Andrej Rublev: an iconic work of art by Tarkovski

Andrei Tarkovski's 1966 film Andrei Rublev, about a monk who painted icons in the cruel Russian Middle Ages, is an overwhelming experience.

The eccentric and spiritual Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky was admired by Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Terrence Malick, idolized by Lars von Trier, and shamelessly copied by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Tarkovsky thought of film as sculpting time and had a penchant for sustained shots and associative blending of dreams, memory, vision, and reality. His 1966 film Andrei Rublev, about a monk who painted icons in the cruel Russian Middle Ages, is an overwhelming experience. Don’t expect an artist’s biopic, but trust your senses. Tarkovsky finds the transcendent in the earthly, and we find it through him.