Ecological Awareness in Tarkovsky's Film "Stalker"

Stalker

"As we all know, the uncoordinated development of human society in the pursuit of material wealth and spiritual perfection makes us seem destined to be unable to benefit ourselves from material gains. We have built a civilization, but this civilization threatens human destruction." 1986 , Andrei Tarkovsky wrote the above in his epilogue to the publication of his book on film theory, Sculpting Time. This year is the end of his life. This text is a summary of his directorial career, and this spirit of civilized criticism is his summary of Russian history from the period of the "Religious Justice" to the end of his thoughts. Tarkovsky's civilization criticism and eco-criticism are deeply in line. In the film "Stalker" directed by him in 1979, he led the out-of-control materialized civilization to return to the pursuit of spiritual perfection through the three steps of reflection, search and return.

The ecological spirit in Tarkovsky's films has reasons for Russian cultural traditions and is also closely related to the era in which he lived. Russia is rich in resources, and the idea of ​​nature worship and animism is deeply rooted in national beliefs. The relationship between man and nature has always been one of the most important themes in Russian culture. Its ecological awareness has three high periods, which are the origin of culture. , the Romantic period of the 19th century and the second half of the 20th century. In 1962, "Silent Spring" set off the climax of the second ecological movement in human history, and made ecological awareness sweep the world rapidly. The US Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970. The "Green Political Movement" and its product "Green Party" entered the stage of history. The concept of sustainable development was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Ecological research methods penetrated into various fields. Concepts such as ecological literature appeared one after another. Stalker and its original novel, Roadside Picnic (1972) were both works of a period of heightened ecological awareness. The novels of brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky explore the impact of technological progress on the ecological balance in the three domains of nature, society and spirit. Tarkovsky's films simplify the characters and plot settings, and de-familiarize the scene settings, returning to the human ecological crisis itself, with distinct characteristics of ecological apocalypse films.

1. Reflecting on the environmental image of industrial civilization

"Stalker" follows the spirit of minimalism in the adaptation of the novel, and reflects Tarkovsky's reflection on human civilization in terms of scenes, characters, and plot settings. "Roadside Picnic" is a plot where aliens visit the earth and leave behind civilization garbage, which brings major changes to the earth. It alludes to the subversive impact that human beings have on other species when they break into the natural world. As an outstanding science fiction novel, the original work highlights the invasion of heterogeneous civilizations, and centers on the visiting zone to construct a deformed human society created by environmental variation. Stalkers are mass occupations, and their harvest contributes to the formation of a bloody black market trading network. The film does the opposite, with a very realistic spirit, pushing the criticism of industrial civilization to the most prominent position.

First, from the naming of the visit zone, Tarkovsky removed all modifications and simply named it "district". Secondly, compared with the original work, the characters in the film are greatly simplified, and only five characters related to the plot clues are retained, three visitors and the wives and daughters of the stalker. Other characters, such as bartenders, policemen, etc., only have the function of activating the background. The protagonists have no names, only nicknames, which help to de-identify their personalities, blur the referential function, and abstract them into avatars of a certain kind of person. The three who entered the "zone" were professors, writers, and stalkers. A professor is a collective image of a scientist, a writer is a perceptual intellectual image, and a stalker is a person with a practical spirit. Finally, the scene setting and environmental imagery in the film have a tendency to demystify. In the blueprint novel, the items left by aliens are full of mystery, some are strongly offensive, and some can promote the progress of human science. Burning fluff, devil cabbage, witch's jelly, sustainable battery, blue panacea... These magical names reflect the highly developed alien civilization, while human civilization at a relatively primary stage can only use fairy tales general imagination to describe it. In "Stalker", Tarkovsky has removed all the mysterious colors of the visit belt. There is no high-tech beyond human imagination in the film. The means of transportation for the stalkers to enter the "area" are not floating in the novel. pods, but primitive railcars; instead of bullet-proof stealth suits and helmets, the usual coats and hats. The core of the area has gone from a mysterious golden globe of fiction to a long-decayed church. The initial appearance of the visit belt includes crooked telephone poles, rusted railway tracks, and decayed wooden building fragments, which are completely abandoned industrial areas left by human civilization. The mysterious substances in the "district" are replaced by iron sheets, springs, syringes, syringe boxes and other ordinary things that can be seen everywhere in life.

