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Robert: If I'm asked which
Tarkovsky film
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I regard most highly,
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I will usually answer the one
that I've seen most recently
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or the one that I'm watching
right now.
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Sometimes I go back and watch
"Ivan's Childhood,"
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his very first film, 1962.
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With "Andrei Rublev,"
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"Solaris,"
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"Mirror,"
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"Stalker," those films
are indisputable.
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Mitch: "Stalker" is a haunting
Soviet-era
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00:01:23,866 --> 00:01:25,302
science fiction movie
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in which stalkers are figures
who, for a price,
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will escort people into
this very dangerous area
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00:01:32,744 --> 00:01:34,616
called "The Zone."
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00:01:34,659 --> 00:01:38,663
This zone is considered
to be the site,
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possibly, of a UFO landing.
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[Speaking Russian]
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- Or some sort of
extraterrestrial event.
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00:01:51,894 --> 00:01:54,679
And it has been cordoned off
by the military,
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because inside of The Zone,
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there exists a place called
"The Room."
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00:02:03,732 --> 00:02:06,778
Mitch: And The Room is a place
where you will be granted
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00:02:06,822 --> 00:02:09,346
your deepest, most cherished
desires.
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00:02:11,827 --> 00:02:14,917
- Tarkovsky's got a particular
way of making films.
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00:02:16,310 --> 00:02:18,877
I mean, "Stalker,"
it created a kind of mystery
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00:02:18,921 --> 00:02:21,358
and a suspense
without any action.
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He can hold a shot
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so that you start thinking,
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00:02:27,234 --> 00:02:29,192
what's happening now?
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00:02:29,236 --> 00:02:31,673
But then the shot becomes
something else.
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00:02:31,716 --> 00:02:33,979
The shot sort of evolves,
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00:02:35,372 --> 00:02:37,157
just because of the time
you're actually observing it.
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00:02:38,941 --> 00:02:41,509
Denis Villeneuve has
a similar sensibility.
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00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,341
Sean: Like Carl Dreyer's
"The Passion of Joan of Arc,"
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Tarkovsky's camera is really
just concentrating
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00:02:51,736 --> 00:02:54,348
on the faces of the three
principal actors,
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00:02:54,391 --> 00:02:57,307
Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy,
who plays the stalker,
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00:02:57,351 --> 00:02:59,918
Nikolay Grinko,
who plays the scientist,
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00:02:59,962 --> 00:03:02,617
and Anatoliy Solonitsyn,
who plays the writer.
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00:03:04,140 --> 00:03:05,533
Stalker" does have this
reputation
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being a prophetic film.
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00:03:07,622 --> 00:03:10,320
It clearly wasn't Tarkovsky's
intention to make a film
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00:03:10,364 --> 00:03:13,236
about nuclear power
or ecological disaster,
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00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,020
but that's kind of there
in the film.
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00:03:16,457 --> 00:03:18,110
Robert: Of course Tarkovsky
did encourage these
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00:03:18,154 --> 00:03:19,808
sorts of wild interpretations,
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00:03:19,851 --> 00:03:22,332
whether it be ecological
disaster,
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00:03:22,376 --> 00:03:24,639
or as a prediction
of Chernobyl.
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00:03:27,424 --> 00:03:29,687
Roger: The myth that
surrounds the movie
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00:03:29,731 --> 00:03:31,602
becomes almost part
of the movie
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in some really strange way.
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The film is about belief,
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and there's been more myth
built up about the film
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00:03:39,262 --> 00:03:41,525
than actually is
in the actual story.
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00:03:43,919 --> 00:03:45,486
Sean: It really was,
you know, one of cinema's
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00:03:45,529 --> 00:03:47,270
most difficult shoots.
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00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:50,969
Problems with the lab
ruining the stock,
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00:03:51,013 --> 00:03:52,710
people being fired,
the earthquakes.
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00:03:54,712 --> 00:03:57,715
Since the film has been
completed,
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00:03:57,759 --> 00:03:59,761
a number of stories have
grown up around "Stalker"
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00:03:59,804 --> 00:04:01,806
to suggest that a lot
of the crew
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00:04:01,850 --> 00:04:04,200
actually became seriously ill
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00:04:04,244 --> 00:04:05,897
during the shooting
of "Stalker."
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00:04:05,941 --> 00:04:07,682
Roger: I don't think
those people
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00:04:07,725 --> 00:04:10,162
that were working on "Stalker"
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00:04:10,206 --> 00:04:12,252
realized the danger
that they might be in.
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00:04:13,688 --> 00:04:15,342
[Speaks Italian]
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00:04:21,478 --> 00:04:23,567
Robert: Several people
that I've met
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00:04:23,611 --> 00:04:25,265
experienced a central event
in their lives
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00:04:25,308 --> 00:04:27,615
while working on "Stalker."
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00:04:27,658 --> 00:04:29,573
When I moved to Chicago,
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00:04:29,617 --> 00:04:32,010
I started going up
to a used bookstore
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00:04:32,054 --> 00:04:34,317
that had old Soviet books
that I was interested in,
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00:04:34,361 --> 00:04:36,972
and I got talking
to the proprietor,
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Grigory Verkhovsky.
