Andrei Tarkovsky

Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

I think in fact that unless there is an organic link between the subjective impressions of the author and his objective representation…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Perhaps the meaning of all human activity lies in the artistic consciousness, in the pointless and selfless creative act? Perhaps our capacity…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

If we succeed with something, that is only because others are in need of what e have produced. And the more success…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

“I believe in one thing: the human spirit is immortal and indestructible. In the beyond there could be anything, it is of…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

It is perfectly possible to be a professional director or a professional writer and not to be an artist: merely a sort…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Some sort of pressure must exist; the artist exists because the world is not perfect. Art would be useless if the world…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

I know only one thing. when i sleep, i know no fear, no, trouble no bliss. blessing on him who invented sleep.…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

It is a mistake to talk about the artist looking for his subject. In fact, the subject grows within him like a…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

“The image in cinema is based on the ability to present as an observation one's own perception of an object”

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Man is born unto the trouble as the sparks fly upwards.' In other words suffering is germane to our existence; indeed, how…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Why do people go to the cinema? What takes them into a darkened room where, for two hours, they watch the play…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Objectivity can only be the author's and therefore subjective, even if he is editing a newsreel.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

“Perhaps cinema is the most personal art, the most intimate. In cinema only the author's intimate truth will be convincing enough for…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing. When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible. When he…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Man has, since the Enlightenment, dealt with things he should have ignored.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

The meaning of religious truth is hope

— Andrei Tarkovsky

MORE CONSISTENTLY THAN EVER I WAS TRYING TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT CINEMA AS AN INSTRUMENT OF ART HAS ITS OWN POSSIBILITIES…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Never try to convey your idea to the audience - it is a thankless and senseless task. Show them life, and they’ll…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

“All that I wanted was to tempt into life things that wanted to come out of me.”

— Andrei Tarkovsky

We know perfectly well that neither love nor peace of mind can be bought with any currency.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

The allotted function of art is not, as is often assumed, to put across ideas, to propagate thoughts, to serve as an…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

“I felt all the time that for the film to be a success the texture of the scenery and the landscapes must…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

“Little plots and stories, acted out and screened, can't possibly be called cinema. They have nothing whatever to do with cinema. A…

— Andrei Tarkovsky

People who grow bored in their own company seem to me in danger.

— Andrei Tarkovsky