Laura Geronazzo of Ultreya informs us that Andrei Tarkovsky's Instant Light will soon be avilable again, this time in paperback editions from Thames & Hudson, London, as well as Thames & Hudson, New York. The latter will distribute the book in the US, Canada, and Australia. The release is planned for the spring of 2006. This will be the first time the book is published in North America. The ISBN codes are UK 0-500-28614-0 and USA 0-500-28614-0 52495. An exhibition of the Polaroids will open in Florence on January 19th, lasting until February 19th 2006, at the Archivio Storico del Comune di Firenze, Italy.
DVDBeaver has updated his Mirror comparison review to include the recent Lizard release, here. We are currently preparing a discussion of some of the fascinating (and often startling) differences between the Polish version of the Tarkovsky Diaries and the recently released French édition définitive version. Stay tuned.
Site visitor Steve Larson has provided the following review of the recent Korean Nostalghia (EnterOne) release:
"The EnterOne DVD is a mortified disaster. As suspected, the NTSC video transfer has not been properly converted from the Artificial Eye's PAL source print. The first half hour of the film is consistently mired with pops, hisses, crackles, and scratches. The audio is an MPEG-2 2.0, not "Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo" as stated on the back cover. The hiss remains for the remainder of the film though sound only gets a little better. The transfer has been anamorphically squeezed and distorted from its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio to 1.76:1 with marginal cropping. For the flashback/memory scenes, there is contrast boosting and a sepia-tone tinge that contradicts the film's initial aesthetic functions. The scene selection design and number of chapter stops (11) is identical to A.E. The only difference has to do with the subtitles, with spelling errors corrected from A.E.'s translation. The only high points to the EnterOne package is the front cover and stills in the accompanying booklet (all text in Korean). The Criterion LaserDisc/Fox Lorber DVD remains the best overall presentation of the film, albeit with a non-anamorphic image and chroma noise. It should be noted that the LD and subsequent Fox DVD used the original 35mm interpositive. Moreover, director of photography Giuseppe Lanci was evidently involved in the supervision of the transfer as he credited on the back of Criterion/Voyager's jacket cover. Thus, the Fox edition is the most accurate at the moment."
hello, i recently received both of these titles. while i've not had a chance to look at "the sacrifice" in any detail, i can warn that (at least on my copy) "nostalghia" the audio is not good. it has a distracting amount of background hiss, numerous pops and other artifacts. was the original audio like this? [The magnetic tracks have been lost and all DVD editions are based on the same noisy analogue audio track. —Editors]. while the image itself is progressive and anamorphic (1.66), this audio problem is truly distracting. unfortunately, at least according to the box, the print of "the sacrifice" is also 1.66, but NOT anamorphic. both have also been converted to stereo. these are legit – the packing is quite nice and notes are extensive. it's just a shame they couldn't have put some care into fixing up the sound on "nostalghia".DVDBeaver provides comparison reviews of both the Sacrifice and Nostalghia discs. Our friends in the Czech Republic report that Alexei Alexeievitch Solonitsyn, brother of actor Anatoly Solonitsyn (Andrei Rublev) was in Prague on October 19 and 20. Mr. Solonitsyn is a Russian writer, philosopher, and also a filmmaker. While in Prague, he presented a short film as well as some of his books. See photo on nostalghia.cz, here, in their Oct. 14 update. Someone has pointed out to us the remarkable similarity between track #5 (Dukhovskaya/Song for Whitsuntide) on the CD The Russian Seasons (Nonesuch, 2003) and the folk song featured in Nostalghia. Interesting.
Information on the premiere performance of Kimmo Hakola's Le Sacrifice by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under conductor Sakari Oramo is found here. Thanks to Jani Pirisjoki for the heads-up. In connection with the recent Mk2 DVD releases, Francis Moury provides capsule reviews of Miroir, Solaris, and Stalker. As well, there is another article by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein here. All in French.
