First and foremost, I think Andrei Tarkovsky is one of the 10 greatest directors in film history... but he is certainly an acquired taste and many find his films just too boring and self-indulgent.
I love all 6 of his 7 feature films, but with this one I had to watch it over 3 sessions... even though it features the great Swedish actor Erland Josephson, this is not nearly on par with his great roles in Ingmar Bergman's films... it's incredibly pretentious in it's piousness... Tarkovsky was certainly influenced by his illness and imminent death, and he felt the need to portray a story where disaster can be averted by simply asking for forgiveness from God while surrendering a part of yourself.
I won't mention any plot elements, just watch it for yourself... even though it's lesser Tarkovsky... it's still Tarkovsky.
I love all 6 of his 7 feature films, but with this one I had to watch it over 3 sessions... even though it features the great Swedish actor Erland Josephson, this is not nearly on par with his great roles in Ingmar Bergman's films... it's incredibly pretentious in it's piousness... Tarkovsky was certainly influenced by his illness and imminent death, and he felt the need to portray a story where disaster can be averted by simply asking for forgiveness from God while surrendering a part of yourself.
I won't mention any plot elements, just watch it for yourself... even though it's lesser Tarkovsky... it's still Tarkovsky.