The Sacrifice Reviews

• FIVE STARS FOR THE FILM, THREE FOR THIS DVD

  
  By A2WAJWFB6ZPEGW on 2000-09-05
  THE SACRIFICE is a true work of art. It is probably the most beautiful film by the cinematic poet Andrey Tarkovsky. It is also the most accessible among his works: unlike his films prior to this one, the plot of THE SACRIFICE itself is quite simple and easy to catch. A retired actor- journalist-author (some kind of an intellectual superman) hero living in a beautiful sea-shore house suddenly faces the end of the world: a nuclear war. What can he do to stop it? He prays to God, he who never believed in God before, and offers himself to be the sacrifice for saving the world as he knows, a world which for the first time, he realises how much he loves it.

  The plot is simple, but its implication is complex. One who believes in God and the absolute love he represents can see this as a story of miracle. An atheist can see this as all being a hallucination of a repressed old man. Tarkovsky makes the film in a way that you can interpret it in whatever way you want. But in whichever way you see it, the film will lead you to our fundamental question; why we live? What is the meaning of our life? How we can achieve the state in which we can say when we face eternity, "I understood the meaning of my life and I fulfilled it"?

  THE SACRIFICE was shot beautifully by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, one of the greatest master in the art of creating filmic images, whose talent is perfectly in match with Tarkovsky's narrative strategy of filling the frame with symbolism that the audience can interpret in what ever way he/her wants.

  The disappointment with this rather expensive DVD is that, the transfer fails to catch the richness of Nykvist's work, and in the case of this particular film, it really hurts because it prevent you to create your own interpretation from what the film shows. The nature plays a big role in the story, and already at the very beginning, you cannot feel the richness of the green grass by the sea, the mystery of the trees surrounding the house. Later in the film you miss the richness of the shadows, the complex texture that the lights and shadows create on a simple wall, the subtle reflection on a framed painting (a study of the Madonna by Da Vinci). It actually looks like it was made from a video tape. The yellow subtitles are also build in the images, it's not an optional subtitling and you cannot erase it. I suggest you wait for a few years if you have already seen the film, then maybe KINO will come up with a better DVD. But if you have never seen it, well... it's a must-see film.
  
  

• Thought-provoking film; great-looking DVD!

  
  By A2CV19XK9VI136 on 2000-03-14
  Kino on Video should be proud of their work releasing Tarkovsky's THE MIRROR and THE SACRIFICE on DVD. The DVD of THE SACRIFICE looks markedly superior to any version of the film available on home video. Doing a direct comparison with the old Image laserdisc, I was struck by how much better the DVD captured the film's subtle gradations of light and color, how it revealed details in the set design which I had never noticed before. For Tarkovsky this is all-important. In addition, the DVD includes a feature-length documentary on Tarkovsky which says a great deal about his working methods as a director and his thoughts on the cinema in general. If you have any interest in Tarkovsky or in film as an art form, the DVD is recommended.

  This is not to say that the film itself is perfect. I strongly believe that Tarkovsky's last two films, made in Europe (the other was the Italian co-production NOSTALGHIA), are distinctly inferior to his Russian films, especially his masterpieces ANDREI RUBLEV and THE MIRROR. The same stunning imagery is there, and there are a number of truly great moments; THE SACRIFICE has two celebrated l0-minute takes--the tree-planting and house-burning scenes--which push the cinema about as far as it can go. But there is also a certain preachiness and an implicit sense that the film is Great Art, so therefore you must sit quietly and pay attention to everything it has to tell you. Many of Alexander's speeches sound suspiciously like the more didactic moments in Tarkovsky's book-length essay SCULPTING IN TIME.

  Since it's Tarkovsky, I'm willing to listen--when I'm in the right mood--but not without a murmur of protest. His contemporary Sergei Paradjanov managed to be playful and profound at the same time, so I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. There is an underlying fundamental lack of vitality here compared to his Russian films. (Yes, I'm aware that Tarkovsky was dying of cancer when he made the film). However, under the right conditions I've found THE SACRIFICE to be a mesmerizing experience. I do urge you to see it.
  
  

• TARKOVSKY 'LIGHT'...?

  
  By A1WTYALNQNQG99 on 2003-09-26
  ...that seems to be the opinion of some reviewers. This film - Tarkovsky's final work - is certainly more accessible than his others, more straightforward in its storytelling...but there's a lot of wonderful elements involved, and it certainly doesn't deserve to be relegated to the 'minor works' category. Other reviewers have also drawn comparisons between this film and the work of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman - there is some of Bergman's 'look' to the film, perhaps because Tarkovsky chose to work with Sven Nykvist, who worked on several of Bergman's films. Even with this 'Bergmanesque' presence, this is definitely Tarkovsky's film - and if it's more accessible than some of his other works, perhaps it's a good place for someone who is unfamiliar with his work to start.

  Several of Tarkovsky's favorite themes are present in SACRIFICE - alienation, an aching emptiness of the spirit, the slighting of nature by mankind. Erland Josephson portrays Alexander, a wealthy, semi-retired writer who lives with his wife, teenage daughter and 'Little Man', his young son, in a lovely house that sits rather isolated on the seaside in Sweden. His young son is obviously his favorite, the center of his soul and existence. We see him with the little boy, planting a tree, telling him a story about devotion to duty involving a young Japanese monk and his master.