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And only after some time
did I learn
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that he had actually worked
on "Stalker,"
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and had all these photographs,
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had all these stories to tell.
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[Speaking Russian]
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Robert: Over the years,
I think "Stalker" has become
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00:05:56,443 --> 00:05:59,097
the central film in Tarkovsky's
oeuvre for many,
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the film that had the greatest
mystique about it.
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00:06:41,401 --> 00:06:44,534
Mitch: One of the things
that heightens the mystery,
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00:06:44,578 --> 00:06:48,103
and the extraordinary
qualities of the movie
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is that it was made
in the Soviet era,
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00:06:53,064 --> 00:06:56,328
in a society that at that time
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00:06:56,372 --> 00:06:58,853
was officially atheistic,
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00:06:58,896 --> 00:07:00,768
was ardently materialistic,
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00:07:00,811 --> 00:07:03,423
and here is a film
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00:07:03,466 --> 00:07:04,424
with extraordinary
metaphysical themes.
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00:07:07,949 --> 00:07:10,430
Sean: Tarkovsky came across
"Stalker" in 1973,
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00:07:11,996 --> 00:07:13,737
when he first read the novel,
"Roadside Picnic,"
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00:07:13,781 --> 00:07:15,826
by the Strugatsky brothers.
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00:07:15,870 --> 00:07:19,177
It was Tarkovsky's second foray
into science fiction.
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00:07:19,221 --> 00:07:21,136
He'd made "Solaris,"
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00:07:21,179 --> 00:07:23,791
based on a novel
by Stanislaw Lem in 1972.
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00:07:25,923 --> 00:07:28,317
And science fiction was seen
by the Soviet authorities
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00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,450
as a safe genre.
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00:08:36,951 --> 00:08:38,561
[Crowd shouts and cheers]
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00:08:40,084 --> 00:08:43,305
- "Stalker" was beset with
problems from the get-go.
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00:08:45,002 --> 00:08:46,613
The film was due
to start shooting
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00:08:46,656 --> 00:08:49,006
towards the end of 1976
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00:08:49,050 --> 00:08:51,356
in the Soviet Republic
of Tajikistan,
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00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,010
in an area called Isfara.
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00:09:11,551 --> 00:09:12,639
Robert: The first of the film's
problems
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00:09:12,682 --> 00:09:14,597
happened at this point,
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00:09:14,641 --> 00:09:16,164
there was an earthquake
in that area,
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00:09:16,207 --> 00:09:17,948
rendering all of the locations
they'd selected
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00:09:17,992 --> 00:09:19,559
completely unusable.
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00:09:32,310 --> 00:09:34,878
- So Tarkovsky got his location
scouts to start looking around
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00:09:34,922 --> 00:09:37,315
in other parts of the Soviet
Union,
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00:09:37,359 --> 00:09:38,882
and they eventually
settled on Estonia.
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00:09:59,250 --> 00:10:02,819
Arvo: When I was a student
in Moscow Film School in 1974,
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00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:06,606
I was terribly lucky,
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00:10:08,085 --> 00:10:11,349
because I met my favorite
filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.
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00:10:14,265 --> 00:10:16,833
When they came to prepare
the production
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00:10:16,877 --> 00:10:20,010
of the "Stalker" in Tallinn,
125
00:10:22,099 --> 00:10:24,754
I asked permission
from Tarkovsky
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00:10:24,798 --> 00:10:28,628
to come to shooting ground
of "Stalker."
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00:10:30,978 --> 00:10:33,458
And actually I helped him also
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00:10:34,851 --> 00:10:37,027
to find some locations.
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00:10:39,116 --> 00:10:41,075
You see these letters.
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00:10:41,118 --> 00:10:43,555
"U.N." United Nations.
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00:10:43,599 --> 00:10:46,471
They were painted
for "Stalker" film.
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00:10:46,515 --> 00:10:48,648
And right here was entrance
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00:10:49,736 --> 00:10:51,781
into The Zone.
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00:10:51,825 --> 00:10:53,653
Get closer.
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00:10:56,743 --> 00:10:59,833
[reads] "These letters were
painted on the chimney in 1978,
136
00:11:01,356 --> 00:11:03,706
while shooting Andrei
Tarkovsky's cult movie,
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00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:05,577
"Stalker."
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00:11:05,621 --> 00:11:08,102
In the scene with the busy
United Nations soldiers
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00:11:08,145 --> 00:11:11,235
at the gate of the mysterious
Zone,
140
00:11:11,279 --> 00:11:14,804
the letters can barely be seen
through the smoke and steam.
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00:11:15,979 --> 00:11:18,808
The plaque was opened
on May 7th, 2008,
142
00:11:20,157 --> 00:11:24,161
to commemorate the 30th
anniversary of this...
143
00:11:25,380 --> 00:11:26,686
very good film."
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00:11:27,904 --> 00:11:29,689
Let's play the scene
from the "Stalker."
145
00:11:30,777 --> 00:11:33,040
I am on Land Rover,
146
00:11:33,083 --> 00:11:35,477
and the train,
147
00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:37,392
with the two wagons, passed.