In addition, Tarkovsky tried his best to keep the items in the novel with the color of earth civilization, such as screw caps. In the movie, the stalker tied a white streamer on the nut and threw it into the distance to test whether the road ahead was dangerous. This seems to reproduce the motif of pathfinding in fairy tales, shooting an arrow at random. In this way, Tarkovsky pointed the source of visiting civilization to human beings and time to human history. After the mystery is removed, the "district" is no longer the relics of alien civilization, but the relics of human civilization. More precisely, it is what Tarkovsky said, the civilization created by human beings finally killed human beings. . From this point of view, the adaptation of the film makes it sharper, more profound, and more predictable in the criticism of civilization than the novel. In 1986, a nuclear reactor accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant left the site almost a dead city after residents were evacuated. Today, one of the more adventurous items in Ukrainian travel is to revisit the ruins of Chernobyl. Travelers are in an abandoned dead city, holding radiation-measuring instruments, carefully judging whether they can move forward based on the readings, like a situation in a Tarkovsky film. Let the founders of industrial civilization return to their graves and read their own death through every familiar object. The realistic details of "Stalker" are undoubtedly more shocking than the illusory ghosts and imaginary enemies in outer space, and have the spirit of ecological apocalypse.

The time and space setting of "Stalker" also strengthens the ecological warning feature of the film. Although the items in the novel have been abandoned for a long time, they have a futuristic sense due to the highly developed alien civilization. The details in the movie scene setting return the time and space to a certain stage of human history, creating a flashback meaning, making the film time and space have a sense of the future. Sense of history. At the same time, the movie scene foreshadows the catastrophic consequences that may be brought about by the continued blind development of human civilization, and has a sense of the future. The time the visitor enters is now. The past, present, and future overlap in the "zone", expressing Tarkovsky's ecological concept. "The present has essentially merged with the future, which means that the disasters that we are bound to suffer in the near future are planted today, and we are aware of this, but we are powerless to stop it." Our own victory over the natural world. For every such victory, the natural world has avenged us." This is Engels' warning to industrial civilization. Human history always moves forward in reflection. The ecological movement is exactly the reflection of human beings on industrial civilization. Tarkovsky used "Stalker" to show the terrifying scene of the end of the world, to express his criticism of industrial civilization, and to practice his own understanding of art.

2. Audio-visual effects lead the way back

Tarkovsky pursues a high degree of conformity between material and spirit, and opposes blind material development that loses spirituality. The perfect fusion of the material world and the spiritual world is the ecological ideal of human civilization returning to nature. Tarkovsky uses audio-visual effects to guide the protagonist back to nature. Visually, the film has two parts, black and white and color. When the stalker is outside the "zone", the screen is black and white, and when it is inside, the screen changes to color. Life outside the "district" represents a material society free from spiritual constraints, where stalkers and wives love each other but cannot communicate; professors hate violence but invent bombs; writers are supposed to be creative but lack inspiration.The film uses sound elements to explain the visual picture, the most representative of which is the sound effect of the train. The invention of the steam engine brought powerful power and led human civilization into the industrial age. The sound of the train brought the image of a steam locomotive, which is a symbol of industrial civilization. The sound of the train appears four times in the work. The first two appear before the visit to the mysterious area, corresponding to black and white images; the third time during the visit, where a single color appears; the last time after the visit, corresponding to the color image . Each time the train appears, it represents a different protagonist. When it first appeared, the camera corresponded to the stalker lying on the bed, and the "Worker Marseillaise" sounded at the same time. This piece of music from the French national anthem has been used as the Russian national anthem after being recomposed. The second time, when the wife is in a tantrum, is the overture to Wagner's opera "Townhauser." In the opera, although Townhouser betrayed Elizabeth and indulged in the love of Venus, his soul was finally reborn because of Elizabeth's sacrifice and redemption. The theme of redemption of men and even human beings through the sacrifice of noble women is in line with the love of the hero and heroine of the film. As the opera foreshadowed, the stalker finally felt the preciousness of his wife. The third appearance of the train is different. What appears in the picture is not the protagonist, but the fish in the water. Species other than humans appear in the image of the train for the first time. It can be understood that human civilization has reached some kind of reconciliation with other creatures in the restricted area. The meaning of co-prosperity and symbiosis. The accompanying music is weakened, replaced by the impact of color, and blood appears in the image of the train. When the sound of the train stopped this time, the camera switched to the picture of the stalker's wife and daughter. The images of the two formed a sharp contrast with the title. The wife put on her expensive leather coat and walked with confidence. Although the girl couldn't walk, she could see that she actually had legs. For the fourth time, the sound of the train appears at the end of the film, accompanied by Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." In the shot is the stalker's daughter, and the picture is in color. The girl's tender red cheeks with freckles look delicate and vibrant in comparison with the pictures in the previous train imagery. Apparently, something changed as the train of civilization passed through the "district." A magical scene took place on the visual screen, the glass moved with the girl's gaze, and the reason for the miracle was decoded through sound effects. The sound of the engine sounded, the train image reappeared, it turned out that the technical device was the reason for the movement of the glass, and the technological progress of regaining the spiritual guidance produced a miracle. The girl was born disabled because of the restricted area, and because of the restricted area, she acquired magical abilities. The human civilization represented by the train has lost its spirituality. Out of control, and re-colored due to the return of spirituality. In the last scene of the film, Tarkovsky used the superposition of visual and auditory effects to return the stripped magic to human civilization. The turn of the train imagery takes place in the third appearance, and there is no

