One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich

Written, directed, and edited by Chris Marker, One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich is a documentary about the famed Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky in his final years. The film serves as a homage to the filmmaker by incorporating film clips and rare footage of the filmmaker and his work. The result is a fascinating portrait of one of the great filmmakers of the 20th Century.

The film essentially compiles rare footage of Tarkovsky in his final years from the making of The Sacrifice to footage as he lies on his deathbed editing his final film and meeting his family. Told in narration by Alexandra Stewart, the film is a visual essay of sorts on the works of Tarkovsky as well as telling the story of those final days and its aftermath. Through the narration, the film reveals a lot of what Tarkovsky has done with his films and how similar they are in his themes where some of the images of his films are inter-cut with the man in real life.

Through clips of his films as well as clips of an opera he staged in the 1980s, Chris Marker allows these clips to exemplify Tarkovsky’s desire to make films as something more than just films. Even as Marker would compare some of Tarkovsky’s characters to himself as this dreamer who is willing to create something that is unique. Marker also revels in the way Tarkovsky would use similar ideas and visual traits from all of his films to state Tarkovsky’s love for nature and the divine mysteries of the world. Some of which are accompanied by pieces of music from his films.

One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich is an extraordinary film from Chris Marker about Andrei Tarkovsky. The 55-minute documentary is definitely a captivating essay about one of the great filmmakers told by someone as unique as Chris Marker. For fans of Andrei Tarkovsky, the documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in the filmmaker. Overall, One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich is a mesmerizing documentary from Chris Marker.

Chris Marker Films: (Olympia 52) - (Statues Also Die) - La Jetee - (A bientot, j’espere) - (A Grin Without a Cat) - Sans Soleil - (A.K.) - (The Last Bolshevik) - (Level Five)