Andrei Rublev - Epic and masterful storytelling from Andrei Tarkovsky. Just the fact that he tackled something like this in only his second full length movie tells you a lot about the man. Judging from some of his on-the-record statements he didn't lack for confidence. At least that's the way I took it. He had a deep faith in himself and in what he was doing. And it's only bragging if you can't back it up and after watching three of his films the man's self confidence was not misplaced.
From what I understand (and it's not much) this is a 1966 re-editing of The Passion According To Andrei, which was in part due to Soviet restrictions and censorship on the films religious themes and what the state considered subtext critical of the ruling apparatus. Anyway, the film is divided into ten distinct parts including a prologue, eight segments dealing with various chapters of Rublev's life and an epilogue. This film was a massive undertaking with two gargantuan sequences. One involving the sacking of the town of Vladimir by a group of Tatars in league with the Grand Dukes disgruntled younger brother and the other the seemingly interminable and elaborate casting of a gigantic iron bell.
This runs almost three and a half hours but as with any good movie you really should not be aware of the passage of time. The only thing I'm sure of is that I want to watch this again. One because it is worth your time and multiple screenings and two because there's no way anyone can catch all that is going on during a single viewing. This a work of art and as with any work of art you're bound to discover new things with each repeat visit.
95/100
Last edited by WHITBISSELL!; 01-28-22 at 12:42 AM.