There are characters and no accompanying sound. The spirits and creatures in the restricted area seem to take the train at this station and go to the wonderful future with mankind. The turning point happens because of the choices made by the three protagonists who represent humanity. The three came to the house in the "district" where their wishes could be fulfilled, but none of them entered. The stalker came to heal his daughter, but he wasn't sure if this was his truest wish. The experience of "Porcupine" made him understand that the house can only realize the most instinctive wishes of people. In the earlier script of "Stalker", there was a plot setting where a stalker entered the house and became a rich man, but failed to save his daughter, but in the end, Tarkovsky gave up this plot and denied the industrial civilization. The nature of desire. The professor had come to destroy the house, but he finally gave up and threw the leaf spring that detonated the bomb into the house. At first, the writer had no reverence for the visiting zone and the house, and dared to go into the mysterious area alone, but he was also discouraged by the empty house with even the door.

Life outside the "zone" is an out-of-control train, with its own inertia and track, not based on people's will. The three of them came with different motives and stopped for different reasons, but they all showed restraint and awe. The only obstacle in the way of the trio is the water, which includes images of water, such as sand dunes arranged in waves, there is real water, such as standing water in the building, dripping water droplets above, and finally, they stop at the covered In front of an empty house with standing water. Water is the opposite of land in ecological culture. It is the living environment that nurtures people, and it is also a forbidden area for people to survive. Water is the incarnation of inviolable nature. The water in the empty house is like nature in the age of industrial civilization and has no resistance in front of the protagonist. The protagonist's respect for water is like the reverence of industrial civilization for nature. It is motivated by active and rational restraint, and it is the starting point of the road to return.

3. The ultimate home presented by long shots

The ultimate ideal of the ecological movement is to return to nature and return to the ultimate home. Tarkovsky set the core building of the visiting zone as a church, not thinking that religion is the ultimate home to get people out of mental imbalance, but to prove that "the church today is not yet capable of correcting this with the awakening of the calling spirit. imbalance". Visiting the tape is a demonized place, but it is shown in the film as a beautiful and vibrant world despite its hidden dangers. Boris Struglatsky has said that this is the principle on which Tarkovsky sets the film's scenes. Obviously, the director sets the image of nature as a sanctuary for human beings to provide spiritual support, an inviolable holy place close to the ultimate truth. The biggest obstacle for human beings to return to nature lies in the huge social composition, which makes most people lose the opportunity to truly contact nature. Tarkovsky condensed human society into three groups, leaving the train of civilization, crossing the social machine, and realizing the true connection between the human spirit and nature.

