Andrei Tarkovsky

A Soviet film director known for spiritual, slow-paced cinema.

The films of Tarkovsky are recognized for their examination of spiritual and metaphysical subjects, achieved through deliberate pacing, extended shots, and surreal visual aesthetics.^[1] Numerous critics and historians regard Tarkovsky as among the most significant directors in the history of cinema.^[2]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Birth name

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky

Born

4 April 1932

Birthplace

Zavrazhye, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

Died

29 December 1986

Place of death

Paris, France

Resting place

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery, Paris

Education

All-Union State Institute of Cinematography

Occupation

Film director
screenwriter
film theorist

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Tarkovsky studied film at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography under filmmaker Mikhail Romm.^[3] Tarkovsky's father left the family in 1936–1937, which had a considerable impact on his character.^[4][5] Within the Soviet Union, Tarkovsky completed his initial five feature films: Ivan's Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979).^[3] The year 1986 saw the publication of Tarkovsky's book on cinema and art, titled Sculpting in Time.^[3]

Tarkovsky's birthplace was the village of Zavrazhye, situated close to the town of Yuryevets, roughly 500 kilometers east of Moscow.^[6] Tarkovsky wed Irma Raush in April 1957; later, in 1970, he married Larisa Kizilova.^[7][8]

What the cited sources add

The latgale.academy account states that Tarkovsky was a pure artist whose films did not have any hidden politically oriented messages.^[9] According to the same source, Tarkovsky had to be sly to convince Goskino to get a green light for production of his movies.^[9] Tyrkin's article notes that Tarkovsky believed in miracles and firmly believed in the existence of flying saucers.^[10] The same source reports that Tarkovsky's circle helped him as much as they could.^[10]

Kemp's article states that sound recordist Vladimir Sharun was convinced that the deaths of Tarkovsky, his wife, and actor Anatoly Solonitsyn were caused by contamination from a chemical plant upstream from the Stalker set.^[11] The British Film Institute's Gray notes that Ingmar Bergman once said "Tarkovsky is the greatest of them all"^[12] Gray also reports that Tarkovsky saw true artists as prophets with a gift of prescience.^[12]

References

Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Toymentsev 2021, p. 1; James, "The Tarkovsky Legacy", Sight & Sound, 8 May 2019; Petric, "Tarkovsky's Dream Imagery", Film Quarterly, December 1989, p. 28–34 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "How to pronounce Андрей Тарковский", forvo.com; Peter Rollberg, "Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema", Rowman & Littlefield, 2009, p. 685–690; Toymentsev 2021, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tyrkin, "In Stalker Tarkovsky foretold Chernobyl", Nostalghia.com; Kemp, "How 'Stalker' claimed the life of Andrei Tarkovsky", faroutmagazine.co.uk, 2022-05-30 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Toymentsev 2021, p. 1; Johnson Petrie 1994, p. 17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Toymentsev 2021, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Johnson Petrie 1994, p. 17; Plakhov 2016, p. 674; Toymentsev 2021, p. 1; Johnson Petrie 1994, p. 17; Toymentsev 2021, p. 1; Johnson Petrie 1994, p. 17; Johnson Petrie 1994, p. 17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pleshakova, "Тарковский был "разрешенным контрреволюционером"", Komsomolskaya Pravda, 4 April 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Andrei Tarkovsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gianvito 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"Censorship's impact on Tarkovsky's movies", latgale.academy. facts only, no text reused. latgale.academy
Tyrkin, "In Stalker Tarkovsky foretold Chernobyl", Nostalghia.com. facts only, no text reused. nostalghia.com
Kemp, "How 'Stalker' claimed the life of Andrei Tarkovsky", faroutmagazine.co.uk, 2022-05-30. facts only, no text reused. faroutmagazine.co.uk
Gray, "Where to begin with Andrei Tarkovsky", British Film Institute, 27 October 2015. facts only, no text reused. bfi.org.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Andrei Tarkovsky (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.