Moscow Elegy

Moscow Elegy (Russian: Московская элегия) is a 1988 documentary film directed by Alexander Sokurov about the later life and death of Soviet Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. The film was originally intended to mark the 50th birthday of Tarkovsky in 1982, which would have been before his death. Controversy with Soviet authorities about the film's style and content led to significant delays in the production. The film consists mostly of Sokurov'... more

Moscow Elegy (Russian: Московская элегия) is a 1988 documentary film directed by Alexander Sokurov about the later life and death of Soviet Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. The film was originally intended to mark the 50th birthday of Tarkovsky in 1982, which would have been before his death. Controversy with Soviet authorities about the film's style and content led to significant delays in the production. The film consists mostly of Sokurov's narration over stock footage from Tarkovsky's films Mirror, Nostalghia, Voyage in Time, and The Sacrifice, as well as footage of Tarkovsky shot during production for The Sacrifice. Some footage was supplied by Chris Marker. Sokurov also shot footage of various houses and apartments where Tarkovsky had lived. With the exception of some of the archival footage, the film is entirely in black and white. Sokurov and the crew had scheduled a total of 12 days for the entire production. The film was first screened at Dom Kino in Moscow in 1987 on... less