Appreciate Every Andrei Tarkovsky Film At The Ritz

Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders, Ingmar Bergman, Lars von Trier – these are just some of the directors influenced by the great Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, the subject of an upcoming retrospective at The Ritz in Randwick, in collaboration with Cinema Reborn.

Sculpting In Time is giving cinemagoers the opportunity to see all seven of Tarkovsky’s feature films in cinemas on Thursdays from March to May. Featuring renowned human dramas like Mirror and The First Day to sci-fi classics like Solaris and Stalker, the program is the perfect way to experience the legacy of a cinema legend. 

Tarskovsky was born in Soviet Russia in 1932 and studied filmmaking at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography – his short film The Steamroller and the Violin came in first place at 1961’s New York Student Film Festival. 

Acclaim would follow Tarkovsky for the rest of his career. His first film Ivan’s Childhood won the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion, while many of his later-career films took home prizes from the Cannes Film Festival. 

Outside of the awards, Tarkovsky’s impact on the art of cinema is profound. His work was immensely influential on film in the later 20th century, and many filmmakers today continue to praise his uniquely remarkable filmography. Don’t miss this opportunity to see a master at work!

Every Andrei Tarkovsky film at The Ritz

Ivan’s Childhood, 20th March

A war film about an orphaned child, Ivan’s Childhood is Tarkovsky’s earliest masterpiece about the human cost of war and an essential entry in the anti-war canon.

Andrei Rublev, 27th March

This lengthy biopic about the Russian painter of the same name struggled against Soviet censors, but has gone on to be considered one of the greatest films ever. The version shown at The Ritz is Tarkovsky’s preferred 183-minute cut.

Solaris, 3rd April

A monumental release in sci-fi cinema, Solaris was Tarkovsky’s response to the shallowness of Western sci-fi (even Kubrick’s 2001, if you can believe it). A classic of world cinema, Solaris was also one of Akira Kurosawa’s favourite films. 

Mirror, 10th April

More a visual poem than a traditional narrative film, Mirror is Tarkovsky operating in a stream-of-consciousness. Though initially polarising, it’s gone on to be widely considered his opus.  

Stalker, 17th April

Perhaps the most influential of all his films, Tarkovsky’s Stalker is a cerebral sci-fi tale with heavy, psychological themes. Based upon the Strugatsky brothers’ novel Roadside Picnic, this is a great chance to experience a widely appraised film in theatres. 

Nostalghia, 24th April

One of Tarkovsky’s most underseen works and his first abroad from the Soviet Union, Nostalghia won Best Director and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes for its autobiographical tale of a man feeling homesick in his research of a composer in Italy. 

The Sacrifice, 1st May

Tarkovsky’s final film was completed shortly before his death, and focuses on an intellectual attempting to bargain with God to stop a nuclear war. A widely regarded closing chapter on an illustrious career, don’t miss seeing it in cinemas. 

More information on the full program is available on The Ritz’s website.