On the December 29th, it's been 25 years since Andrey Tarkovskiy died in cancer. He was a director from the Soviet union who is famous for slow and nearly mesmerizing movies. His most common movies would probably be either the sci-fi classic Solaris or Stalker, but he also made other outstanding movies such as Ivanovo detstvo, Andrey Rublyov and Zerkalo. He only made seven feature length films, three short films and one documentary, yet all of them are very uniqe and original.

Now, when it's been 25 years since he left us, his movies have become incredibly famous by serious film fans and most of his fans have seen all of his films. I think that every fan of Andrey Tarkoskiy should honor him by watching their favorite film of his on the day he died.

Offret was his final film, and not only is it my favorite of his, it's currently my all-time favorite film next to Blade Runner. Offret was shot in Sweden and there isn't a frame in that film worth skipping. It's hard for me to go on the details why I like film so much right now, it's just so perfect to me that I don't know where to start. There's so much to say about the film, and life is so short...

Solaris is my joint favourite film (Wim Wender's Wings of Desire ties it). It's funny, when I first saw the film as a young teenager I just didn't get it. Then I went through high school and uni, had a few disastrous relationships and finally gave it another try and suddenly understood it. It's a film I don't think you can truly understand without living life first.

I hope to see more Tarkovskiy soon, the man was a genius and deserves to be remembered.

Solaris was my favorite as well. I really liked the commentary track by Tarkovsky scholars Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie on the Criterion disc.

If so, why don't re-watch it on December 29th?

I may well just do that, I recently got the new Criterion Blu Ray and haven't had the chance to watch it yet.

I've seen a few of his movies (Solaris and Stalker) and enjoyed them but haven't seen Offret yet.
I noticed it is available on laserdisc with the main language in Sweden with Japanese subtitles.

My Swedish is terrible and my Japanese is even worse so it looks like the DVD is the best option for me as it has English subtitles!
From the reviews it sounds like an interesting movie.

Offret: From Japanese brochure

It's an amazing film, though it's not for all tastes. If you're going to see it, be prepared for it as you have to be completely concentrated on the film. Most people wouldn't choose to see it, but it's their loss.
One thing that makes the movie very interesting is that he made the movie in Sweden, I think it has to do with that Sweden hasn't been in any war for a very long time and therefore, Sweden is a peaceful country. The movies shows how people in Sweden could react to a war in their country. But it has so much more to say then that.

Today is the big day, so I'll rewatch the film.

By the way, another thing that might be interesting. The film was released in the theatres one week after the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme was shot and the assassin's immediate escape route after that was Tunnelgatan. In the film, the only scene not shot on Gotland was the hallucination-scene which was shot on Tunnelgatan in Stockholm. What a strange co-incidence if you ask me...