Tarkovsky's Stalker

In 1979, Tarkovsky released another film called Stalker. Stalker is Tarkovsky’s take on the Strugatsky Brothers’ novel, Roadside Picnic. Stalker serves as Tarkovsky’s continuation on the themes developed in his film Solaris.
In the film Stalker, Tarkovsky utilizes the contrast between the setting of the Zone and the outside world, which is separated by a fence, to display the Soviet Union is embracing technology at the cost of nature. The Zone is a government restricted area that when inside the laws of physics are defied. Although nobody is allowed in the Zone, a few individuals known as “Stalkers” are able to navigate the Zone are unaffected by its mysterious powers. The main visual contrast in Tarkovsky’s film is the use of sepia when outside

In the final scenes, the daughter is sitting at a table reading a book. Then with her psychic abilities, she pushes an empty cup off the table. A train begins to pass by the house and as the room shakes Ode to Joy plays in the background. Tarkovsky shows the world from the Stalker’s daught’s point of view in color demonstrating that “The Zone is not some magical territory to be physically attained by passing through a barbed-wire barriers. Rather, it is something existing everywhere outside us and within” (Simonetta). Moments before this scene, Tarkovsky showed the mother’s monologue about her relationship with the Stalker in sepia film. Thus, he wants to emphasize how the daughter “Represent new perspectives, new spiritual powers that are as yet unknown to us, as well as new physical forces” (Gianvito). During the reign of Stalin, people put up walls against each other in order to protect themselves. They lived in paranoia and in fear of one another. People lived with a sense of survival of the fittest. There was no sense of community among the people and skeptical of others intentions. Even after “the Thaw”, people did not feel comfortable enough to change their way of life after many years of mistrust. However, Tarkovsky is hopefully in that future generations will be able to connect with one another and embrace a sense of spirituality. He sees that being a part of the human race means being a part of something greater than the individual and connects all people together. Tarkovsky sees that a brighter tomorrow will not come from greater strives in technological advancements but from a more widespread sense of appreciation for others and for the life around