Andrei Rublev (1966)

[Akijama]

Also coming in September. Check the coming soon page.

Andrei Rublev Blu-ray PRE-ORDER

[Cremildo]

Major news. My most anticipated Criterion upgrade. Held off buying the Artificial Eye release because of this.

[steel_breeze]

A-maz-ing news. Now I can ditch my Russian import, which was pretty darn good once I brought the black levels wayyyy down. This is a day one purchase, for me.

[movieben1138]

September is going to primarily be an upgrade month then (which I'm perfectly happy with). Can add ANDREI RUBLEV and MY MAN GODFREY DVDs to my trade pile...and might finally add SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE to my collection.

[dumb_dutchman]

Hopefully this will include the 205-minute, longer cut of the film.

[Akijama]

https://www.criterion.com/films/300-andrei-rublev

[][New 2K digital restoration of the director’s preferred 185-minute cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New 2K digital transfer of the original 205-minute version of the film, The Passion According to Andrei
Steamroller and Violin, Tarkovsky’s 1961 student thesis film
The Three Andreis, a 1966 documentary about the writing of the film’s script
On the Set of “Andrei Rublev,” a 1966 documentary about the making of the film
New interviews with actor Nikolai Burlyaev and cinematographer Vadim Yusov by filmmakers Seán Martin and Louise Milne
New interview with film scholar Robert Bird
Selected-scene commentary from 1998 featuring film scholar Vlada Petric
New video essay by filmmaker Daniel Raim
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by critic J. Hoberman
New cover by Nessim Higson

[Poya]

The 205-min cut is Tarkovsky’s true vision of the film. I’ve seen both cuts and his “preferred” cut misses out a lot. You don’t get a great poem and remove some verses. Probably one of my most anticipated Criterion releases ever. Shame it’s not restored in 4K but I can’t complain with this at all.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by dumb_dutchman

Hopefully this will include the 205-minute, longer cut of the film.

Your wish has been granted!

[jfearnside]

Woo hoo! With two discs including both the so-called director’s preferred 185-minute cut and the original 205-minute version, this is a no-brainer.

[Albie989]

About bloody time!

(That's the third time I've posted that across two websites.)

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by jfearnside

Woo hoo! With two discs including both the so-called director’s preferred 185-minute cut and the original 205-minute version, this is a no-brainer.

Nothing so-called about it. He made the cuts himself.

[mikesncc1701]

Bloody fantastic! I've been waiting for this since I first started buying blus in 2008. I'll pay full MSRP to have this day one if u have to!

[trip66]

I consider myself a huge Tarkovsky fan, but I have been holding out on Andrei Rublev for years. Not for lack of interest, but because the man only made seven films, and the only two I have seen are this and Nostalgia.

Since I discovered him, I've been pacing myself with watching his films. Its almost like I'm letting his filmography to be properly released over the years so that I still have anticipation for a "new" tarkovsky film. I will blind buy this and I know it will be worth every penny.

I'm also interested in the doc "The Three Andreis" because Andrei Konchalovsky, director of Runaway Train, co-wrote the script for Andrei Rublev. He also co-wrote Ivan's Childhood (but remains uncredited) and also co-wrote "Steamroller and Violin", Tarkovsky's student film. I'm also glad Steamroller and Violin will also be included since I have not seen that as well.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Nothing so-called about it. He made the cuts himself.

Forced, is more like it.

[JupiterMission]

So glad this is finally getting a US release. And with pretty good features! I didn't even know there was a shorter cut. I've only ever seen the 205 minute version on the previous Criterion release, which - curiously enough - is listed on Amazon as "the definitive 205-minute director's cut." I guess "director's preferred cut" is different than a "definitive director's cut"???

Also, that is some great cover art! Going to have to face this one out on my shelf.

[Hazel Motes]

I bought my Criterion dvd of this a decade ago. It was a former video store rental that was eventually was liquidated to a chain grocery store, resealed and thrown in a bin at the check out stand. Out of sheer shock seeing a criterion dvd at a grocery store I bought it. It was a solid blind buy. I've already thrown it in the garbage in anticipation of this new release.

[WeeBey]

Tarkovsky's own words:

Nobody has ever cut anything from Andrei Rublev. Nobody except me. I made some cuts myself. In the first version the film was 3 hours 20 minutes long. In the second — 3 hours 15 minutes. I shortened the final version to 3 hours 6 minutes. I am convinced the latest version is the best, the most successful. And I only cut certain overly long scenes. The viewer doesn't even notice their absence. The cuts have in no way changed neither the subject matter nor what was for us important in the film. In other words, we removed overly long scenes which had no significance. We shortened certain scenes of brutality in order to induce psychological shock in viewers, as opposed to a mere unpleasant impression which would only destroy our intent. All my friends and colleagues who during long discussions were advising me to make those cuts turned out right in the end. It took me some time to understand it. At first I got the impression they were attempting to pressure my creative individuality. Later I understood that this final version of the film more than fulfils my requirements for it. And I do not regret at all that the film has been shortened to its present length.

[stepeanut]

Andrei Rublev is a dream upgrade, akin to Welles’s Othello. I have the Criterion DVD of the 205-minute cut already (as well as the AE BD of the 185-minute cut), but I’m excited at the prospect of a new 2K transfer.

Also, The Steamroller and the Violin for the first time in an English-friendly BD edition.

First day purchase for me.

The AE BD is excellent, btw, for those who have not seen it. And, personally speaking, I prefer Tarkovsky’s shorter cut.

[Hadjimurad]

Two points to make on Tarkovsky and censorship:

Andrei Rublev was not allowed to be widely screened in USSR for several years until he made requested cuts. His his funding for his Soviet films came entirely for the government, and also whether or not he was allowed to attend foreign film festivals or travel abroad with his family was controlled by the USSR.

For these reasons, the statements that he made throughout his life should be treated carefully and with some suspicion concerning their motives. Even until his final years in Europe, the Soviet Union was causing him and his family grief by not letting them visit him. Were he to say a bad word about the government, the result would've been a denial of funding for his films while a resident of the USSR, and the real possibility of never seeing family members again while living abroad.

Beyond this, purely on a technical level, we can see as viewers that the "Passion According to Andrei" is a much better film, and more consistent with the editing aesthetic of his other films. The shorter cut of Andrei Rublev is cut haphazardly, with long takes (the Jester's dance near the beginning, for instance) being cut into seemingly arbitrarily, "mid-sentence".

[jfearnside]

Originally Posted by Poya

Forced, is more like it.

Yes, this is what I meant when I wrote "so-called director's cut" above. My understanding is that while Tarkovsky was allowed to make the cuts, he was essentially put into the position where he had to when he didn't want to. Hadjimurad speaks in more detail about that in a post that followed (now right above this one).