Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Alexander, a journalist, philosopher and retired actor, celebrates a birthday with friends and family when it is announced that nuclear war has begun.
Tarkovsky's final film is a meditative, visually stunning work — Sven Nykvist's cinematography is exceptional, with long takes and painterly compositions that rank among the finest in cinema. The ensemble, led by Erland Josephson, delivers deeply internalized performances. The film's philosophical weight and singular spiritual tone give it high novelty as a one-of-a-kind statement on sacrifice, faith, and apocalypse. The plot is deliberately slow and sometimes opaque, which serves the film's intent but limits its narrative drive. The ending — including the famous long take of the burning house — is extraordinary technically, though its symbolic resolution feels abrupt to some.