A comparison between the now out-of-print Fox Lorber Nostalghia DVD and the RusCiCo release is found here. The RusCiCo disc is clearly inferior to the already unacceptable Fox Lorber disc (which now sells for $72 to $200 used, on Amazon.com). We're not quite sure what exactly this is, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out. Enterone is a legit company that releases major Korean movies, so we have no reason to believe that it is a bootleg (as opposed to this inferior release, also Korean). Enterone is also releasing The Sacrifice. Cameo, Spain, will be releasing a deluxe 3xDVD-set of The Sacrifice, according to this leaked information. We'll provide you with further details once we're permitted to.
In our previous update, we provided a link to Francis Moury's review of the Mk2 Ivan's Childhood DVD. He has also written a more "technical" review, and a link to that review is found here. (Links to reviews of the other Mk2 discs are also found on this page, but these other discs are direct ports of the already well-known RusCiCo releases). Almost all of Tarkovsky's films will be screened in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, this summer. A program listing is found here. Thanks to Jacob Dijkstra for the update.
The recent Mk2 Ivan's Childhood DVD is reviewed by Francis Moury, here. RusCiCo informs us that all Ivan's Childhood DVDs produced after April 2005, starting with the Mk2 release, contain the remastered version of the film (see recent news items). This includes any re-pressings of the edition available directly from RusCiCo: these will appear when their current inventory of the old version is...uh, sold out. The Njuta Films, Moskwood, Artificial Eye, etc., versions will presumably remain of unacceptable quality unless these entities have enough insight into the situation to request of RusCiCo a new Master tape.
The new RusCiCo/MK2 Ivan's Childhood DVD is a "must-have" for Tarkovsky collectors (see previous news item), and members of the Les Amis may be pleased to hear that they can purchase this DVD for a mere 15 Euros. See the latest news update from the Les Amis for additional details. This newsletter also announces their upcoming June 12th meeting during which there will be, among other things, a screening of Moscow, After Tarkovsky, a 30-minute 1994 interview by Charles H. de Brantes with Alexander Kaïdanovski. Thorsten Botz-Bornstein informs us that a long version of his earlier article on Tarkovsky's "aesthetics of the strange" is now on-line, here.
You may wish to note that The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford, England, is holding a Tarkovsky season in May and June. In May they will be showing Solaris (6th-7th), Ivan's Childhood (9th-10th), Stalker (11th-12th) and Mirror (25th-26th). According to their printed brochure for May, Andrei Rublev and The Sacrifice will follow in June. For further information, see http://www.nmpft.org.uk/film/. It seems likely that the Museum will be using the touring BFI prints (they are showing in nearby Leeds at around the same time), but there is no obvious mention of this on the BFI's site.
The Théâtre du Nord, located in Lille in Northern France, is staging the play Le visa Tarkovski by Michel Bompoli from April 27 to May 13, 2005. As mentioned before, the play is based on Tarkovsky's diaries. Andrey Tarkovski Jr. will be participating in a press conference which will take place on April 27, prior to the premiere of the play. Moreover, a retrospective of Tarkovsky's films will be shown at the Majestic — situated in Lille city centre — around the same time as the play (details to be announced). Thanks to Isabelle Demeyere and William Miller for information on these exciting events. Isabelle sent a press kit and William sent a photo he took in Lille yesterday. It would appear that our fears were justified: the upcoming MK2 Tarkovsky DVDs are merely repackaged versions of the infernal RusCiCo discs which have already been available with French subtitles (for example via Artificial Eye) for a long time. The boutique.mk2.com even shamelessly list the soundtrack as "Dolby Digital 5.1", so the prudent Tarkovsky aficionado may want to avoid these discs. Thanks to Juan Asensio and Wayne Spencer for helping us confirm these facts.
