Stalker Directed By Andrey Tarkovsky

Stalker (1979)
Directed By Andrey Tarkovsky

A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Writers
Arkadiy Strugatskiy, Boris Strugatskiy, Andrei Tarkovsky

Stars
Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn

Cannes Film Festival 1980 Winner Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (special award)
Andrei Tarkovsky

In a small, unnamed country there's an area called the Zone. It's an unusual area, and within its a place known as the Room, where it's believed wishes are granted. The government declared The Zone a no-go area and have sealed it off. This hasn't stopped people from entering the Zone. A writer, and a professor, want to reach the Zone. Their guide - a man known as a stalker, has a special relation with the Zone.

"There's no need to speak. You must only...concentrate and recall all your past life. When a man thinks of the past, he becomes kinder."

The 'Zone' in the book and the film adapted from it was inspired by a nuclear accident that took place near Chelyabinsk in 1957. Several hundred square kilometers were polluted by fallout and abandoned, although there was no official mention of this incident and a "forbidden zone" for many years.

Goofs
At about 23 minutes, when Stalker, writer and professor are driving in their car they have to hide for a motorcyclist. In the scene the motorcyclist comes from the right. From an opposite angle of view, he still comes from the right, where it should have been from the left.

Quotes

Stalker: May everything come true. May they believe. And may they laugh at their passions. For what they call passion is not really the energy of the soul, but merely friction between the soul and the outside world. But, above all, may they believe in themselves and become as helpless as children. For softness is great and strength is worthless. When a man is born, he is soft and pliable. When he dies, he is strong and hard. When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life. That which has become hard shall not triumph.

audio/screen size/English subs added