"Rublev": Soviet's finest filmmaking
By Charlotte Rosenthal
On Friday, February 20th,
you will have the opportunity to
see one of the finest films to
come out of the Soviet Union
during the relatively liberal
period following Stalin's de
mise.
"Andrei Rublev"concerns the
relationship between art and
society. Director Audrei Tark
ovsky explores this theme
mainly through the eyes of the
title figure, Russia's- greatest
icon painter (c. 1360-1430). The
historical episodes presented
cover the second half of
Rublev's life, a period when
Russia was still subjected to
Tartar rule.
By 1405 Rublev had become
an assistant to the most famous
icon-painter of the day,
Theophanes the Greek. They
worked together to decorate one
of the churches in the Moscow
Kremlin. Theophanes painted
in the traditional severe and ;
somber Byzantine style. Rublev
broke away from this official,
orthodox style, introducing in
novations that softened and
humanized his images.
Between 1411 and 1425, we
have no specific information
about Rublev's whereabouts or
activities. He may have painted
his great masterpiece, "The
Trinity" icon, in 1425 to break
this period of silence. He died in
Moscow around 1430 in a
monastery that still stands to
day.
In keeping with the theme of
art and society, Tarkovsky
shows us a number of artists
and craftsmen. Besides the
painters Rublev, and Theo
phanes, there are three irre
pressible artists from the com
mon folk, and it is from this
Guilford as a community?
Tm very concerned about the number of students at Guilford who are not learning
to take of themselves socially. The most important thing about being alive is relating to other
people and this is probably one of the hardest things to learn." -Bobby Doolittle
"Why do the professors, who Are you frustrated? Upset? tell us how they feel about "Students don't give a damn
want us to be active citizens, Concerned? Do you feel a apathy, activities, on campus, about anything but their own
keep assigning so much un- communication gap between and student-teacher relation- group, and why should they?"
necessary work?" --Leslie yourself and other members of ships. These are quotations Freshman
Vloedman the Cuilford College Commu- which we believe express the
"People don't see Guilford as nit ?* %A/ feelings of the community. "I spent most of my time
a place where good things go are a B rou P ; we Man Y students feel that the lecturing at dead students over
on --Jim Henniger have no name. We are concern- Guilford College community is the podium, trying to raise
ed about the lack of involve- so diversified that too much people from the dead."
"It's disturbing that the stu- ment, and the lack of communi- interest in one area will never v-Claude Shotts
dents can't seem to be stimu- cation at Guilford. We meet occur; others feel that the
lated to learn. They are nice, every Sunday evening at 5:30 in students are lazy; some feel that "The main problem that I see
they are polite, but they seem to Dana Lounge,and we would like the faculty does not take enough as a whole is that the student
have no motivation .. . it's like to communicate with you. interest in the students. You are body doesn't get together to do
they are living on an island. For this reason, we have entitled to your own opinion, anything but eat, bitch about
There's a feeling of 'My God, taken the initiative and asked and we encourage you to the food, bitch about the
what can Ido next?' .. . there express it with us on Sunday. courses, and bitch about there's
is something missing and I nothing to do." --Todd
d^!' t J kn^ n Wh3t * ' S " seems that teachers are Ekeneman
—Claude Chauvigne "Apathy is a term used by taught to teach, but not to relate
people to refer to others who to people." --Laura Street "People are getting too
We (the faculty) don't act as don't have similar ideas of what caught up in their own little
role models to the students; we is important." worlds We're too far apart to
don't show them the value of -Dennis Kirshbaum "It makes no difference to me grow. There's not enough shar
working out things." —Bill if there are active student ing with each other." -Amy
Schmickle bodies at Guilford or not" . Bliven
"Students get really involved If I wasn't so lazy I could get
"I would like to see more in one thing or another and they into more community-oriented
issues and activities that would *¥> dor,,t ste P back and sa Y there is activities." -Jim Lee "There isn't apathy on cam
unite the student body " -Bill more to life than this." -Ellen Pus, you just have to make your
Rogers Classman own party." -Art Freund
source, Tarkovsky suggests,
that Rublev ultimately drew his
strength. There is the peasant
of the opening sequence, who
tries to fly. There is the
skomorokh (minstrel) whose
satirical, bawdy ballads about
the powers-that-be get him into
trouble with ecclesiastical and
state authorities. Finally, there
is the young boy of the closing
sequence who directs the
casting of an enormous bell.
Andrei Rublev is Tarkovsky's
second feature film. The first,
"Ivan's Childhood" (1962),dea1t
with the übiquitous and very
acceptable Soviet theme of
World War 11, but in a unique
way. Since Ivan won a number
of awards in the West,
Tarkovsky was invited to show
Andrei Rublev (1966) at the
Cannes Film Festival in 1967
and 1968, but Soviet officials
refused the invitation. Finally it
was shown in 1969, but out of
regular competition and against
the wishes of Soviet officials. It
won the International Film
Critics' Prize.
Official objections to the film
centered on its religiosity and
historical distortions. There is
no doubt that through the figure
of Rublev, Tarkovsky depicts a
spiritual quest from an initial
intellectual idealism to a
deepened faith that receives its
expression in an allusive, in
spired art. Tarkovsky has taken
great liberties with medieval
Russian reality. But has done so
consciously and deliberately:
like Rublev's Tarkovsky's art
is allusive and morally inspired.
In his cinematic epic, Tarkovsky
has tried to reach beyond the
literal period pieces that Soviet
historical films tend to be. He
has also taken liberties with the
life of Rublev. He interprets the
lack of information on the artist
between 1411 and 1425 as a
conscious decision to give up
painting in the face of the
continued barbarity and back
wardness that he witnesses.
Some art historicans postulate
that Rublev was painting
during those years; others attri-
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Okay, okay I was going to see "Andrei Rublev" at 8:15 p.m. on
Friday, February 20, in Sternberger Auditorium anyway.
Bute Rublev's silence to official
hostility toward his innovative
style. This latter aspect of
Rublev's work may be the most
important cause for official
Soviet unease: Tarkovsky's
Rublev is shown to be an
innovative, independent artist,
who worked according to the
dictates of his own conscience
rather than according to tradi
Guilfordian, February 17, 1981,
tional dogma, represented by
Theophanes. Yet as Rublev was
recognized and rewarded in his
lifetime, so has been Tarkovsky:
in 1974 he was recognized as a
"Merited Artistic Worker of the
RSFSR "
Don't miss the rare chance to
view, uncut, Tarkovsky's
masterful film.
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