Forced emigration of Andrei Tarkovsky: What made the legendary director leave the USSR forever

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In 1984 the Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky did not return from filming in Italy back to the USSR. He never considered himself a dissident and lost his temper when they tried to find political overtones in his decision. His emigration became for him tantamount to exile and a real tragedy …

In the West, Andrei Tarkovsky was called a genius and a pioneer, and in the USSR he was not allowed to shoot, was persecuted and sent his films “not to the regiment”. He was unemployed and without money for years, having made only 5 films in 20 years of his career. The persecution began after his first painting, Ivan's Childhood. Although the director received the Golden Lion for her at the Venice Film Festival, in the USSR he was accused of pacifism. “, - Tarkovsky recalled.

Released in 1967, "Andrei Rublev" was accused of lack of spirituality and anti-historicism and sent "on the shelf" for 4 years. But even after that, the film was released in limited distribution. "", - the director lamented.

He was not forbidden to shoot and even allocated money for filming, but he had to wait for permission for years, and the budget had to be cut. All at least some valuable things in the house periodically had to be taken to a pawnshop. In 1972, his "Solaris" brought good box office receipts, but, according to the director, "".

In his diary in 1973, Tarkovsky lamented: "".

Desperate, in 1976 Tarkovsky wrote a letter to Brezhnev, and after that he was given permission to shoot "Stalker". However, even then he was in for a failure - all the footage was sent to marriage due to poor-quality film, and no new money was allocated for filming. Filming had to be postponed for several years. Only in 1980 was it able to be appreciated at the Cannes Film Festival, while only 196 copies of the film were released in the USSR.

In the early 1980s. the director has repeatedly received invitations to shoot in the UK, Sweden and other countries. In 1981, Tarkovsky wrote that for the last two years he had been living “on suitcases”. However, when the director went to “Italy” in 1982 to shoot “Nostalgia,” he still had no plans to never return. 1982 to 1984 he repeatedly appealed to the Soviet authorities with a request to stay abroad for 3 years in order to realize his creative plans, but they did not react to his requests in any way.

In 1984 Tarkovsky announced a forced emigration from the USSR. However, he did not consider himself a dissident and a fighter against the regime. "", - said his wife Larissa. Translator and director's friend Leila Alexander-Garrett wrote: "".

At home, it was immediately forbidden to mention the name of the director, and his youngest son received permission to visit his father only after it became known about the fatal illness of Andrei Tarkovsky. He managed to shoot another film - "Sacrifice", visited Sweden, France and Great Britain, but soon he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Marina Vlady helped pay for the treatment, but it was not possible to save the great director. In 1986, at the age of 54, he passed away. His resentment towards his homeland did not pass, so he bequeathed to bury him in Europe - he wrote that he did not even want to return to the country from which he was expelled when he was dead. His last refuge was the Russian cemetery in Paris. On the grave monument they wrote: "".

Nowadays, "Andrei Rublev" is called among 10 great epics that amaze even the seasoned viewer with their scale.