The Passion According to Andrei
December 15, 2022 12:08 AM Subscribe
Mosfilm has uploaded a 4k extended version of Andrei Rublev to Youtube. Mosfilm is a Russian film studio, particularly noted for producing the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. Much of their output is available to watch on their (English) Youtube channel.
I love how it just breaks into an episode of How it's made.
posted by groda at 2:46 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by groda at 2:46 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Looking forward to a first watch of Stalker.
posted by duende at 2:48 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by duende at 2:48 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Andrei Rublev" is indeed a masterpiece and should be watched by everyone. The bell casting sequence near the end is one of the greatest depictions of the artistic process on film, in my opinion. I won't spoil the ending but the final images are nearly a religious experience.
By contrast, the Tartar raid with its scenes of brutality and torture is very difficult to watch, particularly if you are sensitive to animals being injured - there's one scene that reportedly features a horse really being killed.
Thank you for highlighting one of the greatest films ever made - I am jealous of you being able to watch this for the first time.
posted by fortitude25 at 3:55 AM on December 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
By contrast, the Tartar raid with its scenes of brutality and torture is very difficult to watch, particularly if you are sensitive to animals being injured - there's one scene that reportedly features a horse really being killed.
Thank you for highlighting one of the greatest films ever made - I am jealous of you being able to watch this for the first time.
posted by fortitude25 at 3:55 AM on December 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
....So...I am about one year off from where I'd need to see this for my blog, and there are rumblings that Netflix may kill its DVD plan next year.
Anyone know how to download something off Youtube?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Anyone know how to download something off Youtube?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
If anyone is on the fence about this movie, PLEASE give it a chance. It's a meditative (i.e. slow) movie but (and?) it's FULL of story and character and cinematography - an incredibly well-told meditation on the meaning of art in the real world, of an artist's journey of becoming.
There is this long section at the end where the whole village participates in the casting of an iron bell. I've never seen anything like it on TV or film even just in terms of capturing exactly how a giant town square bell is cast and hoisted into place... But the fact that this movie manages to make the sequence suspenseful and use it to advance the story - nothing short of genius. Unforgettable movie, and one that really deserves many more modern viewers. I watched it first about 20 years ago when I had just turned 20 myself, and then again about six years ago, and I appreciated it all the more as an older viewer. Now I can't wait to watch it again in 4k! Thank you for posting this, Alex404.
posted by MiraK at 5:05 AM on December 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
There is this long section at the end where the whole village participates in the casting of an iron bell. I've never seen anything like it on TV or film even just in terms of capturing exactly how a giant town square bell is cast and hoisted into place... But the fact that this movie manages to make the sequence suspenseful and use it to advance the story - nothing short of genius. Unforgettable movie, and one that really deserves many more modern viewers. I watched it first about 20 years ago when I had just turned 20 myself, and then again about six years ago, and I appreciated it all the more as an older viewer. Now I can't wait to watch it again in 4k! Thank you for posting this, Alex404.
posted by MiraK at 5:05 AM on December 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
EmpressCallipygos, I know for sure my kid knows how to do download off of YouTube (without having to subscribe) and am planning to ask when he gets back from school. I'll be sure to post instructions here.
posted by MiraK at 5:12 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by MiraK at 5:12 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Anyone know how to download something off Youtube?
There are a million ways, some probably malware-ridden, but yt-dlp is probably the best if you're okay with typing a command instead of clicking.
posted by trig at 6:16 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are a million ways, some probably malware-ridden, but yt-dlp is probably the best if you're okay with typing a command instead of clicking.
posted by trig at 6:16 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Libraries also have movies!
posted by oulipian at 6:45 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 6:45 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Libraries also have some movies.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:02 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:02 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
A 4K extended version ...
One rarely hears anyone complain that a Tarkovsky film is too short.
posted by Modest House at 7:44 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
One rarely hears anyone complain that a Tarkovsky film is too short.
posted by Modest House at 7:44 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm a fan of Tarkovsky, and even I would say that many of his films are paced too slow for most audiences.
Having said that, I would recommend to almost everyone to give Andrei Rublev a chance, and to stick with it to the bell casting sequence in the final act. That in itself is one of the most amazing set-pieces in film history.
posted by ovvl at 8:26 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Having said that, I would recommend to almost everyone to give Andrei Rublev a chance, and to stick with it to the bell casting sequence in the final act. That in itself is one of the most amazing set-pieces in film history.
posted by ovvl at 8:26 AM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Rublev is *amazing*, and it's so great to release this free for everyone. A warning: this movie has a scene where a horse dies, and it really dies. It was a horse spared from a slaughterhouse long enough to shoot the scene. I found it pretty upsetting to watch, so be warned.
posted by dis_integration at 9:21 AM on December 15, 2022
posted by dis_integration at 9:21 AM on December 15, 2022
Let’s assume that for Reasons I probably will not have it together enough to watch the full film for possibly 5-7 years, or maybe ever - Should I watch the bell sequence in isolation, or is the rest of the film really needed for context?
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:23 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:23 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
On further research: I suppose for a first watch, it makes more sense to start with the original Andrei Rublev cut, which is also available in 4k on the Mosfilm Youtube channel. Apparently it doesn't have the horse brutality (not keen to see that), and random internet commentators suggest it was Tarkovsky's preferred vision.
