Stalker Film Review
Stalker is a film that has been on my radar for almost 15 years. I’ve always had an interest in seeing it but I knew it would be a difficult watch based on what I was told. Truthfully I don’t know where I initially heard about it from, just that it was produced in the Soviet Union in the 1970’s by Andrei Tsarkovsky, and that it is a very intense thought provoking sci fi film. I can definitely report that this assessment was partially correct.
The film opens with the Stalker waking up in his derelict home. He, his wife, and daughter sleep on a single bed, the room is dirty and decrepit, and an oppressive sepia tone dominates the frame, like it was filmed on a very old camera. The way the film is presented here is meant to be a stark juxtaposition to later in the film when we arrive at The Zone.
What is The Zone? It’s purposely shrouded in mystery. All we are told is that the government has set up a perimeter around what is rumoured to be a crash site for a meteor or some sort of UFO. Nobody is allowed in The Zone and the military is so afraid of it that they are even unwilling to send anyone after intruders into there. But why would anyone want to intrude there?
The answer is simple, and elucidates the reasons for the Stalkers existence. Rumours have spread of a room deep within the zone that grants whomever enters their deepest wish. Stalkers are hired to take people to this room. We learn this from the stalker himself, he claims there are many more than him and that he personally takes only people who seem fundamentally broken as a person to help them fix their life. He feels he’s providing them faith in a better life.
Over the course of the film the Stalker brings two people to this room The Writer and The Professor, we aren’t given their actual names, and in some sense it probably could be argued that they are representations of an artistic mind (writer) and an analytical mind (professor). Many questions are raised by both characters about the validity of the mystery surrounding the zone.
In some ways it seems like the Stalker goes out of his way to make it seem more mystical than it actually is. He talks about supernatural occurrences, but outside of one instance that could easily be just a manifestation of fear in the characters head we don’t really see anything to validate his words.
This film is also largely about faith and what it means to believe. As the characters journey through the zone to the room the Stalker continues to make fantastical claims about The Zone and the room, talking about how much joy it brings people. He promises that so long as you have faith in the room your dream will come true.
I wish there was more time taken to demonstrate the strangeness of the zone, we aren’t even shown any of the interesting stuff the Stalker claims occurs there(people changing after being left alone, the world rearranging to make it difficult to traverse). I personally felt this mysticism is purveyed from the Stalkers imagination, when we transition to the Zone the frame is now in colour and we observe how the Stalker is happy to be back in The Zone despite its dangers. We never gain any insight into that though, much of the story is left to interpretation.
While I overall enjoyed the movie I don't think it would do well with a Zoomer audience not as accustomed to slow moving art films. Many scenes really drag out with meandering cameras and long monologues. It's certainly interesting but I don't know who the audience for this is outside of art film fanatics and cinephiles but if you are one of those you might just love it.
