New digital restoration of Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1966 masterpiece! First Ottawa screening in 15 years!
Andrei Tarkovsky, U.S.S.R. 1966, 205 minutes
Tarkovsky’s extraordinary second feature is considered by many to be the finest Soviet film of the postwar era. Andrei Rublev presents several imaginary episodes in the life of its title character, a 15th-century Russian Orthodox monk and religious icon painter. While little is known about the historical Rublev; Tarkovsky renders him as a man clinging desperately to his faith in God and art in a world of overwhelming, often astonishing cruelty and barbarism.
The allegorical significance of the film was clearly not lost on the Soviet censors — Rublev’s artistic struggles could stand in for of any number of contemporary artists whose work was monitored by Soviet authorities — and, after stunning Moscow audiences at the end of 1966, the film was banned for five years. In 1969, however, even a substantially edited version still won the International Critics Prize at Cannes.
This presentation is of the original, full-length version intended by Tarkovsky. Essential viewing.
Presented in its original Russian with English subtitles. There will be a 10 minute intermission.