One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich

In the poetic and essayistic style so characteristic of his work, Chris Marker pays homage to Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. The framework of his documentary (made for the renowned French TV series ) is formed by home videos from 1986, made shortly before Tarkovsky died of lung cancer. We watch him at work on what was to be his final film, . And we witness his deathbed with his son Andrei Jr., whom he hadn’t seen for 10 years after leaving Russia and living in exile in Sweden. But at the heart of Marker's insightful analysis are clips from Tarkovsky’s own films – his seven feature films, which are among the greats of cinema history, but also more obscure titles, such as the adaptation of Hemingway’s that Tarkovsky made as a film student. Marker makes connections between the films, as well as with Tarkovsky’s life and the politics and culture of the time. All in all his extensive and idiosyncratic analysis of Tarkovsky’s themes and philosophy gives a meaningful interpretation of the almost mystical work of the Russian filmmaker, without removing any of its mystery.