Sacrifice

"You May Find Yourself Moved As You Have Never Been Moved Before."-Andrew Sarris, THE VILLAGE VOICE

The Sacrifice:
From famed Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky comes The Sacrifice, a haunting vision of a world threatened with nuclear annihilation.

As a wealthy Swedish family celebrates the birthday of their patriarch, Alexander (Erland Josephson), their mood of celebration turns horrific when news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island.With his arresting palette of luminous greys washing over the bleak landscape - captured on film by Ingmar Bergman's longtime collaborator Sven Nykvist - Tarkovsky conveys the family's psychological devastation as they enter into a working nightmare.

Faced with certain extinction, Alexander performs the ultimate sacrifice, entering into a Faustian bargain with God to save his loved ones from the "sickening , animal fear" which grips them.The director's final film, made as he was dying of cancer, The Sacrifice is a profoundly moving personal masterpiece, a redemptive tragedy steeped in unforgettable imagery and heart-wrenching emotion.

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky:
Filmmaker Michal Leszcylowski was editor for Andrei Tarkovsky's last film, The Sacrifice.During the time they spent together, their relationship grew into an enduring friendship.Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky is an homage, a fluid and captivating documentary that presents the brooding as well as the more playful side of a genius.

According to Michal Leszcylowski, "Joseph Conrad wrote that at the outset of every work of art there is the will to isolate a moment out of the merciless flow of life and make it accessible to others.The time I spent with Andrei Tarkovsky while working on The Sacrifice will vanish and fade as memories always do...Maybe I fear such a loss in the labyrinth of recollection or maybe it is simply my affection for him that drives me...Andrei opened certain doors for me and let me in.The time I spent in the world of his ideas, thoughts and feelings enriched me...I felt obligated to share with you the time that passed."