Although it is just plain fun to rank a director's movies, it may also help me think about the director's oeuvre of work as a whole. Comparisons can help me to discover elements of film that I am drawn to, what the director finds value in revealing through their movies and possibly how the director has grown artistically.
Tarkovsky's films are nothing if not enigmatic. I've read others describe his films as visual poetry since they are often non-linear, plotless, and weave in and out of scenes of dreams or memories without explanation.
His movies usually focus on a character's interiority as they experience their world through past thoughts and memories, associating the present with the past, linking people and…
Although it is just plain fun to rank a director's movies, it may also help me think about the director's oeuvre of work as a whole. Comparisons can help me to discover elements of film that I am drawn to, what the director finds value in revealing through their movies and possibly how the director has grown artistically.
Tarkovsky's films are nothing if not enigmatic. I've read others describe his films as visual poetry since they are often non-linear, plotless, and weave in and out of scenes of dreams or memories without explanation.
His movies usually focus on a character's interiority as they experience their world through past thoughts and memories, associating the present with the past, linking people and events in the mind as humans do that spatially or literally would never actually connect. This personal introspection captured on screen is difficult to follow and understand which leads viewers to contemplate both their own lives and the thematic threads that most make sense for them personally to follow, which can lead to a beautiful experience as a viewer.
This life of the mind is astonishingly complemented by a contemplative camera that glides slowly around a scene, pulling us into the slow, deep, exploration his characters are going through themselves. The camera lingers, inviting us to keep looking, to search for meaning, to think deeply and then to be enraptured by his many instances of captivating imagery that can range from ordinary to supernatural.
Tarkovsky's films can feel like a spiritual or existential experiences as he explores heavy themes and characters burdened with heavy minds and heavy hearts. Many of his films contain sci-fi elements in order to explore the mysteries of life and what it means to be human. His plots and high concepts are always in service of exploring how they affect his characters in what it is like to be human in all its complexities.
Other directors I have ranked:
JJ Abrams | PT Anderson | Wes Anderson | Judd Apatow | Darren Aronofsky | Ari Aster | Sean Baker | Bong Joon-ho | Jane Campion | Charlie Chaplin | Damien Chazelle | Coen Brothers | Sofia Coppola | Cameron Crowe | Andrew Dominik | Robert Eggers | David Fincher | Alex Garland | Greta Gerwig | Todd Haynes | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu | Jim Jarmusch | Rian Johnson | Spike Jonze | Satoshi Kon | Stanley Kubrick | Sergio Leone | Richard Linklater | George Lucas | David Lynch | Martin McDonagh | Steve McQueen | Sam Mendes | Nancy Meyers | Hayao Miyazaki | Jeff Nichols | Christopher Nolan | Alexander Payne | Sarah Polley | Lynn Ramsay | Céline Sciamma | Ben Stiller | Quentin Tarantino | Taika Waititi | Edgar Wright | Chloé Zhao
