Kubrick vs Tarkovsky - who was better?

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

^ cool vid of some side by side shots from Kubrick and Tarkovsky films. And I've always loved the score they are using. It was in the dream sequence in Shutter Island.


I've never seen a Tarkovsky film but I've heard the name for years. Thanks to @Roxxo over in the Film Masterpieces thread for bringing him up. I googled some pics of Tarkovsky's films and watched a few short vids and i gotta say, I'm seriously impressed by what I've seen.

I know some of you here know film much better than I do, so let me ask you, who was better? Stanley Kubrick or Andrei Tarkovsky?





Tarkovsky:

Kubrick:

 

[John Wang]

I'd have to go with Tarvosky imo. He is a genius

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

I'd go with Tarkovsky as well. He did more with fewer resources. He was also behind the iron curtain, so he had to be more subtle in his films. There's a lot of subversive themes in his films that were incredibly well hidden.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

I'd go with Tarkovsky as well. He did more with fewer resources. He was also behind the iron curtain, so he had to be more subtle in his films. There's a lot of subversive themes in his films that were incredibly well hidden.

According to his wikipedia page, there's a conspiracy theory that the KGB poisoned him. Apparently one of his doctors said that the type of lung cancer that killed him couldn't have been brought on by natural causes. And his wife and an actor he worked with on some film all died from the same exact type of lung cancer.

But somebody else who worked with him on some film says he thinks they all got poisoned from filming scenes at some chemical plant.

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

According to his wikipedia page, there's a conspiracy theory that the KGB poisoned him. Apparently one of his doctors said that the type of lung cancer that killed him couldn't have been brought on by natural causes. And his wife and an actor he worked with on some film all died from the same exact type of lung cancer.

But somebody else who worked with him on some film says he thinks they all got poisoned from filming scenes at some chemical plant.

Interesting. I was always under the impression that the Soviet's gave him some artistic license because he was a national resource and they wanted to show they could produce films just as well, if not better, than the Americans

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

Meanwhile, Shadow Priest is posting about the Power Rangers and Boondock Saints.

 

[Zer]

Tarkovsky for me

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I have never heard of Kubrick.
Tarkovsky.


Reverse those names.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Interesting. I was always under the impression that the Soviet's gave him some artistic license because he was a national resource and they wanted to show they could produce films just as well, if not better, than the Americans

Apparently some saw it as anti soviet propaganda.

Here's the part about that from his wiki:

A conspiracy theory emerged in Russia in the early 1990s when it was alleged that Tarkovsky did not die of natural causes but was assassinated by the KGB. Evidence for this hypothesis includes testimonies by former KGB agents who claim that Viktor Chebrikov gave the order to eradicate Tarkovsky to curtail what the Soviet government and the KGB saw as anti-Soviet propaganda by Tarkovsky. Other evidence includes several memoranda that surfaced after the 1991 coup and the claim by one of Tarkovsky's doctors that his cancer could not have developed from a natural cause.[19]

As with Tarkovsky, his wife Larisa Tarkovskaya and actor Anatoli Solonitsyn all died from the very same type of lung cancer. Vladimir Sharun, sound designer in Stalker, is convinced that they were all poisoned by the chemical plant where they were shooting the film.[20]

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

Apparently some saw it as anti soviet propaganda.

Here's the part about that from his wiki:

A conspiracy theory emerged in Russia in the early 1990s when it was alleged that Tarkovsky did not die of natural causes but was assassinated by the KGB. Evidence for this hypothesis includes testimonies by former KGB agents who claim that Viktor Chebrikov gave the order to eradicate Tarkovsky to curtail what the Soviet government and the KGB saw as anti-Soviet propaganda by Tarkovsky. Other evidence includes several memoranda that surfaced after the 1991 coup and the claim by one of Tarkovsky's doctors that his cancer could not have developed from a natural cause.[19]

As with Tarkovsky, his wife Larisa Tarkovskaya and actor Anatoli Solonitsyn all died from the very same type of lung cancer. Vladimir Sharun, sound designer in Stalker, is convinced that they were all poisoned by the chemical plant where they were shooting the film.[20]

Well yeah, as I said earlier, his films are full of subversive themes. When you watch his movies, do so with the perspective that they were made in Soviet Russia. Tarkovsky was an absolute master at his craft, able to make films that were great on the surface and brilliant in their subtlety. He's not for everyone though. They're all deliberately paced. Most probably find them boring.