The exhibit of Andrei Tarkovsky's Polaroids will be in Padua (north-east Italy) from 6 May to 5 June and in Capalbio (central Italy) from 10 June and well into July. It should find itself back in Florence by September or October. See our March 1 and March 7 updates for more information. A BFI touring programme of Tarkovsky films is being shown in a number of cinemas across Britain from April 1. Details can be found here. The new, English-subtitled MK2 Robert Bresson DVD boxset (see our Bresson News section for more information on all things Bresson) comes with a brochure that announces a venir Coffret Tarkovski. Let's hope these are new transfers and not merely a repackaged version of the unacceptable RusCiCo releases. (For example, the world desperately needs a decent transfer of Stalker. The RusCiCo release has numerous serious flaws.) Speaking of the Bresson site, many of our readers may find this interview to be of some interest. Tarkovsky is mentioned frequently during this conversation between filmmakers Jonathan Hourigan and Tim Cawkwell. April 4th was what would have been Andrei's 73rd birthday. Our correspondent Eugene Borzov in Ivanovo sent us the following report. Dear Trond and Jan, I'm happy to contribute to your news section with the latest account of the current events in Yurievets, the place where Andrey Tarkovsky 73 years ago. This year the Tarkovsky Museum was visited by Yevgeny Zharikov (lieutenant Galtsev in Ivan's Childhood) who shared his memories about the Master with the audience. We're usually more than happy to plug honest, hard-working artists whenever there is some Tarkovsky connection. We recently received a nice letter from Ilai Rämä of the Finnish band Kirlian Crossing. He says: "The original goal of our music making was to combine Nick Drake type of folk songs into Soviet Union era science fiction in Tarkovsky spirit. That was the starting point, but we went little wrong. Maybe we get there on the next album." Check out the mp3 files on their website. The Moscow Film Museum is still in danger of being converted into a strip-bar (see our March 1 update) — follow the latest developments here.
Filmmaker Sean Martin — longtime Nostalghia.com supporter and frequent contributor — has written a short book on Andrei Tarkovsky. The book, due to be published in September, is simply called Andrei Tarkovsky. More details, including the cover design, can be found here. (If we are to judge the book by its cover, it would appear that this little volume actually is more complete in its scope than any other single Tarkovsky-related title out there.) Artificial Eye are finally advertising (in the latest NFT programme) their Andrei Tarkovsky Companion DVD, which we first hinted about in our February 6, 2003 news update. The title is slated for a "late Spring 2005" release. The release will include Chris Marker's One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevitch, Alexander Sokurov's Moscow Elegy, Tarkovsky's Tempo di Viaggio (with the corrected subtitles), and possibly another not-yet-confirmed title. In our January 25 news item we mentioned Olga Surkova and her two Russian books: Tarkovskii i ya (published in 2002) and the new S Tarkovskim i o Tarkovskom (published in 2005). Both are currently being translated to English by Kirill Galetski who sent us this small teaser from Tarkovskii i ya (called Tarkovsky vs. Tarkovsky in English). The books are quite different from one another and form a complementary and insightful "double portrait" of the artist. The publishers' notes can be found on our bibliography page. As a quick reminder, Ms. Surkova will be presenting her new book at a Paris book fair (which includes an expanded Russian section) on March 22 from 7–8 pm, at Salon du Livre, Hall 1, Paris expo, Metro station: Porte de Versailles. We have followed this story closely for several months, but here is an official announcement from the BFI, dated March 8: Hello, You may be interested to know that from 1 March Tarkovsky's feature films and shorts can be seen at the NFT, along with some documentaries about his cinema and a series of seminars exploring his work. An extended run of Stalker (also in a new print) will begin on 11 March. For more information about the season, including film details and screening times, visit www.bfi.org.uk/tarkovsky. Tickets can be bought online or at the NFT Box Office or by calling 020 7928 3232. Feel free to add this information to your website or to contact me for images and further details. Thanks Stephen Cowburn Marketing (Venues) British Film Institute National Film Theatre London SE1 8XT +44 (0)20 7849 4464
The Italian edition of Instant Light is not the only one currently in print — two more language versions are available. One is the French edition Lumière instantanée, published in November 2004 by Éditions Philippe Rey. It is still available at fnac. The French Amazon seems to be "actuellement indisponible" (or more to the point, "en rupture de stock"). Another version is the German edition Lichtbilder, published in May 2004 by Schirmer/Mosel Verlag. It can be found e.g. on the German Amazon site. The text from these books is available in English via links on this page.
