One to admire more than love? I am sure my opinion will change when I inevitably rewatch it down the line. I watched it in installments like I did Solaris. I strongly suspect I am losing quite a bit in translation during the philosophical interludes.
Incredibly beautiful but also punishingly slow in parts. At times the camera creeps in almost imperceptibly until you find yourself face to face with the characters. Or a slow pan across a landscape comes to rest on the back of a character’s head.
The allegories for religion must have been difficult to calibrate during this era of the Soviet Union, but they feel pretty obvious when viewed today. The Stalker is many things, but I kept viewing him as a priest, struggling to shepherd people who do not share his faith. (I thought a lot about First Reformed afterwards.) That and Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach books. Maybe I will finally watch Annihilation.