Watch some behind the scenes footage of Andrei Tarkovsky filming Stalker

Andrei Tarkovsky was the Russian filmmaker who brought us Ivan’s Childhood (1962), Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), and Stalker (1979).

The latter was written by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. It was loosely based on their novel Roadside Picnic (1972).

It depicts an expedition led by a figure known as the “Stalker” (Aleksandr Kaidanovsky) to take his two clients, a melancholic writer (Anatoli Solonitsyn) seeking inspiration and a professor (Nikolai Grinko) seeking scientific discovery, to a site known simply as the “Zone”, which has a place within it with the supposed ability to fulfill a person’s innermost desires. The trio travels through unnerving areas filled with the debris of modern society while engaging in many arguments, facing the fact that the “Zone” itself appears sentient, while their path through it can be sensed but not seen. In the film, a stalker is a professional guide to the Zone, someone having the ability and desire to cross the border into the dangerous and forbidden place with a specific goal.

There is a TV series in the works based on the novel, but I came across this video from Charles M, showing footage from behind the scenes of Tarkovsky’s film. While I don’t understand Russian it is fascinating to watch.

Thank you for supporting Live for Films (LFF) when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate LFF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see the link.