148
00:11:37,435 --> 00:11:40,003
So now I-- oh! Go.
149
00:11:41,352 --> 00:11:43,137
On the tracks,
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00:11:43,180 --> 00:11:44,747
[Land Rover rumbles]
151
00:11:44,791 --> 00:11:46,706
now the soldiers notice,
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00:11:47,794 --> 00:11:49,665
[Siren wails]
153
00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:51,972
and there was the projector,
very heavy,
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00:11:52,015 --> 00:11:54,235
like fog and mist.
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00:11:54,278 --> 00:11:56,628
Land Rover turns
around the corner,
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00:11:56,672 --> 00:11:58,543
and disappears.
157
00:12:00,284 --> 00:12:02,678
On the shooting ground,
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00:12:02,722 --> 00:12:06,421
it was strictly not allowed
anybody to take photographs.
159
00:12:08,336 --> 00:12:11,339
So I hid in the bushes
during the rehearsals,
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00:12:13,254 --> 00:12:16,170
and my first shots were made
through the branches.
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00:12:18,563 --> 00:12:20,522
I printed the images,
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00:12:20,565 --> 00:12:22,785
and showed to Andrei.
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00:12:22,829 --> 00:12:25,092
He was surprised,
and said, "yeah!"
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00:12:26,833 --> 00:12:30,140
For example, I shot in Mosfilm
Studios,
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daydreaming Tarkovsky.
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00:12:35,232 --> 00:12:38,540
And here, my favorite
cinematographer this time,
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00:12:38,583 --> 00:12:41,412
Georgy Rerberg,
also on the "Stalker."
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00:12:43,588 --> 00:12:47,505
I felt like it was second time
going to film school.
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00:12:49,507 --> 00:12:53,381
I saw how these masters
are doing everything
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00:12:53,424 --> 00:12:55,122
by their hands.
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00:12:55,165 --> 00:12:56,776
It was... muah!
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00:12:57,864 --> 00:12:59,430
wonderful.
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00:13:00,867 --> 00:13:03,870
Andrei was very passionate
about cinematic image,
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00:13:05,175 --> 00:13:06,786
and mise en scène.
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00:13:06,829 --> 00:13:09,266
But in this case,
first time,
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00:13:09,310 --> 00:13:12,052
he was arranging all
the moments of camera,
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00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,187
and cinematographer
has nothing to do.
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00:13:18,710 --> 00:13:20,974
- Tarkovsky is, if you like,
the quintessential auteur.
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00:13:21,017 --> 00:13:23,324
He liked to quote Tolstoy:
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00:13:23,367 --> 00:13:25,369
"Never trouble others with
what you can do yourself."
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00:13:26,631 --> 00:13:28,198
The problem with that was
it made Tarkovsky
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00:13:28,242 --> 00:13:29,809
look a bit like an egomaniac.
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00:13:53,789 --> 00:13:55,965
- Andrei is behind the camera.
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00:13:56,009 --> 00:13:58,968
Actors are working before
the camera.
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00:13:59,012 --> 00:14:02,058
But cinematographer
standing aside,
186
00:14:02,102 --> 00:14:04,234
and scratching his head.
187
00:14:04,278 --> 00:14:05,932
Nothing to do.
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00:14:05,975 --> 00:14:09,544
So Rerberg started drinking,
189
00:14:10,850 --> 00:14:13,374
fucking around
with the young ladies,
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00:14:14,723 --> 00:14:16,812
and um,
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00:14:16,856 --> 00:14:18,858
it made Andrei Tarkovsky mad.
192
00:14:21,164 --> 00:14:23,253
The relations grew worse.
193
00:14:25,386 --> 00:14:27,823
- On top of that, Tarkovsky
apparently had a feeling
194
00:14:27,867 --> 00:14:30,043
that there was something
wrong with the stock.
195
00:14:30,086 --> 00:14:32,088
And he kept asking the lab
to "please check."
196
00:14:41,706 --> 00:14:44,318
Arvo: They were shooting
already six weeks,
197
00:14:45,885 --> 00:14:48,322
not seeing any rushes.
198
00:14:48,365 --> 00:14:51,412
- For some reason, and I don't
have a good answer why,
199
00:14:51,455 --> 00:14:54,284
um, they did not check
the rushes.
200
00:14:54,328 --> 00:14:56,417
Jay: They weren't checking
the rushes.
201
00:14:57,809 --> 00:14:58,985
- Really?
202
00:14:59,028 --> 00:15:01,074
Well, that's--
[Laughs]
203
00:15:01,117 --> 00:15:02,902
that seems pretty crazy,
doesn't it?
204
00:15:04,164 --> 00:15:07,602
- Tarkovsky was using
a new batch of Kodak
205
00:15:07,645 --> 00:15:10,474
that had been given to him
by a producer in West Berlin.
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00:15:12,085 --> 00:15:15,175
Roger: The first time they shot
"Stalker" it was on 5247,
207
00:15:15,218 --> 00:15:17,090
which at the time
was a new Kodak stock.
208
00:15:30,625 --> 00:15:32,627
- They did the whole shooting
209
00:15:32,670 --> 00:15:34,846
and then returned to Moscow
to check the rushes.