Tarkovsky uses the alternation of long and short shots and the different editing methods to express the tranquility and eternity of the ultimate home. On the way of the protagonists sneaking into the visiting tape, the anxious expressions of the three people are intertwined with the sharp metal sound, and the camera switches between the three people, forming a restless atmosphere. The arrival zone is the demarcation point for the use of elements such as lens, sound, and color. The metal sound stopped abruptly, the black and white picture disappeared, the green of nature and absolute tranquility suddenly came, and the stalker said: "We are home." What followed was a long shot of four and a half minutes, It shows the process of the diver's integration into the natural home. In the distant view, the protagonists are in between the industrial ruins and the natural landscape. As the camera zooms in, the ruins gradually disappear, showing harmonious nature and people in the picture. Afterwards, the director showed the behavior of the stalker with a switch of three shots. First, examine the restricted area from the perspective of a stalker, and then use a close-up shot to show the scene of the stalker kneeling, prostrate, and blending into the grass. Finally, a close-up shot is used to record the joy of the stalker's facial expression after turning around. The stalker's transformation is the strongest evidence for this image of going home. The editing of this group of shots did not break the fluidity of time, and the shot switching did not form a time gap at all. The effect of this shooting and editing method is the smoothness of time and space. In fact, throughout the plot of the interview tape, the director followed this method of using and editing shots, making the audience feel as if only one shot was used. The continuity of the shot, in a dangerous zone full of life and death decisions, brings continuity and development through structural stability.

In the film, the room shaped like a meat grinder has the image of human beings returning to their natural matrix. The protagonist needs to go through a long tunnel before entering the room. The writer walks at the forefront. From the perspective of stalkers and scientists, the tunnel is the birth canal, and the room it connects is the uterus. The protagonists' desire for the forbidden area is out of the desire to return to the mother body, and the process of walking into the tunnel is the process of returning to the ultimate home. Behind the meat grinder is a room full of water. Water is a symbol of life. In creation myths, the dark, chaotic water or sea is often the ultimate source of all things in the world. Moses in the myth of the Bible, Shakundala in Indian mythology, Yue Fei in Chinese mythology, and Xuanzang's Journey to the West all share a common pattern: babies are abandoned in water, then rescued and reborn. The water here clearly has the connotation of baptism. Other hints of the Matrix appear in the film, such as the well that appears when the infiltrator prays. The holy well and the holy water basin are symbols of the mother's womb of the Virgin Mary.

The ultimate home appears in the visit zone, but it is not limited to this, but is integrated into the real life of the protagonist following natural images. Due to the monotony outside the "area", natural factors such as trees, sky, and sunshine in the area, and the whistling of animals all bring a huge impact to the intruders. Visit the belt with real animals, black dogs and fish. The image of the black dog undoubtedly has its motif meaning. In mythology, it is related to the afterlife and death, acting as a guard on the boundary between life and death, and as a guide between the world on this side and the other side. At the same time, the dog is also a symbol of communication between man and nature. On top of that, the black dog eventually leaves the visit belt and shows up in the bar where the protagonists chat. When the stalker's family of three left the bar, the color began to appear from the girl, and then spread to the whole picture. The girl still can't walk, but she can ride on her father's shoulders. The wife has the dignity of a woman, and the black dog is always with her. The sea, sky, and grass all take on the same color as the visit belt. The stalker did not return to the mother's body, but found happiness in the love with his wife. The picture of human beings and nature working together again is very beautiful and peaceful. For Tarkovsky, the dislocation of material and spirit still exists, but the important thing is that they set off together on the train of human civilization. It is impossible to return to the primitive and the prehistoric. Just like Thoreau, what Tarkovsky's stalkers long for is only a poetic dwelling in which material life is restrained and spiritual life is rich. Taoism follows nature. In the spiritual realm, heaven and earth coexist with me, and all things are one with me. Human beings have already embarked on a journey of returning to nature and realizing ecological ideals.

"A thing is right only if it helps to maintain the harmony, stability and beauty of the biological community; otherwise, it is wrong." This sentence was taken by Tarkovsky in "Stalker" Interpret it as, "The demise of any civilization means that this civilization is false." It has been 40 years since the film came out, and the ecological spirit embodied in it is still forward-looking. Obviously, what Tarkovsky carved into the film time was not only his own views on the relationship between nature and man, but also his insistence on the spiritual attributes of human beings and his cautious attitude towards film art. As long as human beings are still correcting their steps towards the truth, It will definitely resonate with him.

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