Andrei Rublev

R

Released Dec 15, 1972

2h 45m

Biography

List

95%

Tomatometer

44 Reviews

93%

Audience Score

10,000+ Ratings

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev (Anatoliy Solonitsyn). Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

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Critics Consensus

Andrei Rublev is a cerebral epic that filters challenging ideas through a grand scope -- forming a moving thesis on art, faith, and the sweep of history.

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Anthony Lane

New Yorker

You may dread being ground down by this extraordinary film, but fear not. It will bear you aloft.

Aug 27, 2018

Full Review

Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

It evinces a complex understanding of spirituality and faith that would inform all of Andrei Tarkovsky's subsequent films.

Aug 21, 2018

Full Review

Bilge Ebiri

Village Voice

Tarkovsky's version of an indifferent world is inflected with the spirituality that is ever-present in his work, a sense that while we may be on our own, we are never quite alone.

Aug 21, 2018

Full Review

Dave Giannini

InSession Film

In many ways, Andrei Rublev is truly about the impermanence of art. No matter how much money and power funds it, all art can be erased.

Rated: A

Feb 28, 2024

Full Review

Zita Short

InSession Film

Dazzling in its boundless ambition...

Rated: B

Feb 7, 2023

Full Review

Tom Meek

Cambridge Day

The film clocks in at more than three hours, but feels only half as long with themes of self, religion, art and freedom perforating each episode.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 7, 2020

Full Review

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jan b

Movies don't get much better. Pick any scene here and marvel at the artistry and framing - every visual choice the director makes is the right one. It's not just about the look though, this movie's got narrative sweep, compelling human stories, settings that spring to life and intense performances. It's got a profound theme, too, that binds the episodic structure together and steers us towards the movie's awesome conclusion. Final thing - I love the way Tarkovsky lets the camera linger. All the great directors do it, but AT is the master. It's like he's saying: 'Look at this. Look deeper. Take your time. Do you see what I see?"

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/18/23

Full Review

Raphael G

Wow. Finally watched it, the last Tarkovsky movie that I missed. Although I watched it on a nice projector, it was at home, and I hope I get to see it at a real movie theater one day, so I don't get tempted by mundane distractions. But what a beauty. And what an ending. It's like I knew that colors would arrive at the ending. I wonder if Ciro Guerra was inspired by that when he made the ending to Embrace of the Serpent.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/25/23

Full Review

ArtystaPisarz J

While certainly not devoid of beauty and of depth, "Andrei Rublev" seemed to me like a movie that is not in any way interested in telling the story that it chose to tell. It is meandering, stumbling, not coherent. This makes each singular scene strong on its own, as it must shine with its own light, unable to depend on what comes before or after it. But at the same time because of this the whole movie seems somehow to be less than sum of its parts. The overall plot is hard to follow even in scenes where we should know what is going on – while time of each scene is meticulously documented, place is not and some characters are not that easy to identify. I get that this is not the main point here, but this does not work, in my opinion, in favor of said main point, of questions about relationship between faith and creativity. Confusion detracts rather than allows us to focus. But the plot-line about the bell was beautiful. I can easily see it remade into a separate movie of its own.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/08/23

Full Review

andrea m

Not once, but twice I have endured this torture, thinking that I might have missed something that could make me appreciate the movie. Turns out there is nothing to miss, because Tarkovsky tries his best to say nothing for three hours. The director stated it himself, this is not a story with a message, but an arthouse experience. Without any reasonable pace or coherence in the storytelling department, and weird nonsense sequences thrown here and there, the viewer is certainly left with a mere experience. And an awful one, if such viewer happens to not care about medieval Russia. This is of course my outrageous opinion, coming from a heathen yet to be enlightened, unlike most reviewers here.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

We should call "The Artist" to this film and not to the 2011 Oscar's winner film. 8/10

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

dense as shit but relly good

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Andrei Tarkovsky

Director

Anatoliy Solonitsyn

Andrey Rublev

Ivan Lapikov

Kirill

Nikolay Grinko

Daniil Cherny

Nikolaj Sergeev

Theophanes the Greek

Irma Raush

Durochka

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Synopsis

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev (Anatoliy Solonitsyn). Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Screenwriter: Andrey Konchalovskiy, Andrei Tarkovsky
Distributor: Criterion Collection, Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Mosfilm
Rating: R
Genre: Biography
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 15, 1972, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Aug 24, 2018
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 29, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $101.4K
Runtime: 2h 45m
Sound Mix: Mono

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