210
00:15:34,890 --> 00:15:37,153
Sean: Finally they were able
to watch the rushes,
211
00:15:37,197 --> 00:15:39,286
and somebody described it
as um,
212
00:15:39,329 --> 00:15:41,375
looking at though it had been
shot through an aquarium.
213
00:15:41,418 --> 00:15:43,159
- It was all dark and green.
214
00:15:59,436 --> 00:16:01,177
- But how does that make sense,
215
00:16:01,221 --> 00:16:03,571
when any cinematographer
in the world
216
00:16:03,614 --> 00:16:07,444
would shoot some tests
with the film stock.
217
00:16:07,488 --> 00:16:10,447
Also, because there's one shot
from the original version
218
00:16:10,491 --> 00:16:14,277
which is of this kind of
rolling pollution on a lake,
219
00:16:14,321 --> 00:16:15,975
that is in the final film.
220
00:16:17,846 --> 00:16:19,674
It was certainly not
dark and green.
221
00:16:19,717 --> 00:16:21,458
So they used that shot,
222
00:16:21,502 --> 00:16:23,112
but they're saying
that shot was all right,
223
00:16:23,156 --> 00:16:24,940
but the rest of the footage
wasn't?
224
00:16:24,984 --> 00:16:26,550
So it doesn't make sense.
225
00:16:26,594 --> 00:16:28,944
- So opinions differ on what
the precise problem was.
226
00:16:28,988 --> 00:16:31,642
Tarkovsky professed himself
completely dissatisfied
227
00:16:31,686 --> 00:16:33,688
with the-simply the quality
of the image.
228
00:16:33,731 --> 00:16:35,864
But he refused to continue
working
229
00:16:35,907 --> 00:16:37,300
with what had been shot.
230
00:16:38,954 --> 00:16:41,652
- Hey, I wouldn't put that
past a director
231
00:16:41,696 --> 00:16:43,350
who realized that,
232
00:16:43,393 --> 00:16:45,004
wouldn't it be nice
to shoot it again?
233
00:16:46,744 --> 00:16:48,485
Maybe it was the way
the lab printed it.
234
00:16:48,529 --> 00:16:50,313
Did anybody check the negative?
235
00:16:52,141 --> 00:16:54,230
Now, the negative was burned,
right, later.
236
00:16:54,274 --> 00:16:56,232
So it doesn't exist anyway.
237
00:16:56,276 --> 00:16:58,626
So now the myth can grow
even more, you know?
238
00:16:58,669 --> 00:17:00,541
[Laughs]
239
00:17:00,584 --> 00:17:03,326
The myth is so like The Room
in the film isn't it,
240
00:17:03,370 --> 00:17:05,589
you know, it just kind
of expands and takes on
241
00:17:05,633 --> 00:17:07,113
its own sort of dimensions.
242
00:17:30,701 --> 00:17:32,964
- Andrei decided that
243
00:17:33,008 --> 00:17:34,879
Georgy Rerberg is to be blamed.
244
00:17:36,794 --> 00:17:39,319
Robert: Other participants
have suggested that
245
00:17:39,362 --> 00:17:42,452
Tarkovsky was using a small
problem
246
00:17:42,496 --> 00:17:44,324
that perhaps was surmountable
247
00:17:44,367 --> 00:17:47,022
in order to get rid
of a cinematographer
248
00:17:47,066 --> 00:17:49,459
he had become dissatisfied with
for one reason or another.
249
00:17:51,244 --> 00:17:54,334
- They spent already
approximately 65%
250
00:17:55,552 --> 00:17:57,598
of the whole budget
of the movie,
251
00:17:58,860 --> 00:18:01,819
and result was very close
to zero.
252
00:18:03,169 --> 00:18:05,127
It was a scandal.
253
00:18:05,171 --> 00:18:08,087
On 23rd of July,
254
00:18:08,130 --> 00:18:10,654
they stopped the production
totally.
255
00:18:10,698 --> 00:18:13,092
After that,
Andrei got heart attack.
256
00:19:08,059 --> 00:19:09,496
Jay: Yeah, that's fine.
257
00:19:09,539 --> 00:19:12,455
- He was put to hospital
for four weeks,
258
00:19:15,763 --> 00:19:17,852
and no visitors allowed.
259
00:19:19,593 --> 00:19:21,899
So only thing he could do,
260
00:19:21,943 --> 00:19:24,772
think again why the Hell
261
00:19:26,513 --> 00:19:29,298
the production went so badly.
262
00:19:30,865 --> 00:19:33,215
And I would say...
263
00:19:33,259 --> 00:19:36,871
that director Andrei Tarkovsky
was not ready
264
00:19:38,742 --> 00:19:42,181
to make the film on 1977.
265
00:19:44,792 --> 00:19:47,751
Andrei Tarkovsky had no clarity
266
00:19:47,795 --> 00:19:51,015
what he wants the movie to be.
267
00:19:53,061 --> 00:19:55,933
Even such a genius like
Andrei was,
268
00:19:55,977 --> 00:19:57,935
he's human.