This weekend, Andrei(s). You and me (well, and anyone else who's willing).
posted by Alex404 at 10:34 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
This weekend, Andrei(s). You and me (well, and anyone else who's willing).
posted by Alex404 at 10:34 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've used save.tube pretty successfully. Here's a pre-cooked link. Be warned: the 4K version is more than 20 gigs!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:35 AM on December 15, 2022
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:35 AM on December 15, 2022
Let’s assume that for Reasons I probably will not have it together enough to watch the full film for possibly 5-7 years, or maybe ever - Should I watch the bell sequence in isolation, or is the rest of the film really needed for context?
It's been a couple of years since I watched the movie, but I think this sequence holds together fairly well as a standalone piece. While there are a couple of characters from earlier in the film, such as Andrei Rublev himself, most of the focus is on the son of the bellmaker who convinces everybody he is capable of carrying out the task after his father dies. I know a couple of people who have watched this section alone and it didn't seem too confusing. If someone has better knowledge, feel free to correct me.
posted by fortitude25 at 11:40 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's been a couple of years since I watched the movie, but I think this sequence holds together fairly well as a standalone piece. While there are a couple of characters from earlier in the film, such as Andrei Rublev himself, most of the focus is on the son of the bellmaker who convinces everybody he is capable of carrying out the task after his father dies. I know a couple of people who have watched this section alone and it didn't seem too confusing. If someone has better knowledge, feel free to correct me.
posted by fortitude25 at 11:40 AM on December 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Is it really six hours? I have a really clear memory of watching the film, and several more Tarkovsky films that same day, But I don't remember the day as being more than 12 hours.
Obviously this was one of the best days of my life.
Someone had rented a whole cinema, so I could catch up on the Tarkovsky films I hadn't seen yet.
We should all watch more slow movies and I will enjoy the opportunity to watch this again. But not if is prolonged by commercials.
posted by mumimor at 2:57 PM on December 15, 2022
Obviously this was one of the best days of my life.
Someone had rented a whole cinema, so I could catch up on the Tarkovsky films I hadn't seen yet.
We should all watch more slow movies and I will enjoy the opportunity to watch this again. But not if is prolonged by commercials.
posted by mumimor at 2:57 PM on December 15, 2022
No, this is only 3.5 hours, not 6!
posted by MiraK at 4:36 PM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by MiraK at 4:36 PM on December 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Andrei Rublev is one of the great films from one of the greatest directors.
Where to begin...
If you haven't seen any Tarkovsky, folks here are correct. His movies are slooooow. This is deliberate. T. wanted to use time as a medium (he wrote a very interesting book on this). If you know this, prepare yourself, and are perhaps fortified with caffeine, the experience is very powerful and strange. (First time I saw his Stalker in a theater, the projectionist put one reel in upside down. We were so... mentally altered by that point that we didn't complain right away.)
Rublev is a series of short stories from an imagined life of a great icon painter. You don't see his work until the very end, and the film switches from black and white to color very effectively. Each story takes the painter forward in his artistic and religious development, with an eye towards Russian history and culture. Each differs in tone, scale, intent. Some are quiet chamber pieces, while others are grand, even epic. Yes, the bell story is heartrending and classic by itself.
I'm not a religious person, but the film gives me deep insight into that world.
posted by doctornemo at 4:59 PM on December 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
Where to begin...
If you haven't seen any Tarkovsky, folks here are correct. His movies are slooooow. This is deliberate. T. wanted to use time as a medium (he wrote a very interesting book on this). If you know this, prepare yourself, and are perhaps fortified with caffeine, the experience is very powerful and strange. (First time I saw his Stalker in a theater, the projectionist put one reel in upside down. We were so... mentally altered by that point that we didn't complain right away.)
Rublev is a series of short stories from an imagined life of a great icon painter. You don't see his work until the very end, and the film switches from black and white to color very effectively. Each story takes the painter forward in his artistic and religious development, with an eye towards Russian history and culture. Each differs in tone, scale, intent. Some are quiet chamber pieces, while others are grand, even epic. Yes, the bell story is heartrending and classic by itself.
I'm not a religious person, but the film gives me deep insight into that world.
posted by doctornemo at 4:59 PM on December 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
The first time I saw it was in a college cafeteria, maybe for a film club? On a film projector that was showing the wide-screen all scrunched up so everyone was tall and thin. All I can tell you is that we stayed for the whole thing.
I recommend that you don't see it that way. I watched it a few months ago the normal way and it was magnificent. And you have to watch the whole thing, in some version or other. It's about how life informs art, so seeing the life part is necessary to appreciate the final, final scene, which was astounding even in the thin version.
posted by acrasis at 6:59 PM on December 15, 2022
I recommend that you don't see it that way. I watched it a few months ago the normal way and it was magnificent. And you have to watch the whole thing, in some version or other. It's about how life informs art, so seeing the life part is necessary to appreciate the final, final scene, which was astounding even in the thin version.
posted by acrasis at 6:59 PM on December 15, 2022
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posted by Alex404 at 12:13 AM on December 15, 2022 [5 favorites]