Mirror (U)
Director Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1975, 102 mins, subtitled
Cast: Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev, Larisa Tarkovskya, Alla Demidova, Anatoli Solonitsyn
It seems to make me return to the place, poignantly dear to my heart, where my grandfather's house used to be in which I was born 40 years ago right on the dinner table.
Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror (1975) is a poetic, non-linear meditation on memory, identity, and the passage of time. The film intricately weaves together fragments of a man's life as he reflects on his rural childhood before the Second World War and the destiny of the Russian people, merging memories with dreams and nightmares.
Drawing heavily from Tarkovsky’s own experiences, Mirror blurs the lines between personal and universal, dream and reality. It is rich with evocative imagery, from serene natural landscapes to striking visions of fire and water, enhanced by Tarkovsky's signature long takes. A deeply introspective masterpiece, it explores themes of loss, nostalgia, and the search for meaning in human existence.
The film features unforgettable imagery from the start, accompanied by music by Bach and poetry by Arseny Tarkovsky, the director’s father.
David Quinn, artist and curator of
lucent
, has selected two films – Andrei Rublev and Mirror – to accompany the exhibition in The Levinsky Gallery. This special screening will be introduced by
Mary Costello
, Exhibitions Programme Curator for The Bridge.
"The primary attraction of these films for me, are their aesthetic qualities, which I feel rhyme with the qualities of the work in lucent. There is a collage-like element to both, that forgoes linear narrative in favour of an impressionistic timeless visual beauty, which I think also resonates with the work in the exhibition and how it is presented."
- David Quinn, artist and curator of
lucent
Date: Monday 3 February 2025
Time: 19:00 – 21:10
Venue: Jill Craigie Cinema, Roland Levinsky Building
Ticket information: £6, £4 concessions, Free to University of Plymouth students
Age restriction: Certificate U