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Alexander, a retired actor, is in the midst of celebrating his birthday with his family when a radio announcement interrupts the party to warn of an imminent nuclear catastrophe. He makes a promise to God that he will sacrifice all he holds dear if the disaster can be averted. The next day dawns and everything seems to be restored to normality. Alexander must now keep his promise - or was it all a dream? Tarkovsky’s cinema has long dealt with the interpenetration of the seen and unseen worlds, visible manifestations of the spiritual battles that are continually being waged around us. By deliberately leaving his visionary images open-ended he hoped their meanings would continue to grow in the mind of the viewer. Tarkovsky died of cancer shortly after completing this film. (Awards: Grand Prix winner, Cannes Film Festival, 1986) In Swedish with English subtitles. Cast includes Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Valerie Mairesse and Allan Edwell.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
315641
Language
Swedish
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Film festivals - France - Cannes - Awards
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Foreign language films
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Materialism
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)