He's not sure.
269
00:19:59,067 --> 00:20:01,156
He's afraid.
270
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:02,679
He has big doubts.
271
00:20:04,768 --> 00:20:06,596
After heart attack,
272
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,511
he was like a different man.
273
00:20:10,992 --> 00:20:14,256
There was a clarity
in the mind of Tarkovsky.
274
00:20:16,650 --> 00:20:21,263
He reconsidered the full
structure and script,
275
00:20:22,830 --> 00:20:25,180
and the image of "Stalker."
276
00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:27,443
Now director Tarkovsky knew
277
00:20:28,618 --> 00:20:30,968
exactly what he is doing.
278
00:20:33,667 --> 00:20:35,451
Robert: Tarkovsky had to go
back on location,
279
00:20:35,495 --> 00:20:38,062
and shoot the entire
film again,
280
00:20:38,106 --> 00:20:39,760
on half the money.
281
00:20:41,022 --> 00:20:42,545
With a new cinematographer,
282
00:20:42,589 --> 00:20:44,591
with a mostly new crew,
but with the same cast.
283
00:20:46,462 --> 00:20:49,160
This time, they were checking
the rushes.
284
00:20:49,204 --> 00:20:53,774
♪♪♪
285
00:20:55,036 --> 00:20:57,081
- Apart from the earthquake,
286
00:20:57,125 --> 00:20:59,083
the lab ruining the footage,
287
00:20:59,127 --> 00:21:01,172
Tarkovsky having a heart
attack,
288
00:21:01,216 --> 00:21:03,740
another problem that beset
the production was sickness.
289
00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:16,422
Sean: Tarkovsky himself died
of cancer
290
00:22:16,465 --> 00:22:18,859
in 1986 at the age of 54.
291
00:22:20,339 --> 00:22:22,732
This was only seven years
after completing "Stalker."
292
00:22:24,255 --> 00:22:26,214
One of the rivers they
were shooting on
293
00:22:26,257 --> 00:22:27,911
to the east of Tallinn,
294
00:22:27,955 --> 00:22:30,566
had various industrial waste
flowing into it,
295
00:22:30,610 --> 00:22:33,003
and a number of crew members
developed rashes,
296
00:22:33,047 --> 00:22:34,701
and fell sick during
production.
297
00:23:38,547 --> 00:23:40,680
Roger: Is that a myth or not,
298
00:23:40,723 --> 00:23:42,769
that these number of people
died
299
00:23:42,812 --> 00:23:45,511
because they spent those many,
many weeks
300
00:23:45,554 --> 00:23:47,513
kind of lying in the pollution
301
00:23:47,556 --> 00:23:49,819
of these old Soviet factories?
302
00:23:49,863 --> 00:23:51,430
I don't know.
303
00:24:29,293 --> 00:24:31,905
Jay: Would you lie in pollution
304
00:24:31,948 --> 00:24:33,472
to work with Tarkovsky?
- [Laughs]
305
00:24:35,691 --> 00:24:38,825
Uh, I probably would have
done back then, yes.
306
00:24:41,262 --> 00:24:42,829
I probably would've done.
307
00:24:42,872 --> 00:24:44,831
I mean, I do think the man
was a genius.
308
00:24:44,874 --> 00:24:47,311
Maybe if I'd known
it was pollution,
309
00:24:47,355 --> 00:24:49,662
and I was gonna die
30 years later, no.
310
00:24:49,705 --> 00:24:51,794
But in the moment,
311
00:24:51,838 --> 00:24:54,318
and being asked to shoot
a shot up to my--
312
00:24:54,362 --> 00:24:56,495
up to my waist in this
pollution,
313
00:24:56,538 --> 00:24:57,713
I might well have done it.
I don't know.
314
00:24:59,628 --> 00:25:01,369
Sean: Another one of the
strange prophetic aspects
315
00:25:01,412 --> 00:25:04,154
of "Stalker" is that during
the dream sequence,
316
00:25:04,198 --> 00:25:06,330
when the Stalker's wife
is reciting
317
00:25:06,374 --> 00:25:08,724
from the Book of Revelation,
you're going over a gun,
318
00:25:10,117 --> 00:25:11,988
and some medical equipment,
319
00:25:12,032 --> 00:25:14,121
and the van Eyck
Ghent Altarpiece,
320
00:25:14,164 --> 00:25:16,166
you also see a calendar,
321
00:25:16,210 --> 00:25:17,733
a page torn off
from the calendar.
322
00:25:19,213 --> 00:25:21,650
And it says December the 28th,
323
00:25:21,694 --> 00:25:23,565
and it's under the water,
floating like a leaf.
324
00:25:23,609 --> 00:25:26,525
December the 28th, 1986,
325
00:25:26,568 --> 00:25:28,396
was Tarkovsky's last
day alive.
326
00:26:28,674 --> 00:26:30,414
Andres: Most of the people
who are interested
327
00:26:30,458 --> 00:26:32,982
are-are true afficionados
of you know,
328
00:26:34,549 --> 00:26:36,420
the-the culture of film,
329
00:26:36,464 --> 00:26:39,554
and I guess it's a kind
of a secretive cult,
330
00:26:39,598 --> 00:26:41,687
[Laughs] if you could
call it that.