 

[Organic Damage]

I've only seen Stalker (because I loved the short story and video game) so I can't fairly judge.

Tarkovsky is definitely less accessible though. I need to see Solaris before I form my opinion.

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

I've only seen Stalker (because I loved the short story and video game) so I can't fairly judge.

Tarkovsky is definitely less accessible though. I need to see Solaris before I form my opinion.

Check out The Mirror as well.

I'd suggest watching Solaris alone, with no distractions. Let it absorb you. It's deliberate, but the pay off is incredible. The last 10 minutes are, IMO, the best 10 minutes of film ever made.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Meanwhile, Shadow Priest is posting about the Power Rangers and Boondock Saints.

Lol SP knows his stuff, man. Iirc he's in film school.

@shadow_priest_x

 

[Rimbaud82]

Both are geniuses, Kubrick is more conventional (he was a big budget western director after all...) though obviously still well within the general category of 'art films'. Don't know if you can really say one is qualitatively better than the other, but personally I would have to go for Tarkovsky. He is my favourite director. I can enjoy 'conventional' films too but Tarkovsky films are pure poetry, he invented a new cinematic language. Ingmar Bergman says it better than I could:

"Suddenly, I found myself standing at the door of a room the keys of which had, until then, never been given to me. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease.

I felt encouraged and stimulated: someone was expressing what I had always wanted to say without knowing how.

Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream."

 

[Guestx]

Lol SP knows his stuff. Iirc he's in film school.

@shadow_priest_x

LOL. I am an on-again-off-again student in a film program, yes. Not currently enrolled in classes.

You guys can continue on with your hipster conversation. I am indeed busily engaged with conversations about Power Rangers and Boondock Saints. And Mortal Kombat.

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

Both are geniuses, Kubrick is more conventional (he was a big budget western director after all...) though obviously still well within the general category of 'art films'. Don't if you can really say one is qualitatively better than the other, but personally I would have to go for Tarkovsky. He is my favourite director. I can enjoy 'conventional' films too but Tarkovsky films are pure poetry, he invented a new cinematic language. Ingmar Bergman says it better than I could:

"Suddenly, I found myself standing at the door of a room the keys of which had, until then, never been given to me. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease.

I felt encouraged and stimulated: someone was expressing what I had always wanted to say without knowing how.

Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream."

That's an incredible quote and I know that feeling. It's when you think you've mastered something and a new perspective opens doors you never imagined. It's what freedom must feel like.

 

[Rimbaud82]

LOL. I am an on-again-off-again student in a film program, yes. Not currently in class.

You guys can continue on with your hipster conversation. I am indeed busily engaged with conversations about Power Rangers and Boondock Saints. And Mortal Kombat.

And here I was going to ask why he possibly had any issue with you, now you just sound like a ballbag as well

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

Lol SP knows his stuff, man. Iirc he's in film school.

@shadow_priest_x

Yeah, I know. I like giving him shit for his odd taste.

I dropped out of film school in my senior year. At some point I had to be honest with myself and admit that while I love movies, I'm shit at making them.

 

[Guestx]

And here I was going to ask why he possibly had any issue with you, now you just sound like a ballbag as well

LOL. I'm just fucking with y'all.

I love Kubrick, but haven't gotten into Tarkovsky's stuff enough to have an opinion.

 

[Guestx]

Yeah, I know. I like giving him shit for his odd taste.

I dropped out of film school in my senior year. At some point I had to be honest with myself and admit that while I love movies, I'm shit at making them.

Did you enjoy making stuff? If you enjoyed I'd say you could always just keep practicing until you've got it down.

I think everyone's stuff is shit at first. It takes time to get understand the craft. I am still working on that myself.