Andrei Tarkovsky's sweeping epic "Andrei Rublev" (which is really pronounced "Andrei Rublyov") is not just a look at the medieval Russian painter, but really a look at maintaining one's humanity in the face of terror from all sides. Having left his monastery, the title character (Anatoly Solonitsyn) then has to contend with the Tatar invasions. But he never abandons his strength.
The movie was famously cut to hell by the USSR's censors. I guess that they didn't like the focus on religion, although the scene of the pagans probably irritated the Politburo also. Fortunately, nowadays we have the complete movie. One thing that the viewer notices is that the movie is broken up into chapters. One of Tarkovsky's beliefs provides some insight into this: he believed that life consists of different stories, and there needs to be a way to connect them (I don't know if I quoted him right, but it was something like that).
Anyway, this is definitely one of the all-time greats.
The movie was famously cut to hell by the USSR's censors. I guess that they didn't like the focus on religion, although the scene of the pagans probably irritated the Politburo also. Fortunately, nowadays we have the complete movie. One thing that the viewer notices is that the movie is broken up into chapters. One of Tarkovsky's beliefs provides some insight into this: he believed that life consists of different stories, and there needs to be a way to connect them (I don't know if I quoted him right, but it was something like that).
Anyway, this is definitely one of the all-time greats.