  Alexander's birthday is at hand, and his family, along with a couple of friends, makes ready to celebrate. As the group awaits dinner to be served, there is a roaring - like a low-flying jet - in the sky, followed by what appears at first to be a mild earthquake. A ceramic milk pitcher vibrates its way off a shelf, shattering on the floor - news broadcasts on the television indicate that World War III has begun. Each of the characters reacts in their own way - Alexander's wife falls to pieces and requires a sedative from their friend Victor, a doctor. Alexander is shaken as well - but he's not sure what to do. He has lost his faith several years before, and yet he finds himself begging God to reverse the horrible events unfolding on the television screen. In one of the film's most poignant moments, we see him drained of strength, falling on his knees, barely able to speak, praying with all his might. He attempts to 'strike a bargain' with God, offering to give up everything - his home, his belongings, his family...even Little Man, his beloved son, if the world can be 'put back like it was before'.

  In a conversation with his friend Otto, the postman, Alexander learns of Otto's suspicion that Maria, one of Alexander's servant girls, is a witch - and Otto suggests that if Alexander goes to Maria and sleeps with her, she has the power to reverse the horrible events. In his desperation, Alexander succumbs to Otto's suggestion - he never voices his request to Maria, but she sees the pain in his eyes (and in his actions) and takes him to her bed in an attempt, I think, simply to comfort him. This scene - like lovemaking scenes in all of Tarkovsky's films, when they occur - is photographed beautifully and tastefully. Tarkovsky never stooped to gratuitous or graphic sex or nudity. We see the couple lie down, embrace - and levitate, floating gently into the air, a lovely, tender visual rendition of the healing power of love.

  You'll have to see the film in order to find out if Alexander's efforts - in either theatre - are rewarded. I don't want to spoil anything for the potential viewer. Suffice to say that even as the film ends, the viewer is left with as many questions as answers - and that's one of the things I find so stimulating and rewarding about Tarkovsky's work. I can't give anything I've seen by this director less than five stars - and while this might not be quite on the same levels as his other films, it's still head and shoulders above the commercial films coming out of the major studios.
  
  

• Are you tough enough?

  
  By A15VEVATRLHPEN on 2005-08-23
  I read a number of the reviews on this film and felt the need to respond to the dismissive ones.
  
  Tarkovsky's films - for me The Sacrifice and Andrei Rublev are his crowning achievements (with Ivan's Childhood as the shortest and most accessible of his great films)- these films should be recognised as some of the most important works within any medium of art in the last century.
  
  So, if you want to watch a film to escape, to entertain, to work as background music to re-runs of your own psychic heritage, it is NOT advisable to get this one out one tired evening.
  
  Watching Tarko is hard work - principally aesthetic, emotional, spiritual and creative work for the individual viewer. All great art transforms our relationship with the world, and I would argue that this sort of transformation is never crucially an intellectual change. We may be confronted with ideas through Art but it is their broader resonance within our whole humanity that is the key to Art's power and importance.
  
  I have seen The Sacrifice five times over the last 15 or so years. At the beginning of the film there is the question "what is your relationship with god?"
  
  The film for me is the most personal, honest and often uncomfortable (nightmarish?) contemporary meditation on this single question. [For those fellow T-freaks out there the Director himself fronts up to this theme within the "Making of The Sacrifice" documentary - it is especially poignant in the knowledge of his approaching early death soon after the release of this film].
  
  All I can say to viewers out there that think that Tarko is just another foreign film-maker dealing in dark, overly-intellectual and pretentious symbolic imagery for mass consumption by arts students, well... I dare you to be completely open to the film.
  
  p.s. forget looking for the beginning, middle and end - that western over-obsession with narrative - the line of thought that tells the audience when to cry, clap or stand-up at the "end." Yes, forget for once a focus on events - instead, look, listen, taste, touch and smell that thing the English language calls Art.
  
  Are you tough enough?
  
  

• In the beginning was the word - the search for God

  
  By AH1M9A3JTV7C3 on 2004-05-10
  If you are hooked on films made by former advertising film makers or have an attention span limited to a one minute commercial, read no further. And don't buy this film. But if you yearn for the occasional silence, excepting sounds of nature, the occasional squeak of a cupboard door easing closed, the rustle of wind through leaves, the peculiar crackle of fire, then The Sacrifice may be your film. There is some music as well, but not the sounds of sweeping violins, rather the dramatic and eerie and mournful sound of a Japanese flute. The film is dedicated to the film maker's son "with hope and confidence" yet deals with the end of the world as it is under nuclear attack. Beginning and ending with the young seven year old son of the protaganist planting then watering a lone tree, the film deals with the machinations of a family, its affairs, desires, disappointments and how it reacts to the catastrophic news of nuclear war. The lingering camera movements are to me rivetting as are the use of mirrors. It is a meditative thought provoking film which I found immensely moving.
  
