ANDREI TARKOVSKY'S STALKER AND CHERNOBYL?

Andrei Tarkovsky’s STALKER came out in 1979.  The Chernobyl nuclear accident happened in 1986.  However, the first thing that entered my mind when I finished watching STALKER is how it functions as a powerful statement on Chernobyl.

The Zone is an uninhabited area forbidden from trespass by army troops who governs its borders.  How it came into being is subject to several theories – Aliens? Meteorites? War?.  Inside the Zone which seems to be mostly made up of wrecked buildings and overgrown vegetation is a room.  Whoever enters this room will have their greatest wish granted.

Stalkers are people with a special ability that allows them to traverse the zone and find their way around without succumbing to its many traps.  They are paid large sums of money by those who want to be guided to the room.

The hero is one such stalker.  Recently released from prison for prior stalking activities, he has been hired to guide “the writer” and “the professor” to the room.

Why I think there is a Chernobyl foreshadowing connection to this film….

We see a wrecked, destroyed landscape full of bombed out buildings, polluted rivers, and forbidden areas.

The stalker has a deformed daughter who at the end of the film we see has telekinetic powers.  It’s hinted that exposure to whatever created the Zone caused this.

No one can live in the Zone as they will die.  The environment is hazardous to the health. 

The Writer is seeking inspiration while the Professor actually wants to blow up the room as he feels it has the potential to be a negative force on mankind much like nuclear weapons.

The room represents man’s forbidden knowledge (like the creation of nuclear weapons) but more importantly man’s will to use them.

One of the last shots of the film is three nuclear silos in the distance as the stalker walks by with his family.

STALKER is not an action oriented film.  There are lengthy conversations about existence, birth, death, creation, free will.  The Zone is in color while life outside the Zone is a dull gray – conversation follows suit.  The traps that are supposed to litter the Zone and make it deadly for anyone who isn’t familiar with the terrain are more in the mind.  The Zone also reminds me of the TV show LOST – I imagine there is some influence there.

In the mind is the potential for man to do the most harm to himself.