Children as a Reflection of Transcendence in the Filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrej Tarkovsky is a Russian film author who has indebted the entire world’s cinematography with his cinematic style. His (auto)biography and filmography give us a hint that he was a deeply religious man who believed that art should serve to deepen man’s spirituality. By watching and analyzing the...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Authors: Sever Globan, Irena (Author) ; Pavelić, Marin (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: MDPI 2023
In: Religions
Further subjects:B Transcendence
B Andrei Tarkovsky
B transcendental style
B Children
B Cinema
B sacred art
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Andrej Tarkovsky is a Russian film author who has indebted the entire world’s cinematography with his cinematic style. His (auto)biography and filmography give us a hint that he was a deeply religious man who believed that art should serve to deepen man’s spirituality. By watching and analyzing the author’s films, we came to the hypothesis that Tarkovsky uses the characters of children to express something supernatural, and therefore, we wanted to explore which narratives and stylistic devices the director uses to give his interpretation of the spiritual and transcendent. Thus, we analyzed nine characters of children that appear in the director’s six full-length feature films: Ivan Bondarev (Ivan’s Childhood), Boriska (Andrei Rublev), Aleksej, Ignat and Asafjev (Mirror), Marta (Stalker), Domenico’s son and Angela (Nostalghia), and Gossen (The Sacrifice). The methods we have used are qualitative content analysis, description, comparison, and synthesis. The characteristics we have noticed in the characters of the children, which could point to the transcendent, are a deep and penetrating gaze, the supernatural powers children use, the mysterious environments they inhabit, the deep influence they have on other characters, asking religious questions, hermit-like loneliness, modest clothes, and allusions to a Christ-like figure.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel14091138