Andrei Rublev (film)

Andrei Rublev
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrei Tarkovsky
Written by
Produced byTamara Ogorodnikova[A]
Starring
CinematographyVadim Yusov
Edited by
  • Lyudmila Feiginova
  • Tatyana Egorycheva
  • Olga Shevkunenko
Music byVyacheslav Ovchinnikov
Production
company
Release dates
  • 16 December 1966 (1966-12-16) (Moscow)
  • 24 December 1971 (1971-12-24) (Soviet Union)
Running time
  • 205 minutes (first cut)[1]
  • 183 minutes (final cut)[2]
CountrySoviet Union
Languages
  • Russian
  • Tatar
  • Italian
Budget1.3 million Rbls

Andrei Rublev (Russian: Андрей Рублёв, romanized: Andrey Rublyov) is a 1966 Soviet epic biographical historical drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky who co-wrote it with Andrei Konchalovsky.[3] The film was re-edited from the 1966 film titled The Passion According to Andrei by Tarkovsky which was censored during the first decade of the Brezhnev era in the Soviet Union. The film is loosely based on the life of Andrei Rublev, a 15th-century Russian icon painter. The film features Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Sergeyev [ru], Nikolai Burlyayev and Tarkovsky's wife Irma Raush. Savva Yamshchikov, a famous Russian restorer and art historian, was a scientific consultant for the film.

Andrei Rublev is set against the background of Russia in the early 15th century. Although the film is only loosely based on the life of Andrei Rublev, it seeks to depict a realistic portrait of medieval Russia. Tarkovsky sought to create a film that shows the artist as "a world-historic figure" and "Christianity as an axiom of Russia's historical identity" during a turbulent period of Russian history.[1] In addition to treating the artist as "a world-historic figure," Tarkovsky also sought to detail and investigate the intersection between faith and artistry. In his book "Sculpting in Time," Tarkovsky writes: "It is a mistake to talk about the artist 'looking for' his subject. In fact the subject grows within him like a fruit, and begins to demand expression. It is like childbirth… The poet has nothing to be proud of: he is not master of the situation, but a servant. Creative work is his only possible form of existence, and his every work is like a deed he has no power to annul. For him to be aware that a sequence of such deeds is due and right, that it lies in the very nature of things, he has to have faith in the idea, for only faith interlocks the system of images."[4] In "Andrei Rublev," Tarkovsky depicts the philosophy that faith is necessary for art, thereby commenting on the deserved role of faith in the secular, atheist society he was in at the time of the film's creation.

Due to the film's themes, including artistic freedom, religion, political ambiguity, and autodidacticism, it was not released domestically in the Soviet Union under the doctrine of state atheism until years after it was completed, except for a single 1966 screening in Moscow.[5] A version of the film was shown at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI prize.[6] In 1971, a censored version of the film was released in the Soviet Union. The film was further cut for commercial reasons upon its U.S. release through Columbia Pictures in 1973. As a result, several versions of the film exist.

Although these issues with censorship obscured and truncated the film for many years following its release, the film was soon recognized by many western critics and film directors as a highly original and accomplished work. Even more since being restored to its original version, Andrei Rublev has come to be regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and has often been ranked highly in both the Sight & Sound critics' and directors' polls.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ a b Hoberman, Jim. "Andrei Rublev: An Icon Emerges". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  2. ^ "ANDREI RUBLEV (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  3. ^ Peter Rollberg (2016). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 47-48. ISBN 978-1442268425.
  4. ^ Tarkovsky, Andrei (1986). Sculpting in Time. London: The Bodley Head Ltd. p. 43.
  5. ^ Turovskaya, Maya (1989). Tarkovsky: Cinema as Poetry. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-14709-7.
  6. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Andrei Rublev". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  7. ^ "Andrei Rublev (1966)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Critics' top 100". bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Directors' top 100". bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2016.