331
00:26:43,645 --> 00:26:46,343
Yeah, cult of Tarkovsky,
or the cult of "Stalker."
332
00:26:48,476 --> 00:26:51,914
Arvo: People from very
different places
333
00:26:51,958 --> 00:26:56,179
are coming and ask me
to take them into Zone.
334
00:26:58,399 --> 00:27:01,620
During these years
I guided to The Zone,
335
00:27:02,838 --> 00:27:05,188
I'm sure more than
a hundred people.
336
00:27:05,232 --> 00:27:07,843
Now we really get stalking.
337
00:27:09,018 --> 00:27:10,629
That's it.
338
00:27:12,065 --> 00:27:13,849
Andres: So, I was interested
339
00:27:13,893 --> 00:27:16,983
in kind of stories of misfits,
340
00:27:17,026 --> 00:27:18,811
and other kinds of stalkers
341
00:27:22,641 --> 00:27:24,468
wandering around you know,
nowadays.
342
00:27:24,512 --> 00:27:26,166
- Now, get in.
343
00:27:26,209 --> 00:27:28,472
- You can still visit
these landscapes,
344
00:27:28,516 --> 00:27:31,650
and feel that you are
inside The Zone.
345
00:27:35,088 --> 00:27:37,394
- Now, we are on the location
346
00:27:38,569 --> 00:27:39,875
one of the first scenes.
347
00:27:41,660 --> 00:27:43,662
Alfa Romeo, three meters.
348
00:27:45,838 --> 00:27:47,927
And the car moved this way.
349
00:27:49,363 --> 00:27:51,974
This is real place
where it happened.
350
00:27:53,889 --> 00:27:55,717
That's it.
351
00:27:55,761 --> 00:27:57,719
[Laughs] Good!
352
00:27:57,763 --> 00:27:59,634
That's it.
353
00:27:59,678 --> 00:28:01,201
- You are standing on it?
354
00:28:01,244 --> 00:28:02,681
[Both laugh]
355
00:28:04,378 --> 00:28:06,685
Anders: Most of the filming was
done in the center of Tallinn.
356
00:28:08,121 --> 00:28:10,427
- Welcome to Stalker Street!
357
00:28:10,471 --> 00:28:11,907
Stalker Kaik.
358
00:28:14,693 --> 00:28:17,521
- Look at these walls.
Come on here.
359
00:28:17,565 --> 00:28:19,567
- And you can still find um,
360
00:28:19,610 --> 00:28:21,438
some of the locations
361
00:28:21,482 --> 00:28:23,832
fairly well preserved.
362
00:28:23,876 --> 00:28:26,705
- [Makes motor sound]
Coming.
363
00:28:26,748 --> 00:28:28,532
- You can actually sort of
find yourself in...
364
00:28:29,969 --> 00:28:32,188
um, well, The Zone.
365
00:28:32,232 --> 00:28:35,714
- Something--
Now I try to get.
366
00:28:35,757 --> 00:28:37,759
Is it now?
367
00:28:37,803 --> 00:28:38,934
[Engine rumbles]
368
00:28:38,978 --> 00:28:41,502
"AT," Andrei Tarkovsky.
369
00:28:42,677 --> 00:28:44,157
Do you remember?
370
00:28:45,593 --> 00:28:47,334
[Laughs]
371
00:28:51,991 --> 00:28:54,471
We are in the beginning
of Zone.
372
00:28:57,431 --> 00:28:58,867
If you remember,
373
00:28:58,911 --> 00:29:02,088
all these war machines
were over there.
374
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:06,701
And in the film,
375
00:29:06,745 --> 00:29:09,269
no living human creature
except Stalker
376
00:29:10,574 --> 00:29:12,228
never goes there.
377
00:29:12,272 --> 00:29:19,018
♪♪♪
378
00:29:19,061 --> 00:29:20,933
Dan Rather: Good evening,
this is the CBS Evening News.
379
00:29:20,976 --> 00:29:22,804
Dan Rather reporting.
380
00:29:22,848 --> 00:29:25,459
Every indication is that
it was a serious accident.
381
00:29:25,502 --> 00:29:28,070
The tightly controlled
Soviet government press
382
00:29:28,114 --> 00:29:31,073
calls it a nuclear power plant
reactor accident north of Kyiv.
383
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,208
The Soviets only hinted
at possible casualties.
384
00:29:35,251 --> 00:29:37,819
They say flat out
a reactor was damaged.
385
00:29:37,863 --> 00:29:41,301
Narrator: Human error stretches
the limits of technology again
386
00:29:41,344 --> 00:29:44,304
when the cooling system in
the Number 4 Power Reactor
387
00:29:44,347 --> 00:29:46,523
at Chernobyl fails,
388
00:29:46,567 --> 00:29:49,831
heating the fuel rods to over
4,000 degrees Fahrenheit,
389
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:52,312
and causing a massive meltdown.
