The Sacrifice (1986) Offret (original title)

Director:

Andrey Tarkovskiy

Writer:

Andrey Tarkovskiy (scenario)

Release Date:

November 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Alexander, a journalist and former actor and philosopher, tells his little son how worried he is about the lack of spirituality of modern mankind...

Plot Keywords:

Spirituality | Dream | One Word Title | Hope | Self Immolation

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Erland Josephson	...	Alexander
Susan Fleetwood	...	Adelaide
Allan Edwall	...	Otto
Guðrún Gísladóttir	...	Maria (as Guðrún S. Gísladóttir)
Sven Wollter	...	Victor
Valérie Mairesse	...	Julia
Filippa Franzén	...	Marta
Tommy Kjellqvist	...	Gossen
Per Källman	...	Ambulansförare
Tommy Nordahl	...	Ambulansförare
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tintin Anderzon	...	(voice)
Helena Brodin	...	(voice)
Birgit Carlstén	...	(voice)
Jane Friedmann	...	(voice)
Martin Lindström	...	(voice)
Jan-Olof Strandberg	...	(voice)

Directed by
Andrey Tarkovskiy		(as Andrei Tarkovskij)

Writing credits
Andrey Tarkovskiy		(scenario)

Produced by
Anna-Lena Wibom	....	producer: Svenska Filminstitutet

Cinematography by
Sven Nykvist

Film Editing by
Michal Leszczylowski
Andrey Tarkovskiy		(as Andrei Tarkovskij)

Casting by
Claire Denis
Priscilla John
Françoise Menidrey

Production Design by
Anna Asp

Costume Design by
Inger Pehrsson

Makeup Department
Florence Fouquier D'Herouel	....	makeup artist (as Florence Fouquier)
Kjell Gustavsson	....	hair stylist
Kjell Gustavsson	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Katinka Faragó	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kerstin Eriksdotter	....	assistant director
Michal Leszczylowski	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Jan Andersson	....	property master
Gunilla Bandolin	....	painter
Jan Eriksson	....	carpenter
Teddy Holm	....	painter
Kicki Ilander	....	assistant property master
Cecilia Iversen	....	assistant art director
Harry Klava	....	construction coordinator
Kaj Larