#77: The Mirror

The Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1975)

Watching The Mirror has shown me I was right about two things. That I was right to go with TSPDT instead of Films 101, and that I was right not to buy the Kino DVD.

The Mirror is #77 on TSPDT (Before the update), and #1240 on Films 101. After I watched the film I went to imdb.com to look at the comments people left. Depending on whom you ask, it's either one of the most brilliant films of all time, or vaguely plotted pretentious crap. Visually, it's one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. Its nonlinear storytelling is a little bit confusing. It jumps forward and back through time, presenting some epochs in black and white and others in color. At one point it's focusing on the main character's childhood and mother, and the next it's focusing on his adult life and his wife and son. The wife and mother are played by the same woman. The way the story is presented serves to focus your emotions on the sense of inevitability. Both inevitability in terms of death and old age and in terms of generational destiny. You witness history repeating itself and the guilt the main character feels for the burden he's placed on others. If what I've said so far makes it sound like a horrible movie, don't see it.

Judging by the comments I read at imdb.com, a lot of people who are into highbrow films watch The Mirror the wrong way. If you're used to films by the likes of Antonioni and Godard which beg you to meta-analyze every little detail, you're probably going to overanalyze this one and mine for symbolism and complexities that aren't there. The Mirror is a very simple movie, just not one that makes itself obvious.

Unfortunately due to my lack of knowledge about Russian history, I probably missed out on some of the emotional impact the film had for its original audience. Among the jumps between timelines there are scenes from Russian history that are probably instantly recognizable to people who grew up witnessing it.

Getting back to what I said at the beginning, that I was right not to buy the Kino DVD, the translation was as bad as they say. A lot of the dialog isn't even translated. So although I absolutely intend to buy a physical copy of The Mirror, I won't be doing so until I have a better option.

Rating: *****/5

The next film I will be watching is La Dolce Vita. L'age Dor and Pickpocket are both available in my area on theauteurs.com, so I'll be watching them as soon as I'm sure they're still in the top 100 after the January 2010 TSPDT update.

1 down, 99 to go.