Once one of the Soviet Union’s top filmmakers, Andrei Tarkovsky has become one of the most legendary and recognized directors in global cinema. Tarkovsky was born to a well-known poet in the Soviet Union and Russia, Arseny Aleksandrovich Tarkovsky, and it was the education his father instilled in him that fostered the development of his unique visual style. Soon after graduating from film school in Moscow, Tarkovsky came out with his first feature film: Ivan’s Childhood. Within a decade, he had created some of his most iconic movies.
During his brief lifetime — he, unfortunately, passed away at 54 due to lung cancer — he only made seven movies, but these films forever changed the way directors and filmmakers approached cinema as an art form. They have often been described as visual poetry, dripping in a particular brand of richness only noted in a Tarkovsky. Yet, at the same time, their subjects could only belong to the auteur himself as well. These are Andrei Tarkovsky’s best movies ranked.
7 The Sacrifice
Sandrew
The Sacrifice was Tarkovsky’s final film before his death, as he passed away in the same year that the movie was completed. A former Swedish actor turned journalist and critic (Erland Josephson) grapples with a series of personal issues: while his life seems pretty idyllic, his son is mute due to a throat operation, and he struggles with the impacts of modernization and change on his everyday life. The Sacrifice dwells on themes of religion in one’s life, as Josephson’s character is trying to plead with divine power (God) to stop what he thinks will be the nuclear age.
6 Mirror
Mosfilm
Released in 1975, Mirror is a nonlinear recollection of a man named Aleksei. It splits into three different timelines: childhood, adolescence, and when he has become a 40-year-old man. In each of the narratives, something specific happens as a milestone to distinguish itself from the era before it, although the present-day Aleksei is only really seen through the lens of the voiceover. The initial reactions to Mirror were highly divided and split among critics and audience members, but now Mirror is considered to be one of the best films ever made.
5 Solaris
Solaris is the Soviet-era science fiction movie the world never thought it needed. It was adapted from a 1961 book of the same name, and it grounds itself in the concept of a space station orbiting a fictional planet (named Solaris). A psychologist is sent to the space station to help figure out whether it is worth continuing the mission there, but he discovers the crew members have fallen ill and are going through emotional crises. The longer he stays there, the more he finds himself susceptible to whatever has afflicted his fellow researchers.
4 Ivan’s Childhood
Ivan’s Childhood was Tarkovsky’s debut in the film arena, and it did not disappoint. An orphaned boy named Ivan lost his parents during World War II when the Germans began to invade the Soviet Union. Featuring a nonlinear narrative, the plot jumps across time to show how the boy joined the war efforts after his parents’ deaths, effectively ending his childhood as he becomes a soldier. Ivan’s Childhood is a war movie that refuses to glorify the impacts of devastating conflict through the lens of one traumatized boy.
3 Nostalghia
The joint Italian-Soviet film Nostalghia is one of Tarkovsky’s most remarkable movies. It was the first time he had made a movie outside his native country, and the movie utilizes long, dreamlike sequences to add to this sense of feeling like there is no ground beneath one’s feet. A Russian writer leaves home to research a composer, but when he arrives in Italy, where he will now be residing, he yearns to be back in the homeland. Although the plot seems aimless at times, the journey of getting there is what matters with Nostalghia.
2 Andrei Rublev
Although it was only his second movie, Andrei Rublev is now known as one of his best-known works. Its setting is 1400s Russia, which was the turning point where Russia began to politically shift into an empire with a tsar. Andrei Rublev, an iconic painter during this era, forms the inspiration behind the story. As the nation turns to Christianity and religion, Andrei Rublev makes art about his faith. While he does so, political instability is ripe all around him.
1 Stalker
Goskino
Released in 1979, Stalker produced many of the images that would come to define the beauty of his cinematography, as well as the greatness of his filmmaking career. A man known as the “Stalker” is tasked with the job of bringing people through something called the “Zone”: there, people find their deepest, darkest wishes coming true. His work involves bringing a writer and professor into the Zone next, and they must get through a military blockade to get there. Stalker is a dark tale about the costs of nuclear radiation, as well as the human condition.
