The Sacrifice (DVD)
NEW 4K RESTORATION! Famed Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's final masterpiece, The Sacrifice is a haunting vision of a world threatened with nuclear annihilation that inspired Andrew Sarris (The Village Voice) to proclaim, "You may find yourself moved as you have never been moved before."
As a wealthy Swedish family celebrates the birthday of their patriarch Alexander (Erland Josephson, Cries and Whispers), news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island — and the happy mood turns to horror. The family descends into a state of psychological devastation, brilliantly evoked by Tarkovsky's arresting palette of luminous greys washing over the bleak landscape around their home. (The film's masterful cinematography is by Sven Nykvist, Ingmar Bergman's longtime collaborator).
For Alexander, a philosopher troubled about man's lack of spirituality, the prospect of certain extinction compels the ultimate sacrifice, and he enters into a Faustian bargain with God to save his loved ones from the fear which grips them. The director's last film, made as he was dying of cancer, The Sacrifice is Tarkovsky's personal statement, a profoundly moving, redemptive tragedy steeped in unforgettable imagery and heart-wrenching emotion.
- Andrei Tarkovsky - Director
- Erland Josephson - Actor
- Sven Vollter - Actor
- Allan Edwall - Actor
- Valerie Mairesse - Actor
- Gudron S Gisladottir - Actor
- Susan Fleetwood - Actor
Reviews
"A stunningly beautiful film..."
"An epic vision... Spiritual mastery... A work of genius."
"Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film, among his closest to perfection, is a traversal of agonies, exploring the savage compromises and bargaining that make up life and death."
"Andrei Tarkovsky’s last film is a grand, unworldly, even antiworldly religious vision."
“The first and penultimate shots—ten-minute takes that are, in very different ways, remarkable and complex achievements—manage to say more than most films do over their entire length.”
"Hang on to the very end and you may find yourself moved as you have never been moved before."
Awards
Best Artistic Contribution Cannes Film FestivalFor press and publicity inquiries, please email press@kinolorber.com. A selection of press materials for this title may be available for download here.
Videos
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