Stalker (1979)

Two men recruit a guide to take them into ‘the Zone’, a mysterious realm where one’s innermost wishes come true, in this metaphysical sci-fi epic.

The titular protagonist leads a writer and a professor across the forbidden Zone in search of a fabled room where wishes are supposedly granted. With its slow pacing and striking symbolism, Andrei Tarkovsky’s morose blend of sci-fi, political allegory and philosophical rumination invites many interpretations; undoubtedly, however, it concerns the necessity and difficulty of faith in a damaged and repressive world.

“The film that has most insistently found its way into my dreams. That lengthy trolley-car ride early on is like a ferry across the River Styx, or the moment in sleep between the real world blurring away and the appearance of the counterfeit images that our brains manifest. Only a director like Tarkovsky could take this mysterious, slumbering landscape and fill it with metaphysical currents; the result is that every pebble, blade of grass, bridge and power line seem like the fingers and toes of a sleeping giant.” David Heslin

“A masterwork of pacing, elemental precision and breathtaking patience. One of the most beautiful films ever made.” Akira Mizuta LipPit

“I know of no better film about the human soul.” Andreas Kilb

1979 USSR
Directed by
Andrei Tarkovsky
Written by
Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
Featuring
Aleksandr Kaidanovsky, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko
Running time
161 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Stalker

Critics

Mohammed Hashem Abdel-Salam
Egypt
Panos Achtsioglou
Greece
Jason Anderson
Canada
Ruth Barton
Ireland
Michael Brooke
UK
José Cabrera
Spain
Erdem Murat Çelikler
Turkey
Donald Clarke
Ireland
Shane Danielsen
USA
Francisco Manuel Díaz
Spain
Jamie Dunn
UK
Geoff Dyer
UK
John Ewing
USA
Arman Fatić
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Caroline Fournier
Switzerland
Patrick Gamble
UK
Soma Ghosh
UK
Katie Goh
UK
David Heslin
Australia
Dina Iordanova
Bulgaria/UK
Stefan Ivančić
Serbia
Stefan Jaworzyn
UK
David Katz
UK
Cael Keegan
USA
Sek Kei
Hong Kong
Andreas Kilb
Germany
Tomasz Kolankiewicz
Poland
Kaarel Kuurmaa
Estonia
Hans Langsteiner
Austria
Xun Li
China
Akira Mizuta Lippit
USA
Eri Mahihara
Japan
Jelena Milosavljevic
UK
James Mottram
UK
Arike Oke
UK
Vladan Petković
Serbia/Croatia
Nuno Rodrigues
Portugal
Mohammed Rouda
UK
Yal Sadat
France
Peeter Sauter
Estonia
Pini Schatz
Israel
Adam Scovell
UK
Steve Seid
USA
Rada Šešić
Croatia
Meenakshi Shedde
India
Janice Tong
Australia
Andrew Tracy
Canada
Kaspar Viilup
Estonia
Andrea Virginás
Hungary/Romania
Jendrik Walendy
Germany
Missouri Williams
UK

Directors

Babak Anvari
UK
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Thailand
Jessica Ashman
UK
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
India
Joseph Bull
UK
Romola Garai
UK
Grant Gee
UK
Tom George
UK
Amos Gitai
Israel/France
Sawandi Groskind
Finland
Lucile Hadžihalilović
france
Andrew Kötting
UK
Gabriel Mascaro
Brazil
Robert Morgan
UK
Tadhg O'Sullivan
Ireland
Asli Özge
Turkey
Hlynur Pálmason
Iceland
Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra
Mexico
Joanna Priestley
USA
Lynne Ramsay
UK
Farid Rodríguez Rivero
Peru
Shaunak Sen
Gary Tarn
UK
Minh-ha Trinh
USA/Vietnam
Eskil Vogt
Norway
Laura Wandel
Belgium
Nicolas Winding Refn
Denmark
Shengze Zhu
China/USA

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