The Mirror (1975 film)

Mirror
File:Zerkalo.gif RUSCICO DVD cover
Directed by	Andrei Tarkovsky
Produced by	Erik Waisberg
Written by	Aleksandr Misharin Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring	Margarita Terekhova Ignat Daniltsev Larisa Tarkovskaya Alla Demidova Anatoli Solonitsyn Tamara Ogorodnikova
Narrated by	Innokenty Smoktunovsky Arseny Tarkovsky
Music by	Eduard Artemyev
Cinematography	Georgi Rerberg
Edited by	Lyudmila Feiginova
Release dates	7 March 1975 (USSR)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian
Budget	SUR 622,000

Mirror (Russian: Зеркало, tr. Zerkalo; known in the United States as The Mirror ) is a 1975 Russian art film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. It is loosely autobiographical, unconventionally structured, and incorporates poems composed and read by the director's father, Arseny Tarkovsky. The film features Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev, Alla Demidova, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Tarkovsky's wife Larisa Tarkovskaya and his mother Maria Vishnyakova, with a soundtrack by Eduard Artemyev.

Mirror is noted for its loose and nonlinear narrative. It unfolds as an organic flow of memories recalled by a dying poet (based on Tarkovsky's own father Arseny, who in reality would outlive his son by three years) of key moments in his life both with respect to his immediate family as well as that of the Russian people as a whole during the tumultuous events of the twentieth century. In an effort to represent these themes visually, the film combines contemporary scenes with childhood memories, dreams, and newsreel footage; its cinematography slips, often unpredictably, between color, black-and-white, and sepia. The film's loose flow of visually oneiric images, combined with its rich - and often symbolic - imagery has been compared with the stream of consciousness technique in Modernist literature. It has also found favor with many Russians for whom it remains their most beloved of Tarkovsky's works.

The main concept of Mirror dates as far back as 1964. Over the years Tarkovsky wrote several screenplay variants, at times working with Aleksandr Misharin. Their mutually developed script initially was not approved by the film committee of Goskino, and it was only after several years of waiting that Tarkovsky would be allowed to realize the project. At various times the script was known under different names, most notably Confession and A White, White Day. The completed film was initially rejected by Goskino, and after some delay was given only limited release in the Soviet Union.

Mirror has grown in reputation since its release, and ranked nineteenth in Sight & Sound's 2012 critics' poll of the best films ever made, and ninth in the directors' poll.

Plot

Structure and content

Mirror depicts the thoughts, emotions and memories of Alexei, or Alyosha (Ignat Daniltsev), and the world around him as a child, adolescent, and forty-year-old. The adult Alexei is only briefly glimpsed, but is present as a voice-over in some scenes including substantial dialogue. The structure of the film is discontinuous and nonchronological, without a conventional plot, and combines incidents, dreams and memories along with some news-reel footage. The film switches among three different time-frames: prewar (1935), war-time (1940s), and postwar (1960s or '70s).

Mirror draws heavily on Tarkovsky's own childhood. Memories such as the evacuation from Moscow to the countryside during the war, a withdrawn father and his own mother, who actually worked as a proof-reader at a printing press, feature prominently.

Synopsis

The film opens with Alexei's adolescent son Ignat (also played by Ignat Daniltsev) switching on a televisor and watching the examination of a stammerer by a physician. After the opening titles roll, a scene is set in the countryside during prewar times in which Alexei's mother Maria (Margarita Terekhova) — also called Masha and Marusya — talks with a doctor (Anatoli Solonitsyn) who chances to be passing by. The exterior and interior of Alexei's grandfather's country house are seen. The young Alexei, his mother and sister watch as the family barn burns down. In a dream sequence Maria is washing her hair. Now in the postwar time-frame, Alexei is heard talking with his mother Maria on the phone while rooms of an apartment are seen. Switching back to the prewar time-frame, Maria is seen rushing frantically to her work-place as a proof-reader at a printing press. She is worrying about a mistake she may have overlooked, but is comforted by her colleague Liza (Alla Demidova), who then abruptly reduces her to tears with withering criticism. Back in postwar time, Alexei quarrels with his wife, Natalia (also played by Margarita Terekhova), who has divorced him and is living with their son Ignat. This is followed by news-reel scenes from the Spanish Civil War and of a balloon ascent in the U.S.S.R. In the next scene, set in Alexei's apartment, Ignat meets with a strange woman (Tamara Ogorodnikova) sitting at a table. At her request, Ignat reads a passage from a letter by Pushkin and receives a telephone call from his father Alexei. The strange woman vanishes mysteriously. Switching to war-time, the adolescent Alexei is seen undergoing rifle training with a dour instructor, intercut with news-reel footage of World War II and the Sino-Soviet border conflict. The reunion of Alexei and his sister with their father (Oleg Yankovsky) at war's end is shown. The film then returns to the quarrel between Alexei and his wife Natalia in the postwar sequence. Switching again to prewar time, vistas of the country house and surrounding countryside are followed by a dreamlike sequence showing a levitating Maria. The film then moves to the postwar time, showing Alexei apparently on his death-bed with a mysterious malady. The final scene plays in the prewar time-frame, showing a pregnant mother, Maria, intercut with scenes showing Maria young and old. (Old Maria is played by Tarkovsky's own mother, Maria Vishnyakova.)

