Zerkalo (The Mirror) (1974)

100% of critics liked it
(7 reviews)
92% of users liked it
(7,802 ratings)

The award-winning director Andrei Tarkovsky, (one of his better known films is Andrei Rublev), the son of a famous Russian poet, was born in 1935 and grew up in and around Moscow during the Second World War. This non-linear autobiographical film is considered by many Russian-speakers to be his best… More The award-winning director Andrei Tarkovsky, (one of his better known films is Andrei Rublev), the son of a famous Russian poet, was born in 1935 and grew up in and around Moscow during the Second World War. This non-linear autobiographical film is considered by many Russian-speakers to be his best film and is his most personal meditation on time, history and the Russian countryside. In a series of episodes and images, he captures the mood and feeling of the period just before, during and after the war. Lyrical reminiscences of his mother and of his father's poetry figure large in the film, along with extraordinary images of nature. Combining black-and-white and color work, with some unusual documentary footage, this highly regarded movie is structured with the logic of a dream. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Andrei Tarkovsky
Written By: Aleksandr Misharin, Andrei Tarkovsky
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1975 Wide
On DVD: Mar 21, 2000

Critic Reviews

James F. Clarity, New York Times
Mirror, a new film by Andrei Tarkovsky, the controversial and unorthodox Soviet director, is delighting, puzzling, disaping serious Muscovite movie enthusiasts.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
It is a film that is difficult to adequately describe -- and one I believe is impossible to process in one sitting.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Made in the tradition of Resnais and Bergman, The Mirror, Tarkovsky's personal meditation about his childhood, scandalized Soviet authorities with its self-reflexive tone and poetic visual style.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Cinema as art as cinema as art.
Dan Jardine, Cinemania
One of Tarkovsky's most impenetrable films, it nonetheless left me staggered and awestruck.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Tarkovsky shoots for the moon and for the most part succeeds in trying to make his personal story also a lesson in political art.
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
This is the sort of film that starts you off without a net and leaves you to find your own footing.

Read all 7 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

a gorgeous piece about time and memory, very densely layered. don't think too much is my advice. i prefer it over tarkovsky's other films. tho almost plotless, it's never boring
Bob O

A beautifully poetic and enigmatic Tarkovsky art film. It's either his greatest masterpiece or his greatest head-scratcher. Maybe both. Utterly unforgettable.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Mirror" is an intriguing but not terribly coherent film from Andrei Tarkovsky.(If anybody knows what Yuri Zhary(Yuri Sventisov) who stutters early in the film has to do with the rest of it, please let me know.) What I think it is about is an unseen… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Mirror" is an intriguing but not terribly coherent film from Andrei Tarkovsky.(If anybody knows what Yuri Zhary(Yuri Sventisov) who stutters early in the film has to do with the rest of it, please let me know.) What I think it is about is an unseen man(for that matter his father is not shown either. More on this later) trying to come to terms with his past, by not only dreaming about it but also that of the Soviet Union and the Spanish Civil War. He is locked in an Oedipal loop by marrying a woman who closely resembles his mother(Margarita Terekhova, who plays both). His father left when he was only a child, so maybe he feels something missing from his life for never having known him. All I know for certain is that a psychoanalytic professional would have a field day with this.[/font]
Robert F

The Mirror has no apparent plot, and as such, it is one of Tarkovsky's most impenetrable films.
Dimitris S

Gargoyles vs Harpies,or in the Tarkovsky syndrome "let's direct a film containing a stiffed embrace of Russian historical texts,nurtures,sanctimonies,scribbles which will make some point to everyone who decides to watch it". Seriously,Terekhova alone is a feast for the… More
Gargoyles vs Harpies,or in the Tarkovsky syndrome "let's direct a film containing a stiffed embrace of Russian historical texts,nurtures,sanctimonies,scribbles which will make some point to everyone who decides to watch it". Seriously,Terekhova alone is a feast for the cine-eyes,even so...the aesthetic feverishness is as endless as it gets,letting the viewers to figure out the grains of philosophical salt.
Emily B

It's said that Tarkovsky's films are as close as the cinema has come to poetry, and after only seeing one Tarkovsky film I have to agree. The film is biographical therefore highly personal for Tarkovsky, but even to the viewer this is a haunting and moving piece of cinema.… More
It's said that Tarkovsky's films are as close as the cinema has come to poetry, and after only seeing one Tarkovsky film I have to agree. The film is biographical therefore highly personal for Tarkovsky, but even to the viewer this is a haunting and moving piece of cinema. The images are some of the best I've seen. The last scene, with Bach's St. John's Passion playing over it, was so beautiful I had a tear in my eye.
Tom S

I could probably make something of this if I gave it another chance, but I'm not sure I liked it enough to do so.
Linda K

Not an easy film to watch but still an incredible film and very poetic also.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

Cast

Margarita Terekhova
as Narrator's Mother/Narrator's Wife
Anatoli Solonitsin
as Passerby
Nikolai Grinko

See full cast

Now you can share movies with your friends on Facebook!

Discover movies your friends are watching
Keep track of what you want to see
Add your reviews to your Timeline

Get Started