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 #185 | 2 wins & 1 nomination.

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 | science versus spirituality | professor | ringing phone | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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:

RUR 6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,540, 5 May 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$234,723, 14 July 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm, Vtoroe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Sovcolor) Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many movie experts and fans have theorized that the movie is based on The Wizard of Oz (1939), since both switch from sepia tones to full color as soon as the mythical place (Oz and the Zone) is reached. Both films also feature a destination where wishes may be granted. Director Andrei Tarkovsky has never spoken out about these similarities. About the nature of the Zone, he said in 1979 that "the viewer may doubt the existence of the Zone, regard it as myth or a joke... or even as something made up by our hero".

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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

Referenced in The Dark Recess (2019)

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Soundtracks

La Marseillaise
Written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

User Reviews

Incredible

This movie is so strange. When i saw it, i realized that it was beautiful, that it was really good. but what really fascinates me is that some of the pictures and emotions i experienced in the movie keep reappearing afterwards. They haunt me so to say and i've got an incredible urge to watch the movie again. I've never experienced this so vividly and uncontrollable. Normally it's you who "summon" the pictures and feelings from the movie when you find cues (feelings/pictures) to it in your environment.

But this movie just keeps appearing without no obvious reason at all, filling you with feelings and beautiful images out of the blue.

See it and make up your own mind, could be i'm just on the verge of going mad after all ;)