  
• Beyond words...
  By on 2001-02-25
  When I first encountered Tarkovsky I had no idea what to expect, and after seeing one of his films for the first time I could only regret that I hadn't discovered him sooner. Tarkovsky successfully creates what so many directors have attempted and what the audience unknowingly has been longing for. He proves that film is an artform, not merely a form of popular entertainment or a slightly glorified version of the same. I am a fan of many great directors, but I have to say I place Tarkovsky at the top. Even Bergman is humbled by Tarkovsky's work, as the liner notes to ANDREI RUBLEV (Criterion Collection) illustrate.

  THE SACRIFICE is and incredible film, an amazingly enthralling sequence of a man's journey in search of spirituality. For this, his final masterpiece (for my money, all his pictures were masterpieces) he goes to Sweden, to the island Gotland (where Ingmar Bergman's estate also happens to be) and uses many of Sweden's finest actors, including Bergman's close friend Erland Josephsson, who also performs brilliantly in NOSTALGHIA. The choice of using cinematographer Sven Nykvist pushes one to believe that Bergman may have been involved in some corner of the making of this film.

  Like all of Tarkovsky's films, THE SACRIFICE is simply gorgeous to watch. Every shot is astounding, each frame a perfect painting. The actors are superb, in particular Erland Josephsson who brings a certain grounded, earthy feel to a somewhat unrealistic and supernatural aura.

  Everything in this film appeals to me, from the music and the meticulously constructed shots to the gradual saturation of colors and awe-inspiring acting. Being Swedish, I might add that the translation is one of the better ones I've seen.

  The DVD features include the documentary DIRECTED BY ANDREI TARKOVSKY, which not only provides an in-depth look behind the scenes of the making of THE SACRIFICE, but also lets us take a peek within Tarkovsky's mind and life. This documentary, by itself, deserves a 5-star rating.

  Any of Tarkovsky's films will astound you. It is just a pity that only a select few are available on DVD. In addition to THE SACRIFICE, NOSTALGHIA and THE MIRROR are both available from Kino. And the recent release of ANDREI RUBLEV from the Criterion people is a much welcomed appreciated addition to the collection.

  Now we wait for rest to follow...
  
  

• A mysterious and alluring final film by Andrei Tarkovsky.
  By on 1999-07-27
  Of all the films of Andrei Tarkovsky (Stalker, Solaris, Mirror, Andrei Rublev, etc.) I always come back to this one. I find it difficult to separate the images from the ideas presented (sometimes the effect lasts for days after viewing). That a man could/would make a Faustian bargain to save his family, the world, from utter destruction and then follow through... is it madness? Is any of it real? A beautiful film that works on many levels simultaneously. Patience is a virtue when viewing... but the rewards are great. Watch carefully... the postman in the film is an homage to filmmaker Jacques Tati (pre-Hulot).
  
  
• Beyond my measure
  By A3KOFNYUUI3YW0 on 2002-10-20
  Much like the literature of James Joyce, the filmmaking of Andery Tarkovsky is in my opinion, beyond measure of good or bad, points or grades.
  In truth, I am not the right person to grade this film, deliver it a rightful verdict or call it rewarding or degrading words. I am not a film scholar, and though a great fan of Tarkovsky having seen all his released films, I can not give this film the words I truly deserves.
  Holding this in mind, I still proceed.

  The one thing that troubles me when I observe, view and think about anything that director Tarkovsky produced, is whether or not I should call it film / movie, or art.

  "The Sacrifice", his last - and most artful - project is, as all film by Tarkovsky, about the slowest and most long drawn one can choose to watch, thus making it a film that is not aimed at a populist audience. This is not a question of plot, it is a question of and cinematography, acting in line and in cohesion with environment, Nykvist's photography (some of the best he ever produced) and individuals, together making, art.
  If this scares You, remember what You have read and know that this might not be a film for everyone.
  If You know Tarkovsky You know what this "film" is all about, but remember to keep an open mind. It is one of those film that deserves multiple observations before You lay your preliminary verdict.

  "The Sacrifice" is not among the best films I have seen, but I can assure you that it is one, if not the most, beautiful. It is beyond points and grades, being that one seldom grades pieces of art.
  
  

• Incredible
  By A3VGFJD2GCL1QB on 2000-06-16
  This is Andrei Tarkovsky's last film. He knew when he was making it that this would be his last, and this film more than any other is proof of what Tarkovsky said (a good film should not be entertaining). This film moves at a very slow pace, but this allows for a deep examination of the characters. The events in the film are not shown through special effects, or even any real visuals at all. Each event is instead talked about by the characters, thereby telling us what happened.

  The story invovles a man deciding to offer himself as a sacrifice ("The Sacrifice") in order to save humankind. Being that this is Tarkovsky's final film, it is deeply personal and at times painful to watch. The film is also very difficult to sit through at times. It runs at just under 2 1/2 hours and it's mostly made up of the characters' dialogue and silence. Although the film is better when watched all at once, it's hard. Most people will probably have to watch it over a longer period of time, watching only small bits at a time. This is a brilliant and incredible film and it's worthy of being Tarkovsky's last film.

  Anyone who is unfamiliar with Andrei Tarkovsky should first watch "Solaris" and "Stalker" to slowly work their way up to "The Sacrifice." You may not understand his work if you begin with this film.
  