Cast

• Margarita Terekhova as the young Maria/Natalia
• Filipp Yankovsky as the child Alexei
• Ignat Daniltsev as the adolescent Alexei/Ignat
• Larisa Tarkovskaya as Nadezhda
• Alla Demidova as Liza, Maria's friend at printing house
• Anatoli Solonitsyn as Forensic doctor & pedestrian
• Tamara Ogorodnikova as Strange woman at the tea table
• Oleg Yankovsky, Alexei's father
• Maria Vishnyakova as the elderly Maria
• Innokenty Smoktunovsky as the adult Alexei (voice only)
• Arseny Tarkovsky as Narrator/Poet (voice only)

Production

Writing

The concept of Mirror dates as far back as 1964, when Tarkovsky wrote down his idea for a film about the dreams and memories of a man, though without the man appearing on screen as he would in a conventional film. The first episodes of Mirror were written while Tarkovsky was working on Andrei Rublev. These episodes were published as a short story under the title A White Day in 1970. The title was taken from a 1942 poem by his father, Arseny Tarkovsky. In 1968, after having finished Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky went to the cinematographer's resort in Repino intending to write the script for The Mirror together with Aleksandr Misharin. This script was titled Confession and was proposed to the film committee at Goskino. Although it contained popular themes – for example, a heroic mother, the war, and patriotism – the proposal was turned down. The main reason was most likely the complex and unconventional nature of the script. Moreover, Tarkovsky and Misharin clearly stated that they did not know what the final form of the film would be – this was to be determined in the process of filming.

With the script being turned down by the film committee, Tarkovsky went on to make the film Solaris. But his diary entries show that he was still eager to make the film. Finally, the script was approved by the new head of Goskino, Filipp Ermash in the summer of 1973. Tarkovsky was given a budget of 622,000 Soviet ruble and 7500 metres (24,606 feet) of Kodak film, corresponding to 110 minutes, or roughly three takes assuming a film length of 3000 metres (10,000 feet).

Several versions of the script for Mirror exist, as Tarkovsky constantly rewrote parts of the script, with the latest variant of the script written in 1974 while he was in Italy. One scene that was in the script but that was removed during shooting was an interview with his mother. Tarkovsky wanted to use a hidden camera to interview her on the pretext that it was research for the film. This scene was one of the main reasons why Vadim Yusov, who was the camera-man for all of Tarkovsky's previous films refused to work with him on this film. At various times, the script and the film was known under the titles Confession, Redemption, Martyrology, Why are you standing so far away?, The Raging Stream and A White, White Day (sometimes also translated as A Bright, Bright Day.). Only while filming Tarkovsky decided to finally title the film Mirror. (The final film does indeed feature several mirrors with some scenes shot in reflection.)

A poster of Tarkovsky's 1966 film Andrei Rublev is seen on a wall. Mirror thus forms the third part, together with Tarkovsky's previous film Solaris which was made in 1972 and which references Andrei Rublev by having an icon made by him being placed in the main character's room, in a series of three films by Tarkovsky referencing Andrei Rublev.

Casting

Initially Tarkovsky considered Alla Demidova and Swedish actress Bibi Andersson for the role of the mother. In the end Margarita Terekhova was chosen.

Filming

Filming began in September 1973 and ended in March 1974. The outdoor scenes were shot in Tutshkovo near Moscow. The indoor scenes were shot at the Mosfilm studio.

The completed film was initially rejected by Filipp Ermash, the head of Goskino in July 1974. One reason given was that the film is incomprehensible. Tarkovsky was infuriated about this rejection and even toyed with the idea of going abroad and making a film outside the Soviet Union. Mirror was ultimately approved by Goskino without any changes in fall 1974.

Distribution

Mirror never had an official premiere and had only a limited, second category release with only 73 copies. Although it was officially announced for September 1975, it was shown as early as March 1975.

Reception

Despite very limited distribution, Mirror was well received by the audiences. Goskino did not allow it to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The managing director of the festival, Maurice Bessy, was sympathetic to Tarkovsky. Upon hearing that Mirror would not be allowed to be shown in Cannes, he unsuccessfully threatened to not take any other Soviet film. In 2012, Will Self argued that The Mirror remains the most beautiful film ever made.

Trivia

• Wintertime scenes in the Mirror echo Bruegel's paintings Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap and The Hunters in the Snow, the latter of which is shown several times in Solaris.
• The scene where the neighbour tries on earrings offered by the main heroine, references the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.
• A recitative from Johan Sebastian Bach's Johannes-Passion , ("Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel...") features in the score, as does the opening chorus from the Johannes-Passion ("Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm in allen Landen herrlich ist!") accompanying the film's memorable closing scene.
• Another of Bach's works Das alte Jahr vergangen ist Chorale (BWV 614) from Orgelbüchlein is heard during the opening credits.
• A poster of Tarkovsky's 1966 film Andrei Rublev is seen on a wall.

Further reading

• Monograph about the film.

External links

• The Mirror at IMDb
• The Mirror at AllMovie
• The Mirror at official Mosfilm site with English subtitles
• Poems of Arseny Tarkovsky recited in the film (Russian)
• Voted #16 on The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2010)