It is also worth mentioning that Récits de jeunesse — the latest discovery by the Tarkovski Institute of some unknown writings by the young Tarkovsky — has been published in November, also by Éditions Philippe Rey in Paris, see for example here (note the wrong cover scan) and here.
An exhibit of Andrei Tarkovsky's Polaroids opened last Friday at the Museo Cantonale d'Arte in Lugano, Switzerland: Luce istantanea, Fotografie 1979–1984 (we thank Laura Geronazzo of Ultreya for this information). According to the Italian PDF booklet hidden within Museo Cantonale's somewhat Flash-heavy web site, the exhibit has been organised by Giovanni Chiaramonte and Andrei Andreievich Tarkovsky with the collaboration of Ultreya, Milano, and the Andrei Tarkovsky Foundation in Florence, Paris, and Moscow. The exhibit remains open until 3 April. The Museum is also presenting a conference chaired by Giovanni Chiaramonte: Tra flusso e istanteLast but not least, Cinema Iride at Piazza Maghetti in Lugano is showing four films by Tarkovsky: Andrei Rublov On a related yet sour note: Thames and Hudson inform us that the English translation of the book (Instant Light) has gone out of print and there are currently no plans to reprint it. Unfortunately, no US edition is planned either, thanks in part to the abysmal dollar-to-euro exchange rate. The book has thus joined some other (to us) indispensable works, such as Le Fanu's The Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky, David Bordwell's Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema, and Keiko McDonald's Mizoguchi, in obscurity and availability only very rarely through such channels as eBay or Abebooks, at exorbitant prices. As for Instant Light, we therefore recommend the original Italian edition which is still available e.g., at the Internet Bookshop Italia. The Italian text from the book is available in English via links on this page. The French translation of Tarkovsky's complete diaries on the other hand appears to be nearing publication. Currently the Italian translation Martirologio is the only complete version. We'll keep you posted on further details and the publication date in France. Tarkovsky enthusiast Malcolm Smith's personal guide to the London, England NFT Tarkovsky festival may be viewed here. We at Nostalghia.com wish the BFI/NFT great success — may the turnout be tremendous! We conclude with a sad bit of news from Moscow. The Moscow Film Museum has been ordered to vacate its rooms immediately. You can read more about this absurd story here. Thus ends the saga begun a few years ago, see this note for example. The articles do not mention what plans the new owner has for the building, although Google search reveals the following (are you sitting down?): Casino Arlekino, a strip-bar, and a sauna. It's hard to imagine a more symbolic sign of times for cultural priorities in Russia today.
We have just published an (in our opinion) important essay by Robert Bird, Gazing into Time: Tarkovsky and Post-Modern Cinema Aesthetics. Among the works he touches upon are Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie's The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue, Igor Evlampiev's Andrei Tarkovsky's Artistic Philosophy, and James Macgillivray's Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Madonna del Parto'. The new issue of Sight and Sound magazine (March 2005, pages 30–33) includes a one-page article on "the ongoing relevance" of Tarkovsky by Nick Jones (Icon), followed by three pages of stills from, and short texts on, Tarkovsky's films. The texts come from Tarkovsky himself or various previous Sight and Sound articles. [Thanks to Wayne Spencer for the update] The National Film Theatre (London, England) March programme says of its Tarkovsky season: "The prints are all of good quality, and in three cases (Solaris, Stalker and Mirror) have been especially struck for the occasion". [Thanks to Wayne Spencer for the info] The February 12 issue of the British newspaper The Guardian included an article on Tarkovsky by Jonathan Jones. The full text is found here. To mark the beginning of the NFT's run of the new print of Solaris, the Guardian has published a short review of the film, here. [Thanks to Neil. S. McLaggan and Wayne Spencer for the update] The new issue of Vertigo magazine (Spring/Summer 2005, page 55) includes a 'special reader offer' whereby two tickets for the National Film Theatre's Tarkovsky season can be purchased for the price of one. The offer is valid only for bookings in person at the NFT's box office and a copy of the new issue of Vertigo must be presented at the time of booking. [Thanks again Wayne!] Our mini-reviews of the Facets NTSC DVD releases of Alexander Sokurov's Spiritual Voices and Confession are found here. The discs come highly recommended.
