Andrey Tarkovsky, the genius of modern Russian cinema--hailed by Ingmar Bergman as "the most important director of our time"--died an exile in Paris in December 1986. In Sculpting in Time, he has left his artistic testament, a remarkable revelation of both his life and work. Since Ivan's Childhood won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1962, the visionary quality and totally original and haunting imagery of Tarkovsky's films have captivated serious movie audiences all over the world, who see in his work a continuation of the great literary traditions of nineteenth-century Russia. Many critics have tried to interpret his intensely personal vision, but he himself always remained inaccessible.

In Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky sets down his thoughts and his memories, revealing for the first time the original inspirations for his extraordinary films--Ivan's Childhood, Andrey Rublyov, Solaris, The Mirror, Stalker, Nostalgia, and The Sacrifice. He discusses their history and his methods of work, he explores the many problems of visual creativity, and he sets forth the deeply autobiographical content of part of his oeuvre--most fascinatingly in The Mirror and Nostalgia. The closing chapter on The Sacrifice, dictated in the last weeks of Tarkovsky's life, makes the book essential reading for those who already know or who are just discovering his magnificent work.

Since his death, Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-86) has become increasingly recognized as one of the true masters of world cinema. In the Soviet Union of his generation, where the collective was of the utmost importance, he dared to create his own provocatively original style of filmmaking. His non-realistic, highly charged images continued to be a source of inspiration—not only for a new generation of filmmakers but also for poets, musicians, and painters—even after he defected to the West, where Nostalgia was shot in Italy in 1983. His last film, The Sacrifice, was filmed in Sweden with Ingmar Bergman's collaborators.

This volume collects the scripts for his great works, including Solaris, Mirror, Stalker, Nostalgia, The Sacrifice, and Ivan's Childhood. These scripts both deepen and expand our understanding of Tarkovsky's films, for they map out the early progressions and personages (some of which were never embodied on the screen) in his work while also helping to clarify the obscure characters, images, and sequences that are so central to this great filmmaker's unique art and craft.