Andrey Rublyov

Since I spoke about the movie Perfume: The Story of the Murderer in my last post, I decided to go over some movies that I saw in the past (and indeed I saw so many), which naturally lead me to one of my favorite directors – Andrei Tarkovsky and his movie Andrey Rublyov.


We know so little about Rublyov and there are very few historical documents, all very brief. What is known is that he lived in 15th-century Russia and that he is considered to be the greatest Russian iconographer. I think I can start already from here by telling that the movie Andrey Rublyov is (among other things) the story about artist and his position in the world, pictured through the regime of the middle-age Russia in this particular case but mind you, the story has universal character.



You can be very famous (Rublyov surely is!) but yet history might not know anything about you. An artist is often (so to say) a product of his/her time because no one is isolated from the historical events in one way or another. This movie (to quote Tarkovsky) will tell you of the impossibility of creating art outside of the nation's aspirations, of the artist's attempts to express its soul and character, and of the way that an artist's character depends upon his historical situation. As an artist, I was deeply moved by this movie. There is also some hardness that lasts long after the movie ended…





Although the movie is named by Andrey Rublyov, he appears to be just one of the characters, often passive as he is merely observing the situation but deeply affected by the events.





All main characters are different and interesting. All of them have their own tales, personal philosophy and approach to art and events. For example, Theophanes the Greek is already an established iconographer, old enough to live without illusions. For him, art is but a craft. I liked some of his lines very much, like when he said:

Yes, I'm going to die. The other day, I saw an angel in my dream. "Come with me," he says. And I answer: "I'm going to die soon anyway, without your help."

Or when he said (referring to people):

Today they praise, tomorrow they'll abuse what they praised only yesterday, and after that they'll forget both you and me. They'll forget everything!


The script is written by Andrei Konchalovsky and Tarkovsky. The particular historical background is not bright but has history ever been?! Religion and the regime are in the center of the story but there is much more than that.



The entire movie is black and white except the very end, where we can see the actual Rublyov’s iconography and that almost gives a sense of the miracle.


The movie won three awards. Not enough I would say ;). Tarkovsky’s cinematography is simply beautiful! I think this is a must see movie.

Perfume

Not so long ago I saw Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. People often complain that books are better than movies and I must confess, I often agree with that statement but in this particular case I was truly pleasantly surprised. Mind you, the task was not easy and many said that filming Süskind’s novel was actually an impossible task but I think director Tom Tykwer has done a good job. I have taken some screenshots for those interested to take a peek.


Everything was exactly or very close to what I imagined while reading the book, except for the end. I personally think that the very end of the movie could have been executed much better and the main character (Grenouille) is not enough developed. He is far from the book in the matter of appearance. Anyway, for those that are not familiar with the story, I will try to give a brief synopsis. Set in 18th-century France, the entire story follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, from the day he was born to the very end. Grenouille had one very interesting talent and that was a superior olfactory sense. He was creating the world’s finest perfumes but that didn’t mean much to him because he was searching for the one particular, ultimate scent, which will eventually lead him to crime. I won’t say anything else. Go, see the movie!





Ben Whishaw plays Grenouille. I must admit, I never saw him before but he was pretty good in this role.



I didn’t have a clue about the cast so seeing Dustin Hoffman as perfumer Baldini and Alan Rickman as loving father was totally surprising and a pleasant experience.





The movie is less brutal than the novel. Picturing scents (which was important considering the story) is executed well. Surely you can’t smell, unless your local cinema came up with some ideas, but there are images, music, atmosphere and all works truly well. Also, the cinematography and costumes are excellent. I think you won’t be disappointed.





The official website Perfume: The Story of a Murderer