8.2/10
115,387
437 user 162 critic

Stalker (1979)

Trailer
2:00 | Trailer
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky

Writers:

Arkadiy Strugatskiy (novel), Boris Strugatskiy (novel) | 2 more credits »
Reviews
Popularity
2,037 ( 191)
Top Rated Movies #172 | 2 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Alisa Freyndlikh ... Zhena Stalkera
Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy ... Stalker
Anatoliy Solonitsyn ... Pisatel
Nikolay Grinko ... Professor
Natalya Abramova Natalya Abramova ... Marta, doch Stalkera (as Natasha Abramova)
Faime Jurno ... Sobesednitsa Pisatelya (as F. Yurna)
E. Kostin E. Kostin ... Lyuger, khozyain kafe
Raymo Rendi Raymo Rendi ... Patrulnyy politseyskiy (as R. Rendi)
Edit

Storyline

In a small, unnamed country there is an area called the Zone. It is apparently inhabited by aliens and contains the Room, where in it is believed wishes are granted. The government has declared The Zone a no-go area and have sealed off the area with barbed wire and border guards. However, this has not stopped people from attempting to enter the Zone. We follow one such party, made up of a writer, who wants to use the experience as inspiration for his writing, and a professor, who wants to research the Zone for scientific purposes. Their guide is a man to whom the Zone is everything, the Stalker. Written by grantss

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is no dialogue for the first 9.5 minutes. See more »

Goofs

At about 23 minutes, when Stalker, writer and professor are driving in their car they have to hide for a motorcyclist. In the scene the motorcyclist comes from the right. From an opposite angle of view, he still comes from the right, where it should have been from the left. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Stalker's Wife: [sub-titled from Russian] Why did you take my watch?
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Zhara (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

Meditatation
Written by Edward Artemiev
See more »

User Reviews

 
Journey into Fear
8 February 2003 | by Oblomov_81See all my reviews

The characters at the heart of Tarkovsky's "Stalker" are people who embark on an arduous journey only to discover that they had no idea what they wanted to gain from it. The central character is a "stalker," a man who makes a living by illegally escorting people through a restricted area to The Room, a place where their greatest wish will supposedly come true. Exactly why the area is restricted is never made perfectly clear; in the novel this film is partially based on, "The Roadside Picnic," it was a site where aliens briefly landed, and The Room was an object they left behind almost as if it were refuse. But Tarkovsky would rather not settle for such a flat explanation. To him, The Room is a place that means different things to the people who journey there, and the stark, ravished landscape they must journey through consists of the phobias and anxieties that they can hardly bear to face. The expedition the men experience is a long and often maddening one, and there are many scenes where the camera lingers on a beautifully composed shot so that the viewer can take time to understand how the characters fit into the settings and how those settings form both natural and supernatural obstacles.

Andrei Tarkovsky was an artist who did not like giving solid answers to the questions his films posed. He sculpted his stories so that viewers who had the patience and self-discipline to stay attentive all the way through could draw their own conclusions. If there is any specific meaning to "Stalker," it is that we have to fully understand anything for which we are willing to alter our lives.


196 of 250 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 437 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more »
Edit

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

17 April 1980 (Netherlands) See more »

Also Known As:

Сталкер See more »

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

RUR6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,537, 15 September 2002

Gross USA:

$292,049

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$303,815
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page

Holiday Movies on Prime Video for the Whole Family

Prime Video has you covered this holiday season with movies for the family. Here are some of our picks to get you in the spirit.

Get some picks



Recently Viewed