaya		(as M. Abar-Baranovskaya)
Lidiya Novi

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bagrat Oganesyan	....	assistant director (as B. Oganesyan)

Sound Department
Inna Zelentsova	....	sound

Special Effects by
Pavel Safonov	....	special effects

Music Department
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov	....	conductor

Production Companies

• Mosfilm

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (19??) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Sovexportfilm (19??) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1973) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Another World Entertainment (2008) (Denmark) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Cifrovoy Element (2010) (Russia) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Empresa Hispanoamericana de Video (EHV) (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• General Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Moskwood Media (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• RUSCICO (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Xenon Entertainment Group (1993) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Kinostudiya "Mosfilm"  production unit

Also Known As:

"Andrey Rublyov" - Soviet Union (original title)

Runtime:

Soviet Union:165 min (re-edited version) | Soviet Union:186 min (re-edited version) | UK:183 min (2004 re-release) | 205 min (original length) | UK:145 min (UK version) | Russia:183 min (Blu-ray)

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian | Italian | Tatar

Color:

Color (Sovcolor) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12 | UK:12 (re-rating) (1991) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2004) | UK:AA (original rating) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Andronnikov Monastery, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Mosfilm

Trivia:

For the scene where the cow is on fire, it was covered in asbestos, which protected it from actually being burned. But for the scene where the horse falls down the stairs, it was shot in the head. The crew acquired the horse from a slaughterhouse, and it was going to be shot the next day, so they decided to use it for the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Rublev comments that nothing is more terrible than snow falling in a temple, some of it lands on Durochka's hair and is clearly a white feather.

Quotes:

Andrei Rublyov:You just spoke of Jesus. Perhaps he was born and crucified to reconcile God and man. Jesus came from God, so he is all-powerful. And if He died on the cross it was predetermined and His crucifixion and death were God's will. That would have aroused hatred not in those that crucified him but in those that loved him if they had been near him at that moment...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Episode #1.8" (2011)

The Greatest Movie Ever Made

"Andrei Rublev" is not merely my favourite all-time film; it transcends such pat, by-the-numbers praise. I have seen "Andrei Rublev" three times (twice on the big screen), at three very different points in my life. Each viewing, it has spoken eloquently and directly, has immersed and fascinated me. And has moved me with superlative skill and force. Other great movies have entertained me, inspired me, made me think; only "Rublev" has palpably altered my outlook on life.

Andrei Rublev was a medieval Russian iconographer; the film chronicles his struggle to maintain faith and artistry in a world of immeasurable cruelty and suffering. Rather than give us a crackerjack plot line with all the proper scene climaxes & paradigm shifts, director Tarkovsky presents us with a world in which we must immerse ourselves; once we are inside, we are confronted with rigorous pain and profound triumph. The movie is divided into chapters; the final one, involving an orphaned bell-maker's son, is a stunning film-within-a-film that provides a microcosm of the whole movie. That section, if it stood alone, would be my all-time favourite film.

Be warned: "Andrei Rublev" is SLOW. You have to slide into it; it's not a flick which dazzles, it is a world which beguiles, and which demands to be inhabited. Also, there are EXTREMELY difficult scenes to watch--torture and bloodshed abounds. Watching the Tartar attack on a Russian town is the most painful experience I've ever had--not just in a cinema, but in life.

For those willing to make the gruelling trek, however, "Andrei Rublev" is an inspiring, life-affecting experience. Created under an oppressive Soviet regime (which banned the film for years, recognizing its symbolic commentary on 20th-century Soviet government), the film shows how life can be valuable and even joyful, no matter how much suffering stands in the way.

Especially recommended for Tarkovsky fans, Dostoevsky fans, fans of medieval art, and anyone grappling with questions about suffering and human expression.