The Sacrifice DVD

THE SACRIFICE
Tarkovsky's final film, a visionary masterpiece, unfolds in the hours before a nuclear holocaust. Erland Josephson, in an award winning role, plays Alexander, a retired actor who is celebrating his birthday with family and friends when a crackly TV announcement warns of an imminent nuclear catastrophe. Alexander makes a promise to God that he will sacrifice all he holds dear, if the disaster can be averted. The next day dawns and, as if in a dream, everything is restored to normality. But Alexander must keep his vow. Among many other awards, 'The Sacrifice' won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1986, the same year that Tarkovsky died of cancer in Paris at the age of 54.

During the making of 'The Sacrifice', some fifty hours of behind the scene footage was shot by assistant camaraman Arne Carlsson and was subsequently assembled, together with extracts from Tarkovsky's book 'Sculpting In Time' and previous interviews, by editor Michal Leszczylowski. The result is a fascinating and moving portrait of one of the cinema's greatest artists and most demanding perfectionists at work, coaching his actors and meticulously composing scenes.
The final section takes on the aspect of suspense thriller as a scene involving the burning of a house is ruined by camera failure, necessitating the re-building of the house and a re-shoot in an atmosphere of unbearable tension.

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