  

• The best made film I've ever seen.
  By on 1999-09-22
  Tarkovsky knew this to be his last film, and he made it to last a long, long time. There may be better stories, but no film I have ever seen puts story, cinematography, deeply talented actors, subject matter, and scenery in one package as well.

  For example, the opening scene revolves around a discussion of Nietzshe, has no "cuts" (is unedited) for about 15 minutes, and yet is visually, comedically, and substantively gripping. You can't experience the film's full effect on video (for example, what film/colorization does he move to in the middle, post-war sequence?). But you probably can't enjoy and study this gem over and over any other way. It is a film about reflection, violence, eternity, and life. It both contains and is a miracle.
  
  

• Masterpiece
  By A3QWV9O21VKOT4 on 2003-08-27
  I am continually amazed at the huge variation in people's tastes. Someone can give a 1 star rating and the next a 5 star rating for the same film. I can be touched by a film so deeply and yet the person sitting next to me feels nothing. I guess it proves how different we all are. "The Sacrifice" touched me. I would rank it amongst the best 5 films I have ever seen. The film is mysteriuos, haunting, slow paced, impecably filmed and acted. So many images remain in my mind. The woman who breaks down and has to be pacified by a tranquilizer, the haunting music associated with the witch that permeates throughout the movie, the long take as the house is burned etc etc. This is a truly great masterpiece. What a shame Tarkovsky died so young.
  
  
• My Favorite Andrei Tarkovsky Film!
  By A3C6X0DAM87GN4 on 2003-06-07
  Cinema has had it's share of powerful directors. On that list goes Ingmar Bergman, Luchino Visconti, Bernardo Bertolucci, Martin Scorsese, Akira Kurosawa, and without little doubt the director of this film, Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky is a filmmaker who always make me feel dumb. I always feel he is saying something important, but, I'm just not smart enough to grasp what it is he is saying. I think he is a first rate story-teller. His films deal with strong emotions. But,of all of Tarkovsky's films this one is my favorite. Not only is it my favorite of Tarkovsky's films, it is also of the greatest films I've ever seen. And one of my "top 10" favorites. If there was only one Tarkovsky film I was allowed to watch over and over it would be "The Sacrifice", his final film.

  Much of this movie will not feel like a Tarkovsky film. It has elements of Ingmar Bergman. Perhaps that's why I enjoy it so much. But right from the very first shot. From the first words of dialogue. From the way the camera was set-up, everything just suggested Bergman to me. And I don't say this as a fault. "The Sacrifice" is a powerful moving film. That doesn't seem preachy or pretenious. It's emotions seem sincere. We connect with the characters.

  "The Sacrifice" tells the story of a man (Erland Josephson) who lives with his son and wife. Josephson is the kind of man who think society is in deep trouble. We are headed in a terrible direction. On the day of his birthday something awful happens. According to Josephson the beginning of WW3 has started. A nuclear threat has hit and Josephson feels it is now up to him the ultimate sacrifice to save his family and friends.

  "The Sacrifice" has so many sterling moments. So many moments that boast such power. Right now I am thinking of a scene dealing with Alexander (Erland Josephson) prays to God. The scene reminds me of the scene in "The Seventh Seal" where Max von Sydow asks God to show himself. Both scenes show man helpless turning to God for help. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist and Tarkovsky are able to capture such tenderness. There is a very intimate and personal tone played throughout the movie.

  Many may find to film hard to watch. They will say it moves to slow. That the movie doesn't seem to be about anything. It's just plain boring. But if you would only give the movie a chance you'll see this is one powerful absorbing film. It may even make some ask questions about themselves. For instance, would you offer the same sacrifice? As I said before, I feel this is Andrei Tarkovsky's best film. Please make an effort to see it.

  Bottom-line: One of the greatest films I've ever seen. Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece. There are only a few films where the human condition has been shown as powerful.
  
  

• Wait for another transfer!!
  By A1YHRJBM52QBQS on 2003-05-22
  I gave this 5 stars because the movie is a masterpiece. However, nostalghia.com, a devoted Tarkovsky site, has reported some serious flaws with the transfer:

  The transfer of Sacrifice is less than vibrant, and there is a serious flaw in color balance starting at Ch3/3:20 (not seen in the corresponding sequence in the later documentary). Notice also typo on cover: "Tarkosvky".

  I hope that Kino re-releases this, or another company, as it needs to appear in the way Tarkovsky intended!
  
  

• A TRANSCENDENT, HYPNOTIC MASTEREPIECE
  By A3H9JSM1SUTE4O on 2006-02-13
  In decades of movie going and collecting, only a few films keep coming to mind at unexpected moments. For me, this is what great art does; that is, it becomes a part of one's experience and not just a momentary diversion.
  
  THE SACRIFICE is such a film. It touches on the most fundamental questions of being a human in our post-modern world. And it does it with extraordinary grace and a sublime, haunting, beauty. For me, it is a transcendent and hypnotic masterpiece. What cinema aspires to but seldom achieves.
  
  To miss the point of this film, as some reviewers have, or to call it sophomoric, as others do, is to admit one's own inability to consider that life itself may hold a greater meaning and that we are more than an accidental fluke in a cold, uncaring universe.
  