[Siren blares]
390
00:29:52,355 --> 00:29:54,880
The buildup of gases
in the reactor
391
00:29:54,923 --> 00:29:56,969
blows the roof off
the building,
392
00:29:57,012 --> 00:29:59,275
beginning the rapid spread
of huge clouds
393
00:29:59,319 --> 00:30:01,277
of deadly radiation
into the atmosphere.
394
00:30:03,105 --> 00:30:13,159
♪♪♪
395
00:30:13,202 --> 00:30:15,378
- One of the rumors surrounding
"Stalker"
396
00:30:15,422 --> 00:30:17,467
is that it predicted,
397
00:30:17,511 --> 00:30:19,339
or prophesied in some way,
398
00:30:19,382 --> 00:30:21,645
the Chernobyl nuclear
accident in 1986.
399
00:30:23,256 --> 00:30:25,475
There are uncanny parallels
with Tarkovsky's film.
400
00:30:27,695 --> 00:30:30,089
Robert: The professor brings
this small bomb into The Zone
401
00:30:30,132 --> 00:30:31,873
with the idea of destroying it.
402
00:30:41,317 --> 00:30:43,102
- The professor in the film
403
00:30:43,145 --> 00:30:45,017
gets the bomb out of
fourth bunker.
404
00:30:54,156 --> 00:30:56,202
- People have pointed out
that at Chernobyl,
405
00:30:56,245 --> 00:30:58,160
it was the fourth reactor
that exploded.
406
00:30:59,770 --> 00:31:01,947
So they're saying,
well, here's Tarkovsky
407
00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:04,340
almost pre-empting the actual
number of the reactor.
408
00:31:06,342 --> 00:31:08,867
Robert: But in a way
it's the radiation
409
00:31:08,910 --> 00:31:11,608
in the film that is really
the atomic element there,
410
00:31:13,219 --> 00:31:15,786
and that has caused people to
relate the film to Chernobyl,
411
00:31:15,830 --> 00:31:17,527
which happened a few years
later.
412
00:31:19,094 --> 00:31:23,229
Sean: When the reactor melted
down in 1986,
413
00:31:23,272 --> 00:31:25,796
the town of Pripyat
was sealed off,
414
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:27,886
and they created a zone
415
00:31:27,929 --> 00:31:29,452
very much like the zone
in "Stalker."
416
00:31:31,237 --> 00:31:33,282
- I don't know who found
this word,
417
00:31:33,326 --> 00:31:34,980
"stalker," "stalking,"
418
00:31:35,023 --> 00:31:37,156
but now it's extremely popular.
419
00:31:39,375 --> 00:31:42,074
So-called stalkers
are making money
420
00:31:42,117 --> 00:31:45,991
bringing people to zone
of Chernobyl.
421
00:31:49,037 --> 00:31:50,865
And uh,
422
00:31:50,909 --> 00:31:53,607
believe that they will not get
radiation.
423
00:31:53,650 --> 00:31:55,130
[Static crackles]
424
00:31:56,262 --> 00:31:58,133
They believe.
425
00:31:58,177 --> 00:32:01,049
[Chuckles] It's strange.
426
00:33:40,322 --> 00:33:43,847
♪♪♪
427
00:33:43,891 --> 00:33:46,372
Oksana: My name is Oksana.
428
00:33:46,415 --> 00:33:49,505
I'm working as a tour guide
for two years.
429
00:33:52,552 --> 00:33:55,163
Before, officially,
it was a kind of um,
430
00:33:55,207 --> 00:33:57,252
studying trips.
431
00:33:57,296 --> 00:33:59,559
We were like teachers.
432
00:33:59,602 --> 00:34:01,909
This building is the Hotel
Polica,
433
00:34:01,952 --> 00:34:03,911
and this one is right
behind it.
434
00:34:03,954 --> 00:34:05,826
It was the city council.
435
00:34:05,869 --> 00:34:07,958
We teach you about radiation.
436
00:34:08,002 --> 00:34:09,960
We teach you about the history
of the place.
437
00:34:10,004 --> 00:34:12,224
But now, officially,
438
00:34:12,267 --> 00:34:14,922
due to the government of
Ukraine, it became a tourism.
439
00:34:17,446 --> 00:34:19,361
[Woman laughs]
440
00:34:19,405 --> 00:34:21,537
- In the early beginning,
441
00:34:21,581 --> 00:34:23,409
there were a lot of people
442
00:34:23,452 --> 00:34:25,237
who were just passionate
because of the film.
443
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:27,804
And later, of course,
444
00:34:27,848 --> 00:34:30,590
they started to use the words
from the film,
445
00:34:30,633 --> 00:34:32,461
the phrases from the film.
446
00:34:33,854 --> 00:34:36,030
- I am absolutely sure
447
00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:38,815
everybody who goes
to the zone there,
448
00:34:40,382 --> 00:34:42,689
they have seen film "Stalker"
at least five times.
449
00:34:42,732 --> 00:34:44,734
[Laughs]
450
00:34:44,778 --> 00:34:47,868
Some of them know it
from the heart, you know?
451
00:34:47,911 --> 00:34:49,391
[Laughs]
452
00:35:29,736 --> 00:35:31,216
♪♪♪
453
00:36:08,862 --> 00:36:10,994
[Beeping]
454
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,635
- So now we are close
to the heart of The Zone.
