What is it good for, to stop the time?

April 5, 2011 11:48 AM

[Antonioni] gave to three elderly Muslims the pictures he had taken of them. The eldest one as soon as he took a glance at the photos, immediately returned them with these words: "What is it good for, to stop the time?" Andrei Tarkovsky's Polaroids
posted by juv3nal (19 comments total)

I feel like this has surfaced before, but who cares. These are great.
posted by everichon at 11:53 AM on April 5, 2011

I feel like that quote shows up in one of Chris Marker's movies, but maybe it just feels like something he would put in a movie.
posted by theodolite at 11:55 AM on April 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

Lovely.
posted by Artw at 11:55 AM on April 5, 2011

It's astonishing how much they look like they could be stills from a lost movie of his.
posted by treepour at 11:56 AM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

The eldest one as soon as he took a glance at the photos, immediately returned them with these words: "What is it good for, to stop the time?"

You naive, newly-soulless fool!
posted by DU at 11:58 AM on April 5, 2011 [5 favorites]

I feel like this has surfaced before, but who cares. These are great.
I did search and didn't find anything, but searching again more carefully now, I found this which has fewer actual pictures unless I'm missing a link in the comments somewhere.
posted by juv3nal at 12:01 PM on April 5, 2011

"What is it good for, to stop the time?"

WELL DUH?
posted by everichon at 12:01 PM on April 5, 2011

"What is it good for, to stop the time?"

1) Thus blowing any chance he had of becoming VP of Marketing at Nikon.

2) Fun ... sharing ... memories ... artistic expression ...
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:05 PM on April 5, 2011

It's astonishing how much they look like they could be stills from a lost movie of his.

That first picture does look a lot like the pond from the ending of Solaris.
posted by Iridic at 12:06 PM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

And this, from the interiors at the beginning of Stalker.
posted by xod at 12:40 PM on April 5, 2011

Oh these are lovely polaroids indeed... they look like paintings...

The eldest one as soon as he took a glance at the photos, immediately returned them with these words: "What is it good for, to stop the time?"

This gets to me even more than the photos. So true and sad and beautiful. No wonder it was the eldest who refused.

Tarkovksy's photos of his mother are so touching. She looks so young and old at the same time.
posted by bitteschoen at 1:11 PM on April 5, 2011

This is great!
posted by brundlefly at 1:22 PM on April 5, 2011

More Tarkovsky poloroids (via MetaChat). I feel like I've been seeing these everywhere lately - which is not a complaint, as they're gorgeous.
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:04 PM on April 5, 2011

"What is it good for, to stop the time?"

No. Porn.
posted by rough ashlar at 2:07 PM on April 5, 2011

More Tarkovsky poloroids
I actually saw that link first (Criterion Collection's twitter had mentioned it), but thought they were disappointingly few/small and went hunting for more/bigger.
posted by juv3nal at 2:21 PM on April 5, 2011

This was a spectacular find. Thank you so much, juv3nal; best of the web, indeed.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 3:19 PM on April 5, 2011

Those were lovely. I need to sit down & watch Solaris & his other films someday.
posted by dragonplayer at 6:14 PM on April 5, 2011

Oh these are so lovely! Just wonderful, and what an eye he had, turning the limitations of the medium into their own magic thing.
posted by biscotti at 6:49 PM on April 5, 2011

Amazing photos. Each one a small world of vision.

Time to rewatch Mirror. Or maybe Nostalgia.
posted by doctornemo at 11:14 AM on April 6, 2011