Design concepts for The Sacrifice: The Metro Cinema in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, will be screening The Sacrifice to accompany local film maker Aaron Munson's short-film fixation on Thursday, March 3, at 19:00. Thanks to Kyle Armstrong – also a local filmmaker – for the tip. Further to our previous news item on the Nujta Films, Sweden, RusCiCo DVDs: Ivan's Childhood, Stalker and The Mirror include original mono soundtracks. This is not the case for Andrej Rubljov and Solaris. (As far as we know, no current RusCiCo edition of the latter two films includes a mono soundtrack.) Many thanks to Jouko Isosomppi and Nicolas Debot for the information. The NFT have put full details of their Tarkovsky season in March on their website. Thanks to Aidan King of Cornwall for the tip. Our colleagues over at Senses of Cinema have published their review of Instant Light: Tarkovsky Polaroids. Thanks to Wayne Spencer for letting us know. We have received preview DVDs of Facets Video's upcoming NTSC/Region 1 releases of Alexander Sokurov's Spiritual Voices and Confession. We will bring you our reviews shortly. In the meantime, read Mr. Sokurov's own introduction.
Olga Surkova will be presenting her new book at a Paris book fair (which includes an expanded Russian section) on March 22 from 7–8 pm, at Salon du Livre, Hall 1, Paris expo, Metro station: Porte de Versailles. This book is a follow-up to Ms. Surkova's earlier book Tarkovskiy i ya. Dnevnik pionerki (Tarkovsky and I — Diary of a Girl Scout) [ cover ]. Neither book is currently available in English. The good news is that both books are in the process of being translated. However, no publisher has yet been found. We invite our readers to help remedy this situation: please read this letter from the translator, Kirill Galetski. Independent DVD distributors Njuta Films, Sweden (check out their large press photos), and Moskwood Media, The Netherlands, are both issuing RusCiCo Tarkovsky titles in their respective countries. No word yet on whether or not some or all of these titles include the original (mono) soundtrack.
The journal Russian Studies in Literature recently published a paper called Andrei Tarkovsky as Reader of Arsenii Tarkovsky's Poetry in the Film Mirror. Copyright is the property of M.E. Sharpe Inc.; the article may be downloaded and printed for individual use only. Thanks to Wayne Spencer for notifying us of this paper. Juan Asensio [ website ] discusses the two recent Philippe Rey [ed.] books (see our December 6 news item), here. While digging through our archives, we ran across some professionally recorded audio tapes from the set of Sacrifice. We extracted two brief clips for you, which demonstrate how Andrei Tarkovsky instructed his cast, how he responded to their questions, how he changed parts of the the script on the fly, and the dynamic manner in which the team was able to work through their translator, with virtually real-time Swedish-Russian-English translation [ clip 1 | clip 2 ]. We received the following letter from The Netherlands.
From : Stegeman, mw. J.E. To : Nostalghia.com Date : December 13, 2004 3:50:59 AM MST Subject : Exhibition The Sacrifice in Breda Dear Sir, Nov. 20 we opened an exhibition inspired by Offret / The Sacrifice of Andrey Tarkovsky in our museum for contemporary art in Breda, Netherlands. The exhibition lasts till Feb. 13, 2005. Attached: poster | exhibition concept | list of artists. With kind regards, Dr. Elly Stegeman, Conservator beeldende kunst, Museum De Beyerd, Breda, The Netherlands
©2004 www.nostalghia.com
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Friday, November 25, 2005
