The Mirror (1975)
"Zerkalo" (original title)

A man in his forties is going to die and remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments but things that also tell the story of all the Russian nation...

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky

Writers:

Aleksandr Misharin, Andrei Tarkovsky,

Stars:

Margarita Terekhova, Oleg Yankovskiy, Filipp Yankovsky

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Margarita Terekhova	...	Natalya / Maroussia - the Mother
Oleg Yankovskiy	...	The Father
Filipp Yankovsky	...	Aleksei - 5-years-old
Ignat Daniltsev	...	Ignat / Aleksei - 12-year-old
Nikolay Grinko	...	Printery Director
Alla Demidova	...	Lisa
Yuriy Nazarov	...	Military trainer
Anatoliy Solonitsyn	...	Forensic doctor
Larisa Tarkovskaya	...	Nadezha - Mother of 12-y-o Alexei
Tamara Ogorodnikova	...	Nanny / Neighbour / Strange woman at the tea table
Yuri Sventisov	...	Yuri Zhary
Tamara Reshetnikova
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy	...	Aleksei (voice)
Arseni Tarkovsky	...	Father (voice)
E. Del Bosque	...	A Spaniard

Storyline

The director mixes flashbacks, historical footage and original poetry to illustrate the reminiscences of a dying man about his childhood during World War II, adolescence, and a painful divorce in his family. The story interweaves reflections about Russian history and society.

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Plot Keywords:

childhood | poetry | flashback | divorce | russian history | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian Spanish

Release Date:

7 March 1975 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

The Mirror

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

RUR 622,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Initially Tarkovsky considered Alla Demidova and Swedish actress Bibi Andersson for the role of the mother. In the end Margarita Terekhova was chosen.

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Goofs

In the first scene, in which stutterer Yuri Zhary is being hypnotized, a shadow of the boom mic is prominently visible on the wall behind him. However, because this is clearly supposed to be a recreation of a TV broadcast, it appears to be a intentional error.

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Quotes

Father: It seems to make me return to the place, poignantly dear to my heart, where my grandfathers house used to be in which i was born 40 years ago right on the dinner table. Each time i try to enter it, something prevents me from doing that. I see this dream again and again. And when i see those walls made of logs and the dark entrence, even in my dream i become aware that I'm only dreaming it. And the overwhelming joy is clouded by anticipation of awakening. At times something happens and i stop ...

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Connections

Referenced in Im Laboratorium des Doktor von Trier: Zurück zur Magie des Kinos (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Matthäuspassion - BWV 244"
Composed by Johan Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Visual beauty made indelible and significant

Has there ever been a more visually beautiful film than this one? That's a rhetorical question... one that only viewing it can answer.

To try to follow it as an ordinary narrative is to lose its poetic ambience...I let it wash over me like glorious music. We are so accustomed to "and then...and then" that our minds can follow as logic, that we tend to dismiss the affect that the visual image itself can have on our minds, hearts and souls. Tarkovsky is a poet...and for me this is his richest, most satisfying film of all. Included are film clips from WW 2, the Spanish Civil War, poetry by the director's father.

It does help to know that the same actress (Margarita Terekhova) plays the dying man's wife and his mother...as he allows his memory to shift over his life.

The only other director I can think of who understands the visual language of film and its significance as beautifully as Tarkovsky is Terence Malick.

Zerkalo is haunting and uplifting even as we know the "hero" is dying. Death, after all, is an intrinsic part of life.