Editing Andrei Tarkovsky (section)

==Life and career==
===Childhood and early life===
Andrei Tarkovsky was born in the village of [[Zavrazhye, Kadyysky District, Kostroma Oblast|Zavrazhye]] in the [[Yuryevetsky District]] of the [[Ivanovo Oblast|Ivanovo Industrial Oblast]] (modern-day [[Kadyysky District]] of the [[Kostroma Oblast]], Russia) to the poet and translator [[Arseny Tarkovsky|Arseny Aleksandrovich Tarkovsky]], a native of Yelysavethrad (now [[Kropyvnytskyi]], Ukraine), and Maria Ivanova Vishnyakova, a graduate of the [[Maxim Gorky Literature Institute]] who later worked as a proofreader; she was born in Moscow in the Dubasov family estate.

Andrei's paternal grandfather Aleksandr Karlovich Tarkovsky (in {{langx|pl|link=no|Aleksander Karol Tarkowski}}) was a Polish nobleman who worked as a bank clerk. His wife Maria Danilovna Rachkovskaya was a Romanian language teacher who arrived from [[Iași]].<ref name='gordon'>{{cite web| url = http://www.tarkovskiy.su/texty/vospominania/MTarkovskaya04.html| title = Marina Tarkovskaya: "My brother enjoyed being a descendant of the Dagestanian princes"}} interview to the {{ill|Gordon Boulevard (newspaper)|uk|Бульвар Гордона|lt=Gordon Boulevard|italic=y}} newspaper at the ''Andrei Tarkovsky'' media archive, 2007 (in Russian).</ref> Andrei's maternal grandmother Vera Nikolayevna Vishnyakova (née Dubasova) belonged to an old Dubasov family of [[Russian nobility]] that traces its history back to the 17th century; among her relatives was Admiral [[Fyodor Dubasov]], a fact she had to conceal during the Soviet days. She was married to Ivan Ivanovich Vishnyakov, a native of the [[Kaluga Governorate]] who studied law at the [[Moscow State University]] and served as a judge in [[Kozelsk]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.itogi.ru/arts-exclus/2012/14/176471.html| title = Filming Eternity| access-date = 17 January 2017| archive-date = 18 January 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170118051501/http://www.itogi.ru/arts-exclus/2012/14/176471.html| url-status = dead}} interview with Tarkovsky's sister Marina Tarkovskaya, ''{{ill|Itogy|ru|Итоги (журнал)}}'' journal, 2 April 2012 (in Russian).</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/ЭСБЕ/Дубасовы| title = Dubasov family}} from the [[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]], 1890–1907 ([[Wikisource]], in Russian).</ref>

According to the family legend, Tarkovsky's ancestors on his father's side were princes from the [[Shamkhalate of Tarki]], Dagestan, although his sister, [[Marina Tarkovskaya]], who conducted detailed research on their genealogy, called it "a myth, even a prank of sorts," stressing that no document confirms this narrative.<ref name='gordon' />

Tarkovsky spent his childhood in [[Yuryevets, Ivanovo Oblast|Yuryevets]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Marina |last=Sipatova |script-title=ru:Тайна рода Тарковских |work=[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]] |year=2007 |url=http://www.mk.ru/blogs/MK/2007/02/20/culture/92002 |language=ru|access-date=25 November 2007}}</ref> <!--He was described by childhood friends as active and popular, having many friends and being typically in the center of action.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-13|title=Andrei Tarkovsky {{!}} people and places|url=https://videocide.com/namebook/andrei-tarkovsky/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921023907/https://videocide.com/namebook/andrei-tarkovsky/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 September 2020|access-date=2022-02-18|language=en-US}}</ref>--> His father left the family in 1937, subsequently volunteering for the army in 1941. He returned home in 1943, having been awarded the [[Order of the Red Star]] after being shot in one of his legs (which he would eventually need to have amputated due to gangrene).<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Donatella Baglivo |date=1984 |title=Un poeta nel Cinema: Andreij Tarkovskij|trans-title=Andrei Tarkovsky: A Poet in the Cinema |medium=Documentary}}</ref> Tarkovsky stayed with his mother, moving with her and his sister Marina to Moscow, where she worked as a proofreader at a printing press.

