Collected Screenplays

Before going to see a Shakespeare play, I always read the play first, as doing so always enhances the experience. I never thought I'd say that about a film maker; but there was never another film maker like Tarkovsky.Reading these scripts, which are both highly cerebral and intensely visual, gives one the rare, intimate pleasure of watching genius at work: and the unproduced scripts will give the imaginative reader a rich experience.To my experience, only Antonioni's That Bowling Alley on the Tiber matches this work for sheer cinematic brilliance in book form. This won't be an inexpensive purchase for anyone. But it is a precious one.

First, this collection does NOT include the Andrei Rublev script, printed separately and in great need of a reprint. Here you will find all of Tarkovsky's other scripts, including two unreleased ones. Scripts contain some omitted and alternate scenes. Indispensable for the Tarkovsky fan.

In "Sculpting in Time" Tarkovsky says: "The literary element in a film is *smelted*; it ceases to be literature once the film has been made." Reading his screenplays, one has the sense of looking at a blueprint or a musical score. The two strongest elements of Tarkovsky's artistry--the extraordinary visuals, and the highly original conception of time--are necessarily missing.So what is the value of this collection? For one thing, it includes the scripts of several unrealized projects, which allow you to imagine what these films might have looked like, or just to regret that they were never made. Similarly, you'll also find ideas and scenes that didn't make it into the finished films, or were altered from their original conception. The book also, in an indirect way, points out the relentlessly visual and indiosyncratic nature of AT's work. For example, reading the script of "Stalker", perhaps AT's most mesmerizing film, I thought that it could easily have been made into an episode of "Twilight Zone" by a lesser director. In other words, the plot is not the point; what makes the film a masterpiece lies beyond words and storylines. I suppose the same could be said for any great director, but with Tarkovsky I feel this even more strongly. Finally, the book also includes a fair amount of analysis and commentary. One serious omission: "Andrei Rublev" is not included, due to its length.For these reasons, I recommend this book not to Tarkovsky neophytes, but to those who already know his films. The genius is up there on the screen; this book contains the sketches, jottings and blueprints that helped to put it there.

Just saw The Stalker last night. Possibly the best movie I've seen in my life. Tarkovsky is a master of magic/symbolism/the human condition. No wonder he was Bergman's favourite. I really look forward to reading this book.

If ever it was a remarkable thing to compare the screenplay to the finished film, these collected screenplays of Tarkovsky might be the most interesting. Tarkovsky's cinema was always poetic, eschewing a lot of traditional narrative in favour of powerful imagery and artistic montage. dialogue is often sparse, so the screenplay for something like Stalker may only take up less than 30 pages, compared to a nearly 3 hours film. the excerpts from Tarkovsky's diaries that accompany each screenplay also give great insight into the great Russian's creative process. although missing Andrei Rublev, this collection does include several unproduced scripts and his student short. no fan of Tarkovsky should be without.

amazing book

I wanted screenplay format of scripts rather than narrative format.

This book allow us to better understand Tarkovski vision. You will see how time is crucial and how a 6 pages text can result on a 2 hours film.