IMDB 250 7.1 - Stalker (1979)

Stalker (1979)

Somewhere beyond the barbed wire fences and guns of a dystopian future city, lies a mysterious area called "The Zone". Is it the site of a nuclear meltdown? Is it the work of aliens? No one knows. There is rumored to be a place within "The Zone" called "The Room" where a man's wishes become reality. Two men, the Professor and the Writer hire a man (known as a "Stalker") to lead them to it.

Filmed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War on a non-existent budget, "Stalker" features minimal dialogue, minimal music, minimal editing, no special effects and the first 40 minutes are black and white. To say that it's slow is an understatement - it moves at a glacial pace. The actors - when they do speak - debate the nature of God, existence, life, science and art. It's as if Ingmar Bergman made a science fiction movie.

All that said, and even though I generally don't like Ingmar Bergman, I like "Stalker". The main strength is the cinematography. The cinematography of this movie is among the best I've ever seen in any movie. You can pick a frame of this movie at random, frame it and hang it in a gallery and it will probably belong. The sepia-tinged black and white of the first part in particular is simply perfect.

Besides the cinematography, the other main strength is the writing. Tension builds slowly as the men navigate the Zone and questions start to stack up. I found the mystery of "The Zone" and the exploration of a strange world and its other-worldly possibilities undeniably interesting. It's somewhat reminiscent of "Lost". In that aspect, the sparse dialogue only adds to the mystery. Less is more.

Obviously, "Stalker" is decidedly an "art house" film. The pacing is extremely slow, shots are extremely static, the existential conversations, the fact that it's subtitled combined with the almost 3 hour run-time all means that it's not for everybody.... or even a lot of people. But if "art house" movies don't scare you and you don't mind a movie that challenges your attention span, "Stalker" is a must-see.

8/10.

Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 349.
Also, IMDB has split the double feature "Our Hospitality/Sherlock Jr." into two separate movies so....
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 350.