In 1939, Tarkovsky enrolled at the Moscow School No. 554. During the war, the three evacuated to Yuryevets, living with his maternal grandmother. In 1943, the family returned to Moscow. Tarkovsky continued his studies at his old school, where the poet [[Andrei Voznesensky]] was one of his classmates. He studied piano at a music school and attended classes at an art school. The family lived on Shchipok Street in the [[Zamoskvorechye District]] in Moscow. From November 1947 to spring 1948 he was in the hospital with tuberculosis. Many themes of his childhood—the evacuation, his mother and her two children, the withdrawn father, the time in the hospital—feature prominently in his film ''[[Mirror (1975 film)|Mirror]]''.

In his school years, Tarkovsky was a troublemaker and a poor student.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_-vCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=Andrei Tarkovsky: The Winding Quest |page=2 |last=Green |first=Peter |publisher=Springer |date=1993 |isbn=978-1349119967}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnTIHKpkbrAC&pg=PA230 |title=The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn |page=230 |last=Volkov |first=Solomon |publisher=Vintage Books |date=2009 |isbn=978-1400077861}}</ref> He still managed to graduate, and from 1951 to 1952 studied [[Arabic]] at the Oriental Institute in Moscow, a branch of the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union]]. <!--Although he already spoke some Arabic and was a successful student in his first semesters, -->He did not finish his studies and dropped out to work as a prospector for the Academy of Science Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. He participated in a year-long research expedition to the river [[Kureyka]] near [[Turukhansk]] in the [[Krasnoyarsk Krai|Krasnoyarsk Province]]. During this time in the [[taiga]], Tarkovsky decided to study film.

===Film school student===
Upon returning from the research expedition in 1954, Tarkovsky applied at the State Institute of Cinematography ([[Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography|VGIK]]) and was admitted to the film-directing program. He was in the same class as [[Irma Raush]] (Irina) whom he married in April 1957.<ref name=kompravda>{{cite news |first=Anastasia |last=Pleshakova |title=Тарковский был "разрешенным контрреволюционером" |trans-title= Tarkovsky was "a legal сounterrevolutionary" |newspaper=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]] |date=4 April 2007 |url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/23881/65502/ |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104174327/http://www.kp.ru/daily/23881/65502/ |archive-date=4 January 2008 |url-status= live}}</ref>

The early [[History of the Soviet Union (1953–1964)|Khrushchev era]] offered good opportunities for young film directors. Before 1953, annual film production was low and most films were directed by veteran directors. After 1953, more films were produced, many of them by young directors. The [[Khrushchev Thaw]] relaxed Soviet social restrictions a bit and permitted a limited influx of European and North American literature, films and music. This allowed Tarkovsky to see films of the [[Italian neorealism|Italian neorealists]], [[French New Wave]], and of directors such as [[Akira Kurosawa|Kurosawa]], [[Luis Buñuel|Buñuel]], [[Ingmar Bergman|Bergman]], [[Robert Bresson|Bresson]], [[Andrzej Wajda|Wajda]] (whose film ''[[Ashes and Diamonds (film)|Ashes and Diamonds]]'' influenced Tarkovsky) and [[Kenji Mizoguchi|Mizoguchi]].

Tarkovsky's teacher and mentor was [[Mikhail Romm]], who taught many film students who would later become influential film directors. In 1956, Tarkovsky directed his first student short film, ''[[The Killers (1956 film)|The Killers]]'', from a short story of [[Ernest Hemingway]]. The longer television film ''[[There Will Be No Leave Today]]'' followed in 1959. Both films were a collaboration between the VGIK students. Classmate [[Aleksandr Gordon]], who married Tarkovsky's sister, in particular directed, wrote, edited, and acted in the two films with Tarkovsky.

<!--An important influence on Tarkovsky was the film director [[Grigory Chukhray]], who was teaching at the VGIK. Impressed by the talent of his student, Chukhray offered Tarkovsky a position as assistant director for his film ''Clear Skies''. Tarkovsky initially showed interest but then decided to concentrate on his studies and his own projects.<ref name=kompravda/>-->
During his third year at the VGIK, Tarkovsky met [[Andrei Konchalovsky]]. They found much in common as they liked the same film directors and shared ideas on cinema and films. In 1959, they wrote the script ''Antarctica – Distant Country'', which was later published in the ''[[Moskovsky Komsomolets]]''. Tarkovsky submitted the script to [[Lenfilm]], but it was rejected. They were more successful with the script ''[[The Steamroller and the Violin]]'', which they sold to [[Mosfilm]]. This became Tarkovsky's graduation project, earning him his diploma in 1960 and winning First Prize at the New York Student Film Festival in 1961.

