The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice

The Guardian

Out now on DVD, Blu-ray & on demand

Also part of Andrei Tarkovsky Deluxe Collection

In Andrei Tarkovsky’s Cannes Granx Prix winning final masterpiece, completed as he was gravely ill, a man vows to God that he will sacrifice all he holds dear if an imminent nuclear catastrophe can be averted.

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Synopsis

Andrei Tarkovsky’s visionary final film unfolds in the hours before a nuclear holocaust. Erland Josephson, in an award-winning role, plays retired actor Alexander who is celebrating his birthday with family and friends when a crackly TV announcement warns of an imminent nuclear catastrophe. Alexander makes a promise to God that he will sacrifice all he holds dear, if the disaster can be averted. The next day dawns and, as if in a dream, everything is restored to normality. But Alexander must keep his vow. Among many other awards, The Sacrifice won the Cannes Grand Prix in 1986, the same year that Tarkovsky died of cancer in Paris at the age of 54.

Director

Andrei Tarkovsky
One of world’s most visionary, celebrated and influential filmmakers, Andrei Tarkovsky made just seven features before his tragically early death at the age of 54. Characterised by metaphysical and spiritual explorations of the human condition, each film is an artistic masterpiece of extraordinary visual beauty and stand as enduring classics of world cinema.

Details

Aspect ratio: 4:3 Colour: Colour Production year: 1986 Original title: Offret DVD catalogue number: ART795DVD Blu-ray catalogue number: ART185BD

Awards

Winner of the 1988 Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA
Winner of the 1986 Cannes FIPRESCI Prize
Winner of the 1986 Cannes Grand Prize of the Jury
Winner of the 1986 Cannes Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
Winner of the 1986 Cannes Best Artistic Contribution award - cinematography (Sven Nykvist)

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The-Sacrifice-programme-notes.pdf

Out now on DVD, Blu-ray & on demand

Also part of Andrei Tarkovsky Deluxe Collection

GENRE: Drama

CERTIFICATE: 12A

DIRECTOR: Andrei Tarkovsky

DURATION: 149 Mins

COUNTRIES: France, Sweden

LANGUAGES: English, French, Swedish

AWARDS:
Winner of the 1988 Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA
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Reviews

“It is brilliant and audacious, with one of the most extraordinary final sequences in modern cinema”

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Profoundly satisfying... a rewarding display of filmmaking mastery that forms a mystical and enigmatic coda to a legendary career”

Jonathan Trout, BBC
“Stunningly beautiful”

Walter Goodman, The New York Times
“Involving and intellectually rich”

Nick Dawson, Empire
“His images have a transcendental glow and a hieratic poise; alternating between contemplative distance and moral confrontation, they assert, in the most radical sense, the high cost of living—the unbearable price of earthly delights”

Richard Brody, The New Yorker
“Tarkovsky's finest work, a culmination of all that has preoccupied him throughout his films”

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times