Stalker (1979)

A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky

Writers:

Arkadiy Strugatskiy (novel), Boris Strugatskiy (novel)

Stars:

Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn

Top Rated Movies #171 | 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Alisa Freyndlikh	...	Zhena Stalkera
Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy	...	Stalker
Anatoliy Solonitsyn	...	Pisatel
Nikolay Grinko	...	Professor
Natalya Abramova	...	Marta, doch Stalkera (as Natasha Abramova)
Faime Jurno	...	Sobesednitsa Pisatelya (as F. Yurna)
E. Kostin	...	Lyuger, khozyain kafe
Raymo Rendi	...	Patrulnyy politseyskiy (as R. Rendi)

Storyline

In a small, unnamed country there is an area called the Zone. It is apparently inhabited by aliens and contains the Room, where in it is believed wishes are granted. The government has declared The Zone a no-go area and have sealed off the area with barbed wire and border guards. However, this has not stopped people from attempting to enter the Zone. We follow one such party, made up of a writer, who wants to use the experience as inspiration for his writing, and a professor, who wants to research the Zone for scientific purposes. Their guide is a man to whom the Zone is everything, the Stalker.

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Plot Keywords:

guide | writer | professor | ringing phone | phone ringing | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

To allow changes to the color tone of a long strip of film over an extended take, director Andrei Tarkovsky built a long film processing vat which had different temperatures along the way.

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Goofs

At about 23 minutes, when Stalker, writer and professor are driving in their car they have to hide for a motorcyclist. In the scene the motorcyclist comes from the right. From an opposite angle of view, he still comes from the right, where it should have been from the left.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Stalker's Wife: [sub-titled from Russian] Why did you take my watch?

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Connections

Featured in Gear (2017)

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Soundtracks

An die Freude
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

Mesmerizing, intelligent and haunting …yet overlong and inconsistent

Stalker (1979)***½ Stalker is rich, spiritual and contemplative journey through the fantastic inner world of human's hope, desire, disillusions and believes. Main characters, Writer (as incarnation of irrational, imaginative and emotional aspects of our nature or subconsciousness) and Scientist (rational, logic forces or consciousness) are guided by Stalker (symbolizing our desire, will and everlasting search of meaning) to the mysterious Zone (which may represent all our spiritual goals, meanings, struggles to achieve them and barriers in our path). Breathtaking and mesmerizing images and sounds, witty dialog and strong concept are the major virtues of this feature. Writer's monologues are among the most meaningful, thought-provoking and spiritual moments I ever experienced in any art. But the movie is overlong losing its powerful initial momentum and becoming inconsistent in it's final message (by final I don't mean last in chronology but overall). Tarkovsky's earlier SF drama "Solaris" is more structured and fully developed. Nevertheless, Stalker is an outstanding piece of art movie that puts its director among the few true cinema masters. Rating: 8.5/10

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

17 April 1980 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Stalker

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

RUR6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,537, 15 September 2002

Gross USA:

$292,049

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$303,815

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm, Vtoroe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1