===Film career in the Soviet Union===
Tarkovsky's first feature film was ''[[Ivan's Childhood]]'' in 1962. He had inherited the film from director Eduard Abalov, who had to abort the project. The film earned Tarkovsky international acclaim and won the [[Golden Lion]] award at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in the year 1962. In the same year, on 30 September, his first son Arseny (called Senka in Tarkovsky's diaries) Tarkovsky was born.
[[File:Tarkovsky vgik.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Monument to Andrei Tarkovsky at entrance of [[Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography]]]]
In 1965, he directed the film ''[[Andrei Rublev (film)|Andrei Rublev]]'' about the life of [[Andrei Rublev]], the fifteenth-century Russian [[icon painter]]. ''Andrei Rublev'' was not, except for a single screening in Moscow in 1966, immediately released after completion due to problems with Soviet authorities. Tarkovsky had to cut the film several times, resulting in several different versions of varying lengths. The film was widely released in the Soviet Union in a cut version in 1971. Nevertheless, the film had a budget of more than 1 million rubles – a significant sum for that period.<ref name=latgale>{{cite web |url=https://latgale.academy/censorships-impact-on-tarkovskys-movies/ |title=Censorship's impact on Tarkovsky's movies |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=latgale.academy}}</ref> A version of the film was presented at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in 1969 and won the [[International Federation of Film Critics|FIPRESCI prize]].

He divorced his wife, Irina, in June 1970. In the same year, he married [[Larisa Tarkovskaya|Larisa Kizilova]] (née Egorkina), who had been a production assistant for the film ''[[Andrei Rublev (film)|Andrei Rublev]]'' (they had been living together since 1965). Their son, Andrei Andreyevich Tarkovsky, (nicknamed Andriosha, meaning "little Andre" or "Andre Junior") was born in the same year on 7 August.{{sfn|Gianvito|2006|page=xxv}}

In 1972, he completed ''[[Solaris (1972 film)|Solaris]]'', an adaptation of the novel ''[[Solaris (novel)|Solaris]]'' by [[Stanisław Lem]]. He had worked on this together with screenwriter [[Friedrich Gorenstein]] as early as 1968. The film was presented at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], won the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix Spécial du Jury]], and was nominated for the [[Palme d'Or]].

From 1973 to 1974, he shot the film ''[[Mirror (1975 film)|Mirror]]'', a highly autobiographical and unconventionally structured film drawing on his childhood and incorporating some of his father's poems. In this film Tarkovsky portrayed the plight of childhood affected by war. Tarkovsky had worked on the screenplay for this film since 1967, under the consecutive titles ''Confession'', ''White day'' and ''A white, white day''. From the beginning the film was not well received by Soviet authorities due to its content and its perceived elitist nature. Soviet authorities placed the film in the "third category", a severely limited distribution, and only allowed it to be shown in third-class cinemas and workers' clubs. Few prints were made and the film-makers received no returns. Third category films also placed the film-makers in danger of being accused of wasting public funds, which could have serious effects on their future productivity.<ref>Marshall, Herbert. ''Sight and Sound''. Vol 45, no 2. Spring 1976. p. 93.</ref> These difficulties are presumed to have made Tarkovsky play with the idea of going abroad and producing a film outside the Soviet film industry.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tarkovsky |first=Andrei |author2=translated by Kitty Hunter-Blair |title=Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970-1986 |publisher=Seagull Books |year=1991 |location=[[Calcutta]] |isbn=978-81-7046-083-1|title-link=Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970-1986}}</ref>

During 1975, Tarkovsky also worked on the screenplay ''[[Hoffmanniana]]'', about the German writer and poet [[E. T. A. Hoffmann]]. In December 1976, he directed ''[[Hamlet]]'', his only stage play, at the [[Lenkom Theatre]] in Moscow. The main role was played by [[Anatoly Solonitsyn]], who also acted in several of Tarkovsky's films. At the end of 1978, he also wrote the screenplay ''Sardor'' together with the writer Aleksandr Misharin.

The last film Tarkovsky completed in the Soviet Union was ''[[Stalker (1979 film)|Stalker]]'', inspired by the novel ''[[Roadside Picnic]]'' by the brothers [[Arkady and Boris Strugatsky]]. Tarkovsky had met the brothers first in 1971 and was in contact with them until his death in 1986. Initially he wanted to shoot a film based on their novel ''[[Dead Mountaineer's Hotel]]'' and he developed a raw script. Influenced by a discussion with Arkady Strugatsky he changed his plan and began to work on the script based on ''Roadside Picnic''. Work on this film began in 1976. The production was mired in troubles; improper development of the negatives had ruined all the exterior shots. Tarkovsky's relationship with cinematographer [[Georgy Rerberg]] deteriorated to the point where he hired [[Alexander Knyazhinsky]] as a new first cinematographer. Furthermore, Tarkovsky had a heart attack in April 1978, resulting in further delay. The film was completed in 1979 and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the [[Cannes Film Festival]]. In a question and answer session at the [[Edinburgh Filmhouse]] on 11 February 1981, Tarkovsky trenchantly rejected suggestions that the film was either impenetrably mysterious or a political [[allegory]].<ref>''Stalker: Andrei Tarkovsky Talking'', in Bold, Christine (ed.), ''[[Cencrastus]]'' No. 5, Summer 1981, pp. 12 & 13.</ref>

<!--In 1979, Tarkovsky began production of the film ''The First Day'' (Russian: Первый День ''Pervyj Dyen''), based on a script by his friend and long-term collaborator [[Andrei Konchalovsky]]. The film was set in 18th-century Russia during the reign of [[Peter the Great]] and starred [[Natalya Bondarchuk]] and [[Anatoli Papanov]]. To get the project approved by [[State Committee for Cinematography|Goskino]], Tarkovsky submitted a script that was different from the original script, omitting several scenes that were critical of the [[Religion in the Soviet Union|official atheism in the Soviet Union]]. After shooting roughly half of the film the project was stopped by Goskino after it became apparent that the film differed from the script submitted to the censors. Tarkovsky was reportedly infuriated by this interruption and destroyed most of the film.<ref name=ReferenceB>{{cite book|script-title=ru:Мир и фильмы Андрея Тарковского. Сост. А. Сандлер. |trans-title=Andey Tarkovsky's world and films |publisher=Iskusstvo(Искусство) |year=1990 |location=Moscow |isbn=978-81-7046-083-1 |language=ru}}</ref>-->
===Film career outside the Soviet Union===
During the summer of 1979, Tarkovsky traveled to Italy, where he shot the documentary ''[[Voyage in Time]]'' together with his long-time friend [[Tonino Guerra]]. Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1980 for an extended trip, during which he and Guerra completed the script for the film ''[[Nostalghia]]''. During this period, he took Polaroid photographs depicting his personal life.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/andrei-tarkovsky-filmmaker-polaroid-diary/ |title=Filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's sublime polaroid diary offers a personal glimpse into his cinematic vision |last=Thomas-Mason |first=Lee |access-date=13 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1982 to start shooting ''Nostalghia'', but [[Mosfilm]] then withdrew from the project, so he sought and received financial backing from the Italian [[RAI]]. Tarkovsky completed the film in 1983, and it was presented at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] where it won the [[International Federation of Film Critics|FIPRESCI prize]] and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Tarkovsky also shared a special prize called ''Grand Prix du cinéma de création'' with [[Robert Bresson]]. Soviet authorities lobbied to prevent the film from winning the [[Palme d'Or]],<ref name=Wagstaff2004>{{cite book |last=Wagstaff |first=Peter |title=Border crossings: mapping identities in modern Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jFKGgLAQ8mMC&pg=PA169 |year=2004 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-03910-279-2 |page=169}}</ref> a fact that hardened Tarkovsky's resolve to never work in the Soviet Union again. After Cannes he went to London to stage and choreograph the opera ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' at the [[Royal Opera House]] under the musical direction of [[Claudio Abbado]].

