Stalker

Stalker
(1979) [Trailer]
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky [IMDB]

This is considered a classic in Russian cinema and now that we're out of the Cold War you can watch it and not have to worry about being labeled a communist. I really admire Tarkovsky's Solaris and in my opinion it's groundbreaking in terms of science fiction. So needless to say I was pretty excited to sit down with this and check it out.

Synopsis: In a weird run down dystopian future, two men hire a stalker to take them into a secret area called the zone.

This film is extremely slow and pretty uneventful, I don't necessarily know if that's bad or not. Stalker is not really sci-fi in terms of special effects, but more in its story; actually, there are zero special effects and in their place are some of the most captivating landscapes and locations I've seen filmed. In fact, that's Stalkers greatest strength: the visuals, especially the cinematography. It's filmed in all these dilapidated sites which look like they were hit with an A Bomb and then left for ruin... it's extremely interesting. Unfortunately for me, the rest of the film tends to drag on and the story isn't very fulfilling. I would still recommend it just for the experience, a lot of it was like watching pieces of art on a canvas... except the canvas was my 52 inch TV.