Offret (1986)

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky

Writer:

Andrei Tarkovsky (screenplay)

Release Date:

November 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Alexander, a journalist and former actor and philosopher, tells his little son how worried he is about the lack of spirituality of modern mankind...

Plot Keywords:

Spirituality | Dream | Psychological Drama | Hope | Tree

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Erland Josephson	...	Alexander
Susan Fleetwood	...	Adelaide
Tommy Kjellqvist	...	Little Man
Allan Edwall	...	Otto
Guðrún Gísladóttir	...	Maria (as Gudún S. Gísladóttir)
Sven Wollter	...	Victor
Valérie Mairesse	...	Julia
Filippa Franzén	...	Marta
Per Källman	...	Ambulansförare
Tommy Nordahl	...	Ambulansförare
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tintin Anderzon	...	(voice)
Helena Brodin	...	(voice)
Birgit Carlstén	...	(voice)
Jane Friedmann	...	(voice)
Martin Lindström	...	(voice)
Jan-Olof Strandberg	...	(voice)

Directed by
Andrei Tarkovsky		(as Andrei Tarkovskij)

Writing credits
Andrei Tarkovsky		(screenplay)

Produced by
Anna-Lena Wibom	....	producer: Svenska Filminstitutet

Cinematography by
Sven Nykvist

Film Editing by
Michal Leszczylowski
Andrei Tarkovsky		(as Andrei Tarkovskij)

Casting by
Claire Denis
Priscilla John
Françoise Menidrey

Production Design by
Anna Asp

Costume Design by
Inger Pehrsson

Makeup Department
Florence Fouquier D'Herouel	....	hair stylist (as Florence Fouquier)
Florence Fouquier D'Herouel	....	makeup artist (as Florence Fouquier)
Kjell Gustavsson	....	hair stylist
Kjell Gustavsson	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Katinka Faragó	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kerstin Eriksdotter	....	assistant director
Michal Leszczylowski	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Jan Andersson	....	property master
Gunilla Bandolin	....	painter
Jan Eriksson	....	carpenter
Teddy Holm	....	painter
Cecilia Iversen	....	assistant art director
Harry Klava	....	construction coordinator
Kaj Larsen	....	construction manager
Martti Malkamaa	....	carpenter
Percy Nilsson	....	head carpenter
Rolf Persson	....	head painter
Bengt Svedberg	....	painter

Sound Department
Christin Loman	....	sound mixer
Bo Persson	....	sound recordist
Willie Peterson-Berger	....	sound recordist (as Wille Peterson-Berger)
Owe Svensson	....	sound mixer
Owe Svensson	....	sound
Lasse Ulander	....	sound recordist (as Lars Ulander)

Special Effects by
Lars Höglund	....	special effects
Lars Palmquist	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniel Bergman	....	key grip
Arne Carlsson	....	still photographer
Ocki Hansson	....	grip
Kent Högberg	....	electrician
Lars Karlsson	....	assistant camera (as Lasse Karlsson)
Dan Myhrman	....	assistant camera
Hasse Wallin	....	electrician (as Hans Wallin)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carina Dalunde	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Henri Colpi	....	consulting editor
Henri Colpi	....	supervising editor
Nils Melander	....	color timer

Music Department
Wolfgang Gönnenwein	....	conductor: "Erbarme' dich, mein Gott"

Other crew
China Åhlander	....	apprentice
Aina Bellis	....	unit publicist
Layla Alexander Garrett	....	interpreter
Agneta Jansson	....	production assistant
Puck Jansson	....	caterer
Inger Johansson	....	unit publicist
Göran Lindberg	....	location manager
Lars-Olof Löthwall	....	unit publicist
Andrei Nekrasov	....	translator
Anne von Sydow	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Henri Colpi	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)
• Argos Films
• Film Four International (in collaboration with)
• Josephson & Nykvist HB (in collaboration with)
• Sveriges Television (SVT) (in collaboration with) (as Sveriges Television/SVT2)
• Sandrews (in collaboration with) (as Sandrews Film & Teater AB)

Distributors

• Sandrew (1986) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Argos Films (1986) (France) (theatrical)
• Arte Vidéo (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• Orion Classics (1986) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Kinokuniya (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Pole Vídeo Comunicações Ltda. (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1999) (Sweden) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Farago Film  design studio (as Faragó Film AB)
• Ministère de la Culture de la Republique Française  special thanks (as Franska Kulturministeriet)

Also Known As:

Le sacrifice (France)
The Sacrifice
The Witch (Sweden) (working title)

Runtime:

149 min

Country:

Sweden | UK | France

Language:

Swedish | French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Italy:T | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (1992 re-rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | UK:15 (original rating) | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Filmhusateljéerna, Filmhuset, Svenska Filminstitutet, Gärdet, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)

Trivia:

The part where Alexanders tells Little Man about when they found their house, is actually the true story of how Andrei Tarkovsky and his wife, Larisa Tarkovskya, found their house in the USSR.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[sub-titled]
Alexander: Come here and give me a hand, my boy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Long-Distance Runners: A Cross-Cultural Love Story (2009)

Offret

This is the best movie I have seen so far. I watch it again about once or twice a year, like a ritual or an annual holiday I would be taking into levels of consciousness where the mind is not really required. I do not understand, and I do not feel like I have to, it is secondary. I feel touched like only pure and silent beauty can touch me, or bliss. It is obviously created around an idea of sacrifice, being both a gift to others but also to ourselves. By offering his life in order to save his family, his grandson and the world, the main character is also giving a true meaning to his own life that had mostly been of artificiality, questionings and shallowness. Every person who enters the house, he starts seeing under a deeper if not more expressionistic light... And when he meets with magic (while making love with the witch) he creates the bridge that will take him from reality into mystery. The whole film is as breathtaking and self-sufficient as a painting, or even more so, a Russian icon. It is ageless. I suppose it will remain with me for my entire life. I consider it Tarkovsky's last will, but even more so a piece of the Human Heritage that should be protected and kept accessible for future generation.