Review of The Sacrifice (1986) by Espen N — 03 Apr 2008

Itâ??s easy for me to nod and say that Andrei Tarkovsky was a master of inner landscapes, poetic dream sequences and staging epic tracking shots. The longest ones in this film are at least as good as the ones in â??Andrei Rublyovâ?? and â??Zerkaloâ??.

Since Sven Nykvist is at the camera helm, the look of the film gave me digressions of Ingmar Bergmanâ??s films, but what Bergman does best with his actors is what Tarkovsky lacks to a certain extent, and that is character-studies in inner turmoil, doubt and pain. After the television set reports that a nuclear warfare is advancing, Alexanderâ??s middle aged wife fear for her life, and starts to lose it. She falls down on the floor, and complains about nobody doing anything when they actually canâ??t do anything at all. She behaves like an epileptic, which feels very confusing, and I donâ??t know if sheâ??s having a heart attack or a leg cramp.

It feels caricatured. Later on when Alexanderâ??s little boy sleeps, and his wife wants the chambermaid to wake him and tell him about the possibility of war at hand, the maid start to cry and says that itâ??d be torture. These outcries are difficult to embrace as anything but melodramatic. Erland Josephson plays a writer named Alexander, and he does a magnificent job. His character is the person we learn to know best, and my impression of him infects my thoughts on Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky seems to me as a filmmaker who insists that film is art, and that film should reflect life or philosophy. Alexander has reached a point in his life where he is able to be comfortable, because has a successful career as a writer, teacher and critic and admiration from others. Still he is restless, and constantly searching for interest. During walks with his mute boy he canâ??t stop talking about everything, even when his boy isnâ??t paying any attention. I see this film, as something Tarkovsky did in order to say a lot about his current situation. His mixed feelings are all acted out, as well as his apocalyptic view a future without soul. Alexander is not a religious person when the film starts, but then bad news comes with a thunderstorm which leaves him in severe doubt. â??Offretâ?? is a film fixed on doubt in a religious context, and doubt about oneâ??s self-image. These concerns are distant, yet feels so intimate, that one has to take a stand.

It is very interesting to see that almost the entire cast of characters in the film appear as wealthy, selfish and restless. The exception is Otto played by Allan Edwall, a devoted friend of Alexander, who is often funny and frank, but as Alexander will experience, Otto has a mysterious side and something of a prophecy that will change his life. I certainly understand Alexander's desperation after answers, and why he is willing to give up everything he owns in order to survive and live. The film makes me wish it was easier to detach myself from things, what if I sacrificed everything for God right now?