Stalker (1979), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

Stalker (1979) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

Alexander Kaidanovsky, July 23, 1946 - December 3, 1995.

Costume fitting for Stalker (1979).

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

“…What do you think about the visitation?”

“My pleasure. Imagine a picnic.”

Noonan shuddered. “What did you just say?”

“A picnic. Picture a forest, a country road, a meadow. A car drives off the country road into the meadow, a group of young people get out carrying bottles, baskets of food, transistor radios, and cameras. They light fires, pitch tents, turn on the music. In the morning they leave. The animals, birds, and insects that watched in horror through the long night creep out from their hiding places. And what do they see? Old spark plugs and old filters strewn around… Rags, burnt-out bulbs, and a monkey wrench left behind… And of course, the usual mess—apple cores, candy wrappers, charred remains of the campfire, cans, bottles, somebody’s handkerchief, somebody’s penknife, torn newspapers, coins, faded flowers picked in another meadow.”

“I see. A roadside picnic”

“Precisely. A roadside picnic, on some road in the cosmos. And you ask if they’ll come back..”

About 20 years ago, they say a meteorite fell here. It razed the settlement. They searched for it, but they found nothing, of course.

Why “of course”?

Then people began to vanish. Finally, it was decided —

- Well?

Finally, it was decided that this meteorite was not quite a meteorite. So, for a start they put up barbed wire to stop the inquisitive taking risks. Then rumors began that somewhere in the Zone there’s a place where desires come true. Well, naturally, they started to guard the Zone like a treasure. For who knows what desires a person might have? 

Stalker (1979) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky