Tarkovsky’s Christianity

Will Self, prodigious British author, television personality, journalist, and former heroin addict who was once caught shooting up on then PM John Major’s jet thinks that Soviet film visionary Andrei Tarkovsky was very obviously a Christian.

In the video embedded above, Self begins to introduce Tarkovsky’s film Solaris by saying:

“I call to you, oh Jesus Christ. I call to you.” If you want to, in my view, engage with Tarkovsky’s Solaris as fully as possible, you really really need to accept at the outset that this is a film made by a devout Christian. And that’s why it begins with a Bach organ chorale.”

It’s been ears since I’ve seen Solaris or have thought about Tarkovsky at all, really. But Self’s claim (something he doesn’t really explore very thoroughly in the rest of his introduction) that one must take Tarkovsky Christianity as a starting point to understanding his films, intrigues me. So in the next couple months I plan to explore Self’s claim, watch or rewatch a few Tarkovsky movies, and report back with any findings or observations I might have. Now, I admittedly don’t know all that much about Tarkovsky, so maybe this news about his faith doesn’t come as a revelation to you. For me, it’s a great starting point for not only studying Tarkovsky, but for meditating on the complex ways in which an artist’s faith informs his work. Especially interesting in Soviet Russia, obviously. So yes, more to follow.

In other news, all apologies for not having written in a while! Thoughts on Bonaventure and the “branding” of death forthcoming!