455
00:36:44,550 --> 00:36:46,769
The Magic Chamber
is over there.
456
00:36:46,813 --> 00:36:49,424
Make up your wishes.
[Laughs]
457
00:36:51,383 --> 00:36:55,213
♪♪♪
458
00:36:55,256 --> 00:36:57,563
All of the rooms of this
power plant
459
00:36:57,606 --> 00:37:00,740
were recreated in Mosfilm
Studios.
460
00:37:02,481 --> 00:37:05,266
What is exactly the same
461
00:37:05,310 --> 00:37:07,921
are these concrete
covered by moss.
462
00:37:12,882 --> 00:37:14,623
It was for me like
a pilgrimage.
463
00:37:16,234 --> 00:37:18,584
Because I knew the people,
I knew Andrei.
464
00:37:21,587 --> 00:37:24,764
And many of them already
passed away.
465
00:37:27,723 --> 00:37:30,552
I had very close feeling,
466
00:37:31,901 --> 00:37:34,339
like, years later I went
to Jerusalem,
467
00:37:36,036 --> 00:37:37,733
and visited places where...
468
00:37:40,258 --> 00:37:41,520
Jesus Christ was...
469
00:37:42,999 --> 00:37:44,827
born, buried.
470
00:37:46,351 --> 00:37:48,135
Yeah, pilgrimage.
471
00:37:48,178 --> 00:37:49,571
You see these two windows.
472
00:37:50,703 --> 00:37:53,096
Behind those windows,
473
00:37:53,140 --> 00:37:55,490
this Magic Chamber
474
00:37:56,970 --> 00:37:59,320
where your human dreams
or wishes
475
00:37:59,364 --> 00:38:01,148
will be fulfilled.
476
00:38:01,191 --> 00:38:02,802
This was there.
477
00:38:06,371 --> 00:38:08,242
Jay: If you could
enter the room,
478
00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:09,896
what would you wish for?
479
00:38:13,900 --> 00:38:15,380
- I was 29 years old,
480
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,906
uh, just graduated film school.
481
00:38:21,951 --> 00:38:24,519
I-I didn't enter the room.
482
00:38:24,563 --> 00:38:26,304
But if I would,
483
00:38:29,176 --> 00:38:31,918
my wish maybe could be
that someday,
484
00:38:33,354 --> 00:38:36,923
I would like to do
really good films
485
00:38:36,966 --> 00:38:39,142
like Andrei Tarkovsky,
486
00:38:40,318 --> 00:38:41,449
on the same level.
487
00:38:43,886 --> 00:38:45,758
Andres: Everybody can make up
their own minds
488
00:38:45,801 --> 00:38:47,325
about what The Zone is.
489
00:38:48,674 --> 00:38:52,242
I think this uncertainty
is what captures
490
00:38:52,286 --> 00:38:53,809
people's imagination.
491
00:38:55,855 --> 00:38:57,944
It's a bit like a Japanese
garden or something.
492
00:38:59,424 --> 00:39:02,035
You see the stones
around you,
493
00:39:02,078 --> 00:39:04,864
and it's some kind of
a healing experience.
494
00:39:06,822 --> 00:39:08,433
It's-it's a good place
to go to, yeah.
495
00:39:10,348 --> 00:39:13,655
Jay: Do you think there's
a magic to the real locations
496
00:39:13,699 --> 00:39:15,657
as there was in The Zone
in the film?
497
00:39:17,833 --> 00:39:19,357
- [Sighs]
498
00:39:21,097 --> 00:39:22,925
I believe there is something,
yeah.
499
00:39:26,494 --> 00:39:29,236
One young lady asked me,
500
00:39:29,279 --> 00:39:32,108
Arvo, please bring me
to The Zone,
501
00:39:33,806 --> 00:39:36,417
and show me where the Stalker
was laying down.
502
00:39:38,288 --> 00:39:42,075
Her twin sister died
three weeks ago.
503
00:39:44,991 --> 00:39:46,819
I left her there
for 20 minutes.
504
00:39:48,386 --> 00:39:50,388
And when we meet after that,
505
00:39:51,519 --> 00:39:53,391
she was totally changed.
506
00:39:54,696 --> 00:39:57,133
She was calm and balanced.
507
00:39:58,352 --> 00:40:00,180
I don't know what happened,
508
00:40:00,223 --> 00:40:02,965
but it is a fact
that she was changed.
509
00:40:05,707 --> 00:40:08,493
That what I saw
with my own eyes.
510
00:40:10,233 --> 00:40:12,497
I have no explanation.
511
00:40:16,022 --> 00:40:23,986
♪♪♪
512
00:40:24,030 --> 00:40:32,995
♪♪♪
513
00:40:33,039 --> 00:40:42,004
♪♪♪
514
00:40:42,048 --> 00:40:51,013
♪♪♪
515
00:40:51,057 --> 00:41:00,022
♪♪♪
516
00:41:00,066 --> 00:41:09,031
♪♪♪
517
00:41:09,075 --> 00:41:13,035
♪♪♪
518
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