'Stalker' Is the Most Influential Sci-Fi Movie of All Time

Publish date: 2024-09-23

The Big Picture

Stalker is a slow-moving and thought-provoking sci-fi film focused on visuals and philosophical conversations.
The film's impact has surged in recent years, becoming more accessible and widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time.
Stalker has influenced directors, writers, and even video games, shaping the sci-fi genre for future generations.

There have been numerous highly influential sci-fi films over the years, but few have impacted future generations as much as Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker. This 1979 downbeat art house epic isn't necessarily the type of sci-fi that comes to mind when you think of the genre. It's a slow-moving and patient picture that doesn't rush to entertain its audience with explosions or intergalactic star cruisers. Stalker sort of casually has hard sci-fi elements, but in the end, is more interested in the dreamlike and existential. It's one of the least thrilling but most fascinating and thought-provoking movies in the genre and will be just as likely to stick with you as it did with many creative minds, long after its credits roll.

Stalker is a Soviet sci-fi art house film directed by Tarkovsky and is a loose adaptation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's novel Roadside Picnic. Despite its grand reputation, the film was released in 1979 to middling reviews. At the time, most critics and audiences found Tarkovsky's work to be slow and dull. His first go at sci-fi, 1972's Solaris, isn't exactly Star Wars in terms of action and adventure, but it's undoubtedly more conventional than his second lap in the genre. Stalker tells the story of three men, dubbed the Stalker (Alexander Kaidonovsky), the Writer (Anatoly Solonitsyn), and the Professor (Nikolai Grinko), as they travel through a blocked off, overgrown wasteland known as "the Zone" on a journey to a place known as "the Room," a location where all of your deepest desires may become reality. The film ultimately does fall into the sci-fi genre, but here, there's nothing too fantastical about it. It's more of a mood movie than anything, carrying its viewers along with hauntingly gorgeous visuals and weighty philosophical conversations. Tarkovsky's masterpiece isn't for everyone, but if it does resonate with you, it likely won't leave your mind any time soon.

Stalker's impact has been felt by movie fans around the world for decades but has seen a widespread surge in popularity over the last few years. With the growing mass popularity of Letterboxd and the convenience of The Criterion Collection, a film that once seemed inaccessible and mythic suddenly became available to watch for audiences everywhere. For years, trying to get your hands on a copy of this legendary film felt a bit like making the difficult journey into the Zone, but has since been hailed by a larger audience than ever before, and is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. The door to Stalker is wide open and waiting for you to enter.

Stalker

Not Rated Sci-FiDrama

A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Release Date May 25, 1979 Director Andrei Tarkovsky Cast Alexander Kaidanovsky Runtime 162 minutes

'Stalker' Values Visuals Over Plot

Before entering the world of Stalker, new viewers have to understand that they aren't in for a very plot-heavy movie. There is a story to follow of course (this isn't a purely visual and experimental project), but the events that take place feel secondary to what Tarkovsky seems to have ultimately set out for. Almost the entire first act of the movie is spent following the trio as they sneak their way into the Zone. Conversations are filmed in long, static shots as characters ramble on about their reasons for going on this journey, or fixate on their faces for several minutes while they sit patiently in a railcar. The majority of this stretch is captured in a harsh sepia tone, but once they make it deep into the overgrown, hazardous wasteland, the film really comes into its own.

The first act of Stalker makes it apparent that it intends to be a primarily visual experience, but its second act provides more for the viewer in almost every way. The film's color palette changes abruptly around the hour mark from high-contrast sepia to a wide variety of colors. There's a bit of a blue and gray tint to these colors, but the Zone has a visual life that the normal world of Stalker does not. After a long and stressful trek to the zone, dodging governmental authorities left and right, this colorful release seems to signify the three characters' depressive states fading. It's such a relief once Tarkovsky gives your eyes a break from the movie's bitter, grim outer world. From here on out, a dream-like feeling falls upon the film, the laws of physics begin to be broken, and in the way that nature takes back over the Zone's man-made structures, the viewer will have to submit to everything that Tarkovsky wades into the film.

These days, sci-fi movie worlds tend to be extravagant, CG landscapes filled with all sorts of things to please the eye. Not Stalker, a movie that could honestly be considered low-budget, considering the way other sci-fi films are made. Yeah, the world of the movie is basically just made up of buildings that are crumbling, nature left growing wild, and unkept, tired characters — but that's also what makes it all so genius. Tarkovsky proves that atmosphere can be achieved, not through pouring endless amounts of money into special effects and high-end film equipment, but through being resourceful with the elements that you have. Once you consider that Tarkovsky basically made Stalker by utilizing abandoned locations, leaning hard on long takes, and implying a great deal of science fiction elements, you realize what a masterful filmmaker he really is.

What Is the Meaning Behind 'Stalker'?

Those who are new to Stalker should anticipate a very heady film though. It's not the type of movie that you can take in on one viewing and doesn't even appear to be the type that you could conquer after five. The characters at the center of the film endlessly discuss a smorgasbord of philosophical ideas. Faith, hope, and ambition are just a few of the ideas that Tarkovsky tackles here, but the idea of a purpose seems to be the most apparent. For a large chunk of the film, you're left wondering why the Stalker, Writer, and Professor are taking this journey into the Zone. For a while, they're even unsure as to what each other's goals are for traveling through the Zone until they start exploring what they even find the purposes of their life goals to be in the first place. These ideas are explored in extended monologues and lengthy conversations that can easily go over your head if you aren't in the right mental space for them. That being said, if you are, you'll find a movie that endlessly unravels itself.

What Movies Did 'Stalker' Influence?

Since its release, Stalker has gone on to become one of the most widely influential sci-fi films of all time, with its impact being felt across various art forms. Tarkovsky's work echoes deeply into the filmographies of directors like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve while being admittedly inspirational for Alejandro González Iñárritu and even Akira Kurosawa. The world of literature sees Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy echoing Tarkovsky's film in more ways than you can count, but ultimately, VanderMeer denies the film having any influence . The first novel in the trilogy, Annihilation, would be adapted into a film by Alex Garland, who was more than willing to admit the effect Tarkovsky's work had on him. If VanderMeer's books and Tarkovsky's films only had a few similarities, it might be easier to accept things as a coincidence. Saying that, Annihilation acts almost as a reimagining of Stalker! Stalker would even go on to inspire a bunch of music and video games, with the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl being loosely based on both the film and the novel Roadside Picnic.

It might not be conventional science fiction, but for a film as beloved as Stalker, then conventionality becomes an afterthought. Movies like this are the type that shape filmmakers for generations and inform future classics. If you're looking for an atmospheric, rich sci-fi text that you can endlessly unpack, one whose hand can be felt in almost every sci-fi movie released in its wake, then look no further than Tarkovsky's greatest achievement.

Stalker is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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