Extremely personal “auteur” cinema but at the same time very political
Features, like many of his other films, much of his fathers’ poetry
There are some gorgeous shots features rain or water dripping- a reoccurring visual trait for Tarkovsky- there’s a stunning one featured here with rain dripping from the roof in the foreground with a log cabin burning in the background
Features many black and white sequences intermingled… doc footage of the war as well
The wind is constantly moving objects
There’s a definite surreal or Dali influence
Dream sequences featuring slow motion of woman (mother/lover) washing hair
Mother obsession for Tarkovsky—Freud or Oedipus
Duel roles- Bunuel influence… Bergman
Water sound dripping constantly
There’s also a sequence of flicking through a book and looking at the pages for a few minutes
A very personal stream of consciousness film
Some brilliant citizen kane-like staging and foreground/background shots- one of her picking potatoes off the ground with rain coming off the roof in the back
Mirror has many possible meanings- dual roles for actors/characters, past vs present, reality vs. dreams
Not as many as Stalker but there are many very nice tracking shots
You can see the influences (moving grass with wind- black and white sequences in both Malick and Bela Tarr
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