Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast Sanctification of an Icon Painter: Andrei Rublev (1966)
Cinema As Poetic Creation
- Tarkovsky emerged during the Khrushchev Thaw and rejected strict Soviet montage dogma in favor of poetic cinematic meaning.
- He treats film as a medium that creates reality in the viewer's mind rather than simply recording it.
Vignettes Over Biography
- Andrei Rublev is structured as episodic 'novellas' rather than a conventional biopic, forcing viewers to make poetic connections.
- Tarkovsky invites active spectatorship instead of providing tidy narrative explanations.
Don't Pre-Plot Your First Watch
- Avoid reading plot summaries before your first viewing; Tarkovsky expects viewers to form poetic links themselves.
- Prefer multiple viewings to let the film's full meaning and emotional power emerge.
"The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good." Andrei Tarkovsky
Could Andrei Rublev be the best film on the Vatican film list? Andrei Tarkovsky is widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual filmmakers of all time, and his 1966 masterpiece Andrei Rublev lives up to that reputation.
In this deeply moving and at times confounding work of art, we enter into the spiritual and artistic trials of Russia's greatest icon painter, the monk Andrei Rublev, who works in the midst of the immense suffering of the Russian people in the 15th century. It is both a deeply contemplative interior work and an historical epic.
Catholic filmmaker Nathan Douglas joins the show to discuss his favorite film with us. After an introduction to the techniques and philosophy of Soviet montage theory, the discussion touches on many of the issues dealt with in the film:
How does one avoid burying one's talents, whether from envy, vanity or more complicated motives? How can an artist, and a man, mature through suffering? Can the significance of great works of religious art be reduced to the perhaps impure motives of the powerful and wealthy people who commission them? Is there even a point to making beautiful things in a world filled with brutality and suffering?
The film also provides an occasion to discuss the morality of nudity and the treatment of animals in a cinematic context.
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fJXZ19-LhGA
The best way to view Andrei Rublev is with a free trial subscription to the Criterion Channel streaming service. https://www.criterionchannel.com/andrei-rublev
It can also be viewed on YouTube, but the subtitle translation is poor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsEnNDr6YfA
Fair warning: this film contains some nudity and violence.
Next up on Criteria: Contrary to what was said in this episode, due to a scheduling mishap, the next discussion will be about season 1 of The Chosen, in anticipation of the launch of season 2 on Easter Sunday. The originally planned discussion of Calvary will come out in April instead.
Links
Explanation of Soviet montage theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtnTs90knro
Nathan Douglas https://nwdouglas.com/
This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio
Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/