Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский At last, the complete version of Andrei Tarkovski"s 1966 masterpiece about the great 15th century Russian icon painter (a film suppressed by the Soviet Union and unseen until 1971) is available. It"s a complex and demanding narrative about the responsibility of the artist to participate in history rather than documenting it from a safe distance. A landmark in Russian cinema, Andrei Rublev is a beautifully lyrical black-and-white film about harmony and soulful expression. As the late filmmaker says in a supplementary interview, each generation must experience life for itself; it cannot simply absorb what has preceded it. In fact, a whole host of supplements accompanies the film in this Criterion Collection release. Stick with it; it"s worth the effort. * * * * * "Русские люди уверовали в свою силу, в своё окончательное освобождение. Вот эту веру, это предчувствие перемен выразил в своём творчестве Рублёв. Он прозрел утро в самый тёмный час ночи....