Product Description

Attention: this edition has original Mono soundtrack, as well as remastered DD 5.1 audio. SUBTITLES: Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Herbew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese Drama, Mosfilm, 1974, 108 min. This cinematic expression of the author's reflections is one of the best films of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. Its working title was "White, White Day". Quoted in the film are some of the verses by the remarkable poet Arseny Tarkovsky, the director's father. The film's protagonist reminisces about his childhood, his mother who raised him, the people who helped his family in the trying post-war years. "In "Mirror" I wanted to tell not about myself, but about my feelings, connected with the people that were close to me, about my relations with them, about my eternal compassion for them and the unrealizable sense of duty," said Andrei Tarkovsky. Director: Andrei Tarkovsky Script: Alexander Misharin, Andrei Tarkovsky Music by: Eduard Artemyev Cast: Margarita Terekhova, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko, Ignat Daniltsev, Filipp Yankovsky, Alla Demidova, Larissa Tarkovskaya, Yuri Nazarov, Oleg Yankovsky, Yura Sventikov, E. del Bosce, Innokenty Smoktunovsky (narrator)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74803 in DVD
• Published on: 2004
• Formats: NTSC, Import, Subtitled, Color, Full Screen
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Customer Reviews

NTSC DVD Plagued by Flaws
Let me get this straight first: This movie is awsome, I'd give it the most perfect score any day (though it defies being judged).

The "Mirror" by Tarkovsky is a perfect mood piece. A reflection on childhood without equal in cinema. A literal mirror which reflects and builds upon what every viewer, every individual brings with him/her to this movie. Any further comments are pointless, although I should warn that this is not a movie based on plot/ characters but on the viewer's experiance and emotions. It is also slow based and meditative: it's not a film which which feeds information to the viewer, but from which the viewer extrapolates information. Be prepared to think, or most importantly have an open heart and mind to enjoy this film.

Here's the bad: The Ruscico transfer, which is way better than the Kino release, is flawed on the NTSC (US/ Canada) versions of the film. It had been cheaply and directly ported fom a PAL (European) master of the film. Pal is 25 frames per second and NTSC is 30 frames per second. To make up for the lost 5 frames per second, a compilation od two frames blurred together was used. Hence, when the picture is moving in a panning shot, the objects on screen go out of focus...and that's unacceptable in a film like Mirror. If you want the best DVD of this movie, get the PAL version directly from Ruscico, or the "Artificial Eye" UK release (from Amazon UK). And make sure to note that you want the optional original mono soundtrack, since not all discs have that. You'll need a multi-system DVD player to play the dics though.

Anyways, Shame shame Ruscico for being cheap on the NTSC treatment.

R.U.S.C.I.C.O. version has it's plus and minuses, but don't let it stop you from watching it.
First off, this version differs from the Kino version in that it has bonus mat1erials with archive footage of Anatoly Solonitsyn, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, and a text bio on Arseny Tarkovsky. There is also a b/w footage called Memory, as well as composer Eduard Artemyev's tribute to Andrei using his original score and scenes from Mirror to create a sort of music video. There is a filmography and also a photo album.

RUSCICO does go to lengths to make this a more enjoyable edition, and why shouldn't they? This is agreed by many to be the flagship movie from recent Russian cinema, made by one of their most important and celebrated directors.

I know there are websites devoted to comparing different transfers of Tarkovsky's movies. The age-old Kino vs. R.U.S.C.I.C.O.. They both have their pluses and minuses. There is first, the difference in color. This RUSCICO edition is less saturated, and the audio track has is more spot-on, with much less reverb. And then there is the matter of translation.

I consider myself a huge fan of Andrei Tarkovski's work. I own both versions, and had to obtain it long before Amazon even carried it. (They are the same editions though). I am reminded of an old scratchy King Pleasure record I own. It's been played for so many years, you could hear every scratch, pop, and click on it. But it doesn't take away the least bit from the enjoyment. Why? Because IT IS THE QUALITY OF THE WORK THAT COUNTS, not the quality of the media.

I have seen this movie on the big screen at Lincoln Center in New York City recently (and to my eyes, the RUSICICO EDITION is closer- color wise-to what was shown at Lincoln Center), carefully restored with corrected translation. I came home and watched both my copies the next day to compare. In my opinion, as a non-Russian speaker (but a graduated English major), the minor discrepancies and lack of transfer DOES NOT outweigh the fantastic quality of film-making presented here.

Tarkovsky is one of the recent Russian film greats, and this movie is seen by many as the apex of his creativity. Last time I checked, film is more than mere images. It is audio, visual, script, angles, color combined to tell a story. You have Tarkovsky's father (the acclaimed Russian poet Arseny Tarkovsky) reciting his stately poems in his rich voice over long continuous shots detailing the director's childhood memory in the countryside, when his father went off to fight the war.

Created scenes intersect with historical footage to present a fugal magnum opus onscreen. Tarkovsky studied Arabic in the university, and he had a love of J.S. Bach's music (which is present here along with Purcell's works and Eduard Artemyev) which means he has an appreciation from Zakhrafa art and labyrinthian schemes. For those who may not be familiar with Bach's compositions, three or four melodies interweave with each other to create a *fugue*, which uses sound to play off each other in a device called counterpoint. Tarkovsky recreates this structure visually, where time is nonlinear, and each actor plays several characters, switching between present and past.

This is Tarkovsky's way of presenting our persona as a composite of all our experiences and memory.

Do yourself a favor. Don't wait for the right version. This movie is strong enough to pull through all the scratches, pops, hiss, clicks, and color discrepancies.