  This film dares to use its considerable art to challenge us like a zen koan and a prayer. It is a meditation on what it means to be fully human and mortal and moral. It asks us to wonder at the unknown and it weeps that we are prisoners of our humanity -- and that we hold the fate of our planet in our hands.
  
  All this sounds kind of pretentious, I know, but this magnificent yet simple film works on a higher level than most movies. It's not easily categorized. But on a big screen, I was mesmerized by the extraordinary cinematography and equally transported by the subtle ideas. It was a profound and provoactive movie going experience that I didn't expect and one that has remained vivid as the years pass.
  
  
• Tarkovsky goes Bergmanesque
  By A7OBFVHNJGI2A on 2002-11-08
  Expatriate Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky recruits Ingmar Bergman's production crew (including, most notably, his cinematographer) and invades the island of Faro, his old stomping ground, to produce a film that may actually go Bergman one better in terms of meditative tone.

  This film established Tarkovsky as a master of the long take; I think the average shot length in this film is a little over two minutes. To give you an idea of how unusual this is, most films have an average shot length of less than ten seconds. There are no shot/reverse-shot cuts in _The Sacrifice_.

  Many directors believe that the audience will grow restless unless their frame of reference constantly shifts. But with Tarkovsky, the longer you look, the more you see. A masterpiece.

  I'm not so impressed with the one extra, the documentary _Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky_. It's too long -- in a bad way -- and not half as interesting as the similarly themed _Une Journee d'Andrei Arsenevich_. If you want to see Tarkovsky in action as a filmmaker, see _Journee_.
  
  

• Master Piece of Philosophical Art
  By AWWZEXJ2X5472 on 2000-04-09
  This is an unforgetable movie for a life time to me. Master piece of Art! Philosophical! Touching!
  
  
• What's left out
  By A2DFM1TVTOS6RH on 2002-02-20
  I own this one on VHS and DVD, plus - saw the movie on the big screen when it was released back in 1986. Not going to waste your time describing the main feature - the Sacrifice. All other reviewers already did it justice. What I found astonishing was the freebee only available on DVD - the Sculpting in Time. If this DVD was sold 5 times as expensive without the featured Sacrifice - I still would have bought it just because of the added documentary! Don't get me wrong - the Sacrifice is clearly a masterpiece, there is no doubt about that! The lenghty addition, though, shows Tarkovsky in action - working with the actors and the crew. What came as a complete shock to me was that almost all of the thoroughly dogmatized, analyzed and explained "jewels of genious directing" - as one of the Figaro critics had put it, were pure improvisations! You can actually see Tarkovsky making it up (with a Swedish translator) as he went. Excellent interviews - with him and his wife (shot separately). You will definitely enjoy the great maestro screaming some extreme Russian obscenities (untranslated, of course) when the ambulance driver takes poor Erland Josephson in the wrong direction; or when the second camera power goes out while the house was burning to ashes in the very last scene - can't shoot it twice! Tarkovsky did not agree to an alternative ending and was about to proclaim the movie a failure. In the end, as it turned out, the scene was shot for the second time - the way he wanted it. The house was re-built for him. Some breath-taking last scenes shot in the hospital, on his death bed.
  Making it short - don't miss out on this one - if you are a real Tarkovsky fan, of course!
  
  
• The healthy pain of the nostalgia !
  By A16CZRQL23NOIW on 2004-09-14
  The word and the silence. The last opus of Tarkovsky . In Sacrifice , argument and form , technique and style are joined so perfectly that challenge all kind of viewers. Its intimate fascination is quiet and in contrast with the easy cinema , superficial so fashion , demands a contemplative attitude , to be understood justly .
  The first shots with the dying tree symbolizes the painful spiritual state of the contemporanean civilization . Tarkovsky applies in this moment what you might be call the little stage of the world , with characters who are at the same time real and symbolic . Adelaide is an unsatisfied woman married in a convenience marriage . Victor is the disenchant scientist with clear echoes of Stalker -1979- (the previous film to Nostalgia) and Martha , the blossom girl lost in her own narcissism.
  When the atomic attack occurs , Tarkovsky sets his characters in the edge of the knife . Hysteria and terror oppose to desperation . Alexander breaks his inner barriers and he is opened to the trascendence . These are two times of biblical references .
  Finally you have to keep your word and the holocaust will come . Bitter metaphor : Tarkovsky seems to revel us there is no place for the trascendentalism in the present world.
  But the last sequence is loaded with a deep sense of redemption . The child recovers the language and stood in front of the dying tree he begins to irrigate it with the inquiring statement : In the ancient times the verb was , and with the Bach music ( Mattheus Passion ) the camera climbs the tree and links with Leonard painting , the true icon od adoration and offering .
  Tarkovsky is back in this way to his goal and the method of all his artistic and religious cosmovision.
  Andrei Tarkovsky ( born April 4 1932) this superb and talented filmmaker, died In Paris ( December 29 1986 ) and the film was dedicated to his son Aliosha.
  This film won the posthumous Ecumenic Prize in Cannes .
  
