Andrei Tarkovsky - Moscow Elegy

A 1987 Biography, History Documentary directed by Alexander Sokurov. Audio in Russian with English subtitles.

Originally produced to mark the 50th birthday of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, the material for this stunning documentary was shot by Alexander Sokurov, director of Russian Ark and Tarkovsky’s spiritual heir. "Moskovskaya Elegiya" is a subjective portrait of the legendary Tarkovsky (Solaris, Stalker, Nostalghia), whose shadow looms large over Russian cinema, despite his exile to Western Europe at the end of his life.

Sokurov, who shot the film while working at Leningrad State Documentary Productions (LSDF), focuses on Tarkovsky’s absence from the then-Soviet Union and meditates on what he left behind. Using thematically representative scenes from Tarkovsky’s films, juxtaposed against political events in the Soviet Union, Sokurov captures the great director’s struggle between personal expression and state-supported suppression. The film also includes footage from Tarkovsky’s funeral.