[[File:Andrej Tarkovskij mug shot at Latina Refugee Camp 1985.jpg|thumb|right|Mug shot of Andrei Tarkovsky at the Latina Refugee Camp of [[Latina, Lazio|Latina]] (Italy) in 1985]]
At a press conference in [[Milan]] on 10 July 1984, he announced that he would never return to the Soviet Union and would remain in Western Europe. He stated, "I am not a Soviet dissident, I have no conflict with the Soviet Government," but if he returned home, he added, "I would be unemployed."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/30/obituaries/andrei-tarkovsky-director-and-soviet-emigre-dies-at-54.html |title=Andrei Tarkovsky, Director and Soviet Emigre, Dies at 54|last=Goodman |first=Walter |work=The New York Times|date=20 December 1986|page=B8|access-date=19 December 2020}}</ref> At that time, his son Andriosha was still in the Soviet Union and not allowed to leave the country. On 28 August 1985, Tarkovsky was processed as a Soviet Defector at a refugee camp in [[Latina, Lazio|Latina]], Italy, registered with the serial number 13225/379, and officially welcomed to the West.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alberto |last=Custodero |title=Latina, quei profughi dell'Est dimenticati. E spunta la scheda di Tarkovskij |journal=La Repubblica |date=10 December 2015 |url=http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2015/12/10/news/latina_profughi_est_rivoluzione_ungherese_commemorazione_documentario_emanuela_gasbarroni_andrej_tarkovskij-129035264/ |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Campo profughi a Latina, la scheda ritrovata di Tarkovskij. Documenti, foto e testimonianze |journal=La Repubblica |date=8 December 2015 |url=http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2015/12/08/foto/campo_profughi_latina_documenti_foto_e_testimonianze-129059106/1/?ref=nrct-1#1 |language=it}}</ref>

Tarkovsky spent most of 1984 preparing the film ''[[The Sacrifice (1986 film)|The Sacrifice]]''. It was finally shot in 1985 in Sweden, with many of the crew being alumni from [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s films, including cinematographer [[Sven Nykvist]]. Tarkovsky's vision of his film was greatly influenced by Bergman's style.

While ''The Sacrifice'' is about an apocalypse and impending death, faith, and possible redemption, in the making-of documentary ''Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky'', in a particularly poignant scene, writer/director [[Michal Leszczylowski]] follows Tarkovsky on a walk as he expresses his sentiments on death—he claims himself to be immortal and has no fear of dying. Ironically, at the end of the year Tarkovsky was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In January 1986, he began treatment in Paris and was joined there by his son, Andre Jr, who was finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union. What would be Tarkovsky's final film was dedicated to him.

''The Sacrifice'' was presented at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and received the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix Spécial du Jury]], the [[International Federation of Film Critics|FIPRESCI prize]] and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. As Tarkovsky was unable to attend due to his illness, the prizes were collected by his son.

===Death===
[[File:Gravestone of Andrei Tarkovsky 2007.jpg|thumb|Andrei and Larisa Tarkovsky's grave, [[Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery]] in France]]
In Tarkovsky's last [[Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970–1986|diary]] entry (15 December 1986), he wrote: "But now I have no strength left—that is the problem". The diaries are sometimes also known as ''[[Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970–1986|Martyrology]]'' and were published posthumously in 1989 and in English in 1991.

Tarkovsky died in Paris on 29 December 1986. His funeral ceremony was held at the [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Paris|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]]. He was buried on 3 January 1987 in the [[Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery|Russian Cemetery]] in [[Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Essonne|Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois]] in France. The inscription on his gravestone, which was erected in 1994, was conceived by Tarkovsky's wife, Larisa, reads: ''To the man who saw the Angel''. Larisa died in 1998 and is buried beside her husband.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://skdeco.ru/en/utepliteli/kakoi-rak-byl-u-tarkovskogo-andrei-tarkovskii-poslednie-dni-geniya-skandalnaya.html| title = English translations of various Russian articles and interviews with family members.}}</ref>

<!--Beginning in the early 1990s, some in Russia have 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 agitation|anti-Soviet propaganda]] by Tarkovsky. Other evidence includes several memoranda that surfaced after the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|1991 coup]] and the claim by one of Tarkovsky's doctors that his cancer could not have developed from a natural cause.<ref>Komsolmoskaya Pravda, "New Tarkovsky documents surface", 15. September 1995, page 23.</ref>-->
Tarkovsky, his wife Larisa, and actor [[Anatoly Solonitsyn]] all died from the same type of [[cancer]]. Vladimir Sharun, a sound designer for ''[[Stalker (1979 film)|Stalker]]'', was convinced that all three died due to exposure to chemicals released from a chemical plant upstream from where the film was shot.<ref name="SharunQuote"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2025}}