Tarkowskij's "Stalker" as a lesson in spirituality
Posted: March 3rd, 2009, 10:43 pm
... I am barely able to describe what this film evokes in me.
While from a cognitive perspective, there are different interpretations,
Tarkowskij's intention is a purely spiritual one and he even rejected interpretations.
In fact I never have seen a film as deeply spiritual as this one.
And I never have seen a film that so directly is including the spectator -
when you watch it, it makes you part of it and it starts to go into a dialogue and ask you questions.
People that watch it with the usual consumer attitude will be absolutely disappointed
(I remember the first time I saw it - I was always waiting for something to happen, but there is no "action" outside).
For a rough introduction, one can read Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(film)
From an article by James Norton in http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~tstronds/nostalghia.com/ which is a good
source of information and interviews:
"... Stalker, ultimately, is about a threshold, the forces that guard the threshold, the irreconcilable spaces it separates,
the fears and desires that inhibit its crossing. The threshold cannot be crossed, although it is open ..."
... and this is where the film left me, like being in front of this room which is not outside but inside me.
And while I knew it is open yet I had the intense feeling that to get in there I have to jump into an abyss.
There was a time where I was afraid of heights - and I am still a little - but I know now that this fear is about something else -
it is the fear of letting go the ego.
And while this reluctance comes from the mind and for the mind the gateless barrier cannot be crossed,
there is a yearning which is beyond the mind and which is already on the other side and includes it all ...
While from a cognitive perspective, there are different interpretations,
Tarkowskij's intention is a purely spiritual one and he even rejected interpretations.
In fact I never have seen a film as deeply spiritual as this one.
And I never have seen a film that so directly is including the spectator -
when you watch it, it makes you part of it and it starts to go into a dialogue and ask you questions.
People that watch it with the usual consumer attitude will be absolutely disappointed
(I remember the first time I saw it - I was always waiting for something to happen, but there is no "action" outside).
For a rough introduction, one can read Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(film)
From an article by James Norton in http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~tstronds/nostalghia.com/ which is a good
source of information and interviews:
"... Stalker, ultimately, is about a threshold, the forces that guard the threshold, the irreconcilable spaces it separates,
the fears and desires that inhibit its crossing. The threshold cannot be crossed, although it is open ..."
... and this is where the film left me, like being in front of this room which is not outside but inside me.
And while I knew it is open yet I had the intense feeling that to get in there I have to jump into an abyss.
There was a time where I was afraid of heights - and I am still a little - but I know now that this fear is about something else -
it is the fear of letting go the ego.
And while this reluctance comes from the mind and for the mind the gateless barrier cannot be crossed,
there is a yearning which is beyond the mind and which is already on the other side and includes it all ...