  
  
• Is there hope for mankind? Visually stunning and profound meditation on faith, doubt, love, deceit, war, madness and redemption
  By AGVWTYW0ULXHT on 2010-01-14
  On the morning of his birthday, Alexander takes his young son ("little man") for a walk and plants a tree. It is no ordinary tree, but a tall dried out sprawling limb, supported by stones. Alexander tells his son that a single act, repeated daily, can change the world, and tells him the story of a monk who brought a tree to life by his daily watering and devotion. Events that unfold later that evening, raising the specter of a nuclear holocaust, suggest the possibility there won't be time to carry out any such plans. Alexander finds himself faced with a choice. Is he willing to make a leap of faith, a Faustian bargain - with God, perhaps? - to save his family?
  
  Andrei Tarkovksy's final film, completed from his death bed as he died from lung cancer, is perhaps his most philosophically complex, and shows him at the height of his powers as a filmmaker. With cinematographer Sven Nykvist, the Ingmar Bergman favorite, Tarkovsky created some remarkably subtle and beautiful and provocative imagery, that cannot help but unsettle the viewer, and raise questions about the relative merits of intellect and conviction, of individuality and community, of realism and superstition. Like his previous two films, Stalker and Nostalghia, the film focuses on a troubled individual at the crossroads, doubting the moral validity of his life, and then faced with a choice to either act upon faith, where the task appears outwardly absurd but may make all the difference, or to refuse and rest secure in doubt and uncertainty.
  
  The film looks good in this dvd release, though as others have noted the colors seem a bit muted and shadow details are lost, especially inside. I have seen this twice projected from a 35mm print and even where the print I saw was somewhat damaged I remember it to have been more vibrant in the color scenes and more detailed in black and white. I understand there are better dvd transfers of this film available elsewhere (notably the Swedish version), but this is much better than the older VHS version and as good as it is likely to get in the United States unless Criterion is able to take it on (there are rumors), and even in this version it's hard to miss the power of the visuals and the richness of the ideas raised by the film. One nice bonus included with the Kino version (this one) is the very fine documentary "Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky" that reveals a good deal about his filmmaking process as it covers his work making "The Sacrifice" - and includes several of his personal thoughts on cinema as Brian Cox reads passages from Tarkovsky's Sculpting in Time. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Attention: this film requires you to think
  By A10ODOKA4AG929 on 2007-04-16
  There is no simple answer, no simple review or "reading" of this film which can be proven to be correct. Indeed, this film requires you to think and provide your own answers. All great works of art are like this, I think.
  
  Background information is very important in this case: Tarkovsky was dying of cancer while he shot this film. He completed the shooting, but did not live to see the final copy.
  
  Be prepared to devote some time and energy in order to appreciate was this film has to offer.
  
  
  
  
• Nothing to say
  By A1LPGYR25I1EOY on 2003-05-02
  Like an earlier reviewer, I don't feel that I can critique this film, except to offer what must seem like platitudinous "bravo!"s and whatnot. My descriptions are not sufficient to convey the absolute beauty of the cinematography, depth of imagery and the complexity of the world created, and it is a world colored by grief, anguish and love, and it is a world that is so remarkably (I, like, so wish I could add italics here) human! It would be easy, were it still the linguistic fashion, to watch this film and exclaim, "oh the humanity!" and also mean, "oh! The humanity! The (again with the italics) humanness!"
  
  
• Contemplative Beauty Moves The Soul
  By on 2002-10-24
  The Sacrifice is arguably Tarkovsky's magnum opus. The plot provides a perfect spine
  for this profoundly beautiful visual contemplation. The cinematography is peerless.
  The pace is meditative and challenges all conventional cinema technique.

  This film is for discriminating cinefiles who want only the best in their collection.
  There is no other film like this.
  
  

• Beyond words...
  By on 2001-02-25
  When I first encountered Tarkovsky I had no idea what to expect, and after seeing one of his films for the first time I could only regret that I hadn't discovered him sooner. Tarkovsky successfully creates what so many directors have attempted and what the audience unknowingly has been longing for. He proves that film is an artform, not merely a form of popular entertainment or a slightly glorified version of the same. I am a fan of many great directors, but I have to say I place Tarkovsky at the top. Even Bergman is humbled by Tarkovsky's work, as the liner notes to ANDREI RUBLEV (Criterion Collection) illustrate.

  THE SACRIFICE is and incredible film, an amazingly enthralling sequence of a man's journey in search of spirituality. For this, his final masterpiece (for my money, all his pictures were masterpieces) he goes to Sweden, to the island Gotland (where Ingmar Bergman's estate also happens to be) and uses many of Sweden's finest actors, including Bergman's close friend Erland Josephsson, who also performs brilliantly in NOSTALGHIA. The choice of using cinematographer Sven Nykvist pushes one to believe that Bergman may have been involved in some corner of the making of this film.

  Like all of Tarkovsky's films, THE SACRIFICE is simply gorgeous to watch. Every shot is astounding, each frame a perfect painting. The actors are superb, in particular Erland Josephsson who brings a certain grounded, earthy feel to a somewhat unrealistic and supernatural aura.

