THE SACRIFICE Movie Review

Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's enigmatic, mesmerizing final film was released following his death in 1986. The Sacrifice is the story of a retired intellectual (Erland Josephson) living in a magnificent country estate, who learns that the world is about to be destroyed in an inevitable nuclear holocaust. Unable to bear the idea of the loss of his family, he digs deep within himself, past the faith that he lost over the years, and offers himself as a sacrifice to his creator if only his family and their world can be spared. Tarkovsky was aware that he was dying during the preparation and production of this film. Its stylized formalism is so utterly demanding and uncompromising that one can construe that Tarkovsky was not interested in his film's commercial possibilities, but rather wanted to create a last will and testament on film. In this light The Sacrifice is a magnificent achievement, though a highly personal one. (If you're unfamiliar with Tarkovsky's work, it might be useful to know, and be forewarned, that he remarked at a film festival in the 1980s that no film that's any good should actually be “enjoyable.”) In what seems a nod to the influence of Ingmar Bergman's films on Tarkovsky's career, The Sacrifice, in addition to starring Bergman veteran Josephson, is a Swedish language production, and features astonishing color cinematography by Sven Nykvist (Cries and Whispers, Fanny and Alexander).

NEXT STOP … Stalker, Solaris, Shame

1986 (PG) 145m/C FR SW Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Valerie Mairesse, Allan Edwall, Gudrun Gisladottir, Sven Wollter, Filippa Franzen; D: Andrei Tarkovsky; C: Sven Nykvist. British Academy Awards ‘87: Best Foreign Film. VHS, LV, Letterbox KIV, TPV