Stalker (1979) ★★★★ Quote:
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Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.
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The synopsis on the back of the Criterion Collection box describes this as "a metaphys*ical journey through an enigmatic postapocalyptic landscape, and a rarefied cinematic experience like no other." I don't know about that, or even what – if anything – Tarkovsky was trying to say with his final Soviet feature as it is almost certainly allegorical and there is nothing straightforward about the characters or the narrative.
Leaving the story and characters to one side and concentrating on the look and feel of the film, it's an engrossing experience, a film which looks interesting and, just from the visuals, provokes questions throughout. I don't know the answers to those questions, but I'll certainly be watching this again to see if I can figure out exactly what answers can be gleaned from repeated viewings.