  Everything in this film appeals to me, from the music and the meticulously constructed shots to the gradual saturation of colors and awe-inspiring acting. Being Swedish, I might add that the translation is one of the better ones I've seen.

  The DVD features include the documentary DIRECTED BY ANDREI TARKOVSKY, which not only provides an in-depth look behind the scenes of the making of THE SACRIFICE, but also lets us take a peek within Tarkovsky's mind and life. This documentary, by itself, deserves a 5-star rating.

  Any of Tarkovsky's films will astound you. It is just a pity that only a select few are available on DVD. In addition to THE SACRIFICE, NOSTALGHIA and THE MIRROR are both available from Kino. And the recent release of ANDREI RUBLEV from the Criterion people is a much welcomed appreciated addition to the collection.

  Now we wait for rest to follow...
  
  

• Incredible
  By A2HJMEFE1RH2WX on 2000-08-18
  One of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Eclipses even Andreii Rublev in Tarkovskii's library. From the opening scenes to the final bonfire, a true masterpiece of film. Prepare to be amazed. Tarkovskii is truely missed.
  
  
• DVD quality is average
  By A2AZRBFR8U4BWH on 2000-06-16
  This is the latest Tarkovsky movie, and we could expect just a perfect transfer. It seems to me that the master is probably perfect but the transfer (compression) has been done too fast or wrong. There is much grain in the picture, pixels visible especially on edges of objects lokks scintillating, and the dark scenes are horrible. The scene at night when Alexander walks to the maid's house is crispy and garbled. And besides the picture looks squeezed vertically (slightly) which makes a very slight concave effect. Otherwise the film is very good. DVD is OK.
  
  
• What can I say ?
  By ABS6VJX1KCAW4 on 2002-09-02
  What can I say? Director of this film Andrei Tarkovsky (one of the best Russian directors) was already an immigrant at the time when he made this film. Soviet government made him leave his country. Same as "Nostalgia", this film shows how much he was heart. At the same time he was very sick and he didn't have much time left. He was in hurry ... you can tell. Used his cinematography from previous films but it didn't work.
  Last 15 minutes - was a movie "The Sacrifice". The privies 2 hours? Just trying to put all his thoughts in one film.
  If you want to se best films by Andrei Tarkovsky, go to : "Stalker", "Solaris", "Andrei Rublev", "Mirror".
  Mr. Tarkovsky, I still think - you are the best! Your film "Stalker" changed my life.
  
  
• Solid
  By A3SFO2GSP5CVSM on 2010-09-01
  Watching Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky's final 1986 film, The Sacrifice (Offret Sacrificatio), is an exercise in cinema appreciation; not because it is a great film, but because it has great moments and moments of sheer monotonous boredom. It is one of those rare films that goes to the antipodes of what is good and bad in that art form. Overall, it's a film worth seeing, but it is in no way, shape, nor form a great film; much less a masterpiece. Tarkovsky, who had fled the Soviet Union, filmed The Sacrifice in Sweden, using Swedish actors- including Erland Josephson, the star of many Ingmar Bergman films, and used Bergman's longtime cinematographer Sven Nykvist, as well. This was a wise choice, as The Sacrifice is one of the more arresting visual works anyone is likely to see onscreen, especially in its interesting choice of medium shots as the dominant frame, or mis-en-scene. Yet, where the film falters is by, instead of maximizing the positive traits of Tarkovsky and the Bergman contingent, the film brought out the worst elements of Tarkovsky and Bergman. As example, Tarkovsky wrote the screenplay, and like most Tarkovsky films, The Sacrifice is long (142 minutes on the Kino DVD), but it lacks all of the subtle poesy in earlier Tarkovsky films (Solaris, Stalker) and instead indulges on overwrought scenes of terror and regret. There are early scenes where philosophic banter occurs, but the last three quarters of the film is filled with some astonishingly bad acting, which has to be laid at the feet of Tarkovsky. Bergman, who was possibly the greatest screenwriter of the Twentieth Century, was always concise in his screenplays. However, whereas that strength of Bergman is ignored, Bergman's greatest weakness is employed, and that is a relentlessly depressing view of life and the characters. One knows from the beginning that they are all doomed, and, save for the youngest character in the film, this comes to fruition, although, this is only so if one renders the most positive interpretation of the film possible. In all other ways, that ending is likely a delusion, which means Bergmanian dourness combines with a dearth of Tarkovskian poesy to make the film dark, despairing, and oftentimes dull.
  
  
• A thoughtful film about helplessness in the face of extinction...
  By A35AMPDFAB8JLT on 2010-03-09
  "The Sacrifice" (1986) was Andrei Tarkovsky's last film. Tarkovsky (Solaris, The Stalker) makes sci-fi films like no one else. He doesn't rely on gadgets or fancy special effects. Tarkovsky's films are very introspective, and progress slowly, without much plot, and focus on the development of the thoughts and feelings of the characters as they pass through time. In "The Sacrifice" Tarkovsky tells the story of a group of Swedish people living in relative isolation, on an island, who have their tranquil lives interrupted with news of an alien invasion. We never see the invaders, but we see how this event disrupts and terrorizes this group of people who react in various ways to what they perceive as the end of their existence. The movie blends an ever increasing number of dream sequences into the story as Alexander (Erland Josephson) slowly begins to loose his mind. Alexander eventually is willing to do anything to end the invasion, including sacrificing his family. The film reveals how people react to events that are essentially beyond their control, and how this lack of control sometimes manifests itself into madness, and into a world of the irrational.
  
  The movie was shot in Sweden on the island of Gotland, where many of Ingmar Bergman's films had been shot, and was shot by Bergman's favourite cinematographer Sven Nykvist. This DVD is in colour, and in Swedish with English subtitles in widescreen, and runs at 145 minutes. The DVD is a remarkably clean version of the film with deep blacks and a generally subdued colour palette. The DVD also comes with an informative documentary feature that is 101 minutes long about the filming of the movie.
  
  
• A rich creation of auteur cinema at its most thought-provoking, but with an elegant, very coherent close that will appeal to all
  By A1OB5L3WMHJAD9 on 2008-09-11
  OFFRET ("The Sacrifice", 1986) was Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's last film, and the second produced in exile. As a tribute to fellow filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Tarkovsky choose to work with a Swedish-language script, bring onboard Bergman's renowned cinematographer Sven Nykvist, and give Swedish actor and Bergman favourite Erland Josephsson the lead role.
  
  The setup of the movie is fairly simple: the former thespian and university lecturer Alexander has withdrawn to a Swedish island, spending his days musing on the brokenness of creation and the cruelty of mankind. His only joy is his young son (a mainly silent part, as the child is recovering from tonsil surgery). Alexander's daughter, his ex-wife, her new lover, and his two servant girls are at hand for Alexander's birthday celebrations. But the festivities are interrupted by a horrific development: the outbreak of a nuclear war, turning the world outside their island to ruin. Faced with this apocalypse and the dangers to his son, Alexander prays to God that God reverse it, promising to give up his entire life and all that brings him happiness to save those he holds dear.
  
  This is auteur cinema, and like the works of Bergman and the 60s greats, OFFRET may appeal to a minority of typical filmgoers. The initial half of the film is powered mainly by dialogue, and the baroque statements that Tarkovsky gives to his characters may not be to all tastes. I, however, rather enjoyed them, as they are suggestive of the theatre of the absurd written by such playwrights as Beckett and Pinter. We find interspersed, however, strikingly surreal shots that provide a release from the main action at the same time that they comment on it (am I the only one who gets a hint of Beckett's "Breath" in the street scene?). The turning point of the film, as Alexander goes through a dream-like sexual encounter, is sure to baffle viewer at first.
  
  *However*, the climax of the film elegantly reveals the purpose behind all the mysterious moments before, tying the drama up in a coherent and downright touching way that will satisfy the skeptics. Even if you hate auteur films, I encourage you to watch this film and hold on through the end. I like how the closing of the film features a long uninterrupted shot which mirrors the long interrupted shot of the beginning, and both are among Sven Nykvist's finest achievements.
  
  
• Tone poem superb!
  By ANN4JW1E08AS6 on 2008-08-14
  Hey, where was Bergman during the shooting of this? It's a peculiar film that way. It's made in Sweden, the main actor is one of Bergman's primary actors of the time, the cinematographer is Bergman's favored cinematographer, and where's the location? Bergman's island? While watching the film I kept wondering if Ingmar had something to do with it somewhere. It might work as an homage to Bergman's style, and there are some strong similarities that come to mind with Bergman's "Through a Glass Darkly"--the setting, foghorns, visions, insanity, a relationship with God, sacrifice. If you like this one and haven't seen that one, go watch it and see what I mean. You won't be disappointed. "Through a Glass Darkly" conjures up one of the most chilling images you'll ever hear.
  
  As for this movie, well...what can you say? It's genius at work...obviously. Any attempt at critical analysis would require a lot of time of re-watching and consideration and investigation. I'd not want to pretend I yet have an informed appreciation of someone's vision which is so highly developed and complex, but I know art and genius when I see it. Actually, many geniuses--director, cameraman, actors--that put this film together. You don't like the word genius? Use your own word--savante, master, visionary, pioneer, etc.--but these are obviously artists at the top of their field and top of their form at work here. No it's not the Mona Lisa of films, but it's by some Leonardos, and "Leonardo always terrifies me."
  
  What's cool about the DVD is it's got a film of Tarkovsky making this film and some exposition of his philosophy and cinematic concepts which will help you grasp the depth of his vision. You'll get some thoughts on the artistic process from the man himself which will linger with you, possibly forever.
  
  If you have a grasp of the poetic, and intelligent, cinematic aesthetic, you'll like this one. Nykvist is at his prime here behind the camera and Tarkovsky is ruthless in his evocation of true expression. The acting is all spot on, and the last scene is a memorable wonder to behold.
  
  What does it say about our civilization that many of the most highly acclaimed films in history are "no longer available?" Maybe we've entered the Dark Ages again.
  
  

• The Mirror
• Stalker: A Film by Andrei Tarkovsky
• Solaris - Criterion Collection
• Andrei Rublev (The Criterion Collection) Spine #34)
• Nostalghia - 1983, Andrei Tarkovsky [Import, All Regions]