Stalker

1979, Andrei Tarkovsky, Russia, 161 min., Russian with English subtitles

Selected and introduced by arts reporter, critic, playwright and librettist David Cote.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s final Soviet feature is a metaphys­ical journey through an enigmatic postapocalyptic landscape and a rarefied cinematic experience like no other. A hired guide—the Stalker—leads a writer and a professor into the heart of “the Zone,” the restricted site of a long-ago disaster, where the three men eventually zero in on “the Room,” a place rumored to fulfill one’s most deeply held desires. Adapting a science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Tarkovsky created an immersive world with a wealth of material detail and a sense of organic atmosphere. A religious allegory, a reflection of contemporaneous political anxieties, a meditation on film itself—Stalker envelops the viewer by opening up a multitude of possible meanings.

Why did you select Stalker for the Cabaret Cinema: Soundtrack series?

“Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 film about three men journeying in the mind-bending “Zone” transcends science fiction to achieve an intensely mystical state of ecstatic entropy.” -David Cote

About Cabaret Cinema: Soundtrack

You can probably name the best movie you’ve seen, but what about the best movie you’ve heard? It might be your favorite because of its sound effects, sound engineering, score, or another element of the audio experience. Watch—and hear—a series of films that caught the ear of notable New Yorkers.

About the Introducer

David Cote is an arts reporter, critic, playwright and librettist. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, American Theatre, The New York Times, and The Guardian. He’s a contributing critic on NY1’s On Stage and was the longest serving theater editor and drama critic of Time Out New York (2003″“2017). Plays include Otherland and Fear of Art. Opera libretti: Three Way with Robert Paterson (Nashville Opera and BAM); The Scarlet Ibis (NYC’s Prototype festival); Fade with Stefan Weisman; and We’ve Got Our Eye on You with Nkeiru Okoye. He received a B.A. Bard College and has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony.