Andrei Rublev (1966)

 Andrei Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublev"

There is one particular sequence in the 1966 Andrei Tarkovsky film "Andrei Rublev" in which the titular painter is unable to start painting a church. I too feel unable to start the task of writing about "Andrei Rublev." It is a colossus film that could be discussed at length in many different varieties. However, I will attempt to 'paint the wall,' as it were.

"Andrei Rublev" is a historical, biographical account of the life of famed Russian painter, Andre Rublev. The film is broken up into 8 chapters, along with a prologue and an epilogue. Through these chapters, Rublev struggles with painting, witnesses the full scope of horrors humanity has to offer, speaks with friends and ghosts about the nature of divinity, and comes to conclusions about his purpose in life. All in all, the film is simply Tarkovsky himself musing on the nature of humanity's purpose and what art means in all of that.

As daunting as the three hour long experience of watching a 'stuffy,' 'artsy,' historical biography of Middle Age painter seems, the film has a way of traversing through the experience with punctual sequences of disturbing violence, nude pagan orgies, existential pontificating, and euphoric conclusions. There are certain moments where I feel uncertain of what the film's actually attempting to say and what it even all means. That is, until the final moments of the film in which Rublev decides to speak again for the first time in decades. The reason for his regained speech is the very reason and point of the film entirely.

There are two thematic points I think the film makes. Firstly, given the brutality and violence that surrounds the characters, it becomes increasingly concerning what sense of 'inspiration' and 'hope' that can be found in such despair. Rublev is tasked with painting 'The Final Judgement' as a mural on a church. But, he cannot bring himself to paint such disturbing images as a way to suffocate people into ideological submission. It would be better to inspire hope in humanity, given its lack in the brutal landscape. The question becomes: How do we create art that feels aspiration to God when all that lays before us seems absent from it? 

The second thematic point I took away from the film is that we as individuals must 'discover' this hope for ourselves. After the raid by the Tartars on Vladimir and Rublev's subsequent sin amongst the chaos, he decides to stop speaking and painting. He no longer feels he can adequately portray God, seemingly losing his sense of purpose and hope. However, after witnessing the excruciating and euphoric completion of building a bell by Boriska, whom confides in Rublev that he never knew how to complete the bell, Rublev decides to speak and paint once again. To me, this iterates the main conceit that Tarkovsky is making. 

When I watched the film, I could not understand the point of the very first scene in the film. That is, until I saw the final scene. In the first scene, a man decides to tether himself to a hot air balloon in the hopes of flying. He does succeed in flying through the air for a brief time, but ultimately crashes back down to Earth (and to his demise). However, despite crashing back down, he flew. Similarly, the boy in the final scenes admits he did not, in fact, know how to make the bell, but tried anyway.

To me, this full-circle moment illustrates the major theme of the film. Why paint painting if they will only be destroyed in the end? Why tether yourself to a balloon when you know you will ultimately fall. Why put your neck on the line to build a bell when you've never built one before? Why have hope in the face of hopelessness? Why do anything at all? Because, for a brief moment, you will fly. 

Life is full of despair, violence, and terror. Why reach out to God when God has given you nothing but destruction in return? It is because of what we can do as humans and we can accomplish and create. Despair and terror will come, no doubt. But in the moments between, we can become closer to God and closer to salvation through putting ourselves out there and engage in creation, despite not knowing the outcomes of our efforts. This is what life means, according to Tarkovsky. Life is about passion and hope in the face of despair.

To me, this is what makes "Andrei Rublev" such a monumental work. It reconciles with the nature of existence in the way only Tarkovsky can. It is a mediation of what makes life worth living and what the purpose of it all means. Tarkovsky was able to reach this divine purpose through his work and come to these same conclusions. After watching the film, perhaps you might feel determined to live as passionately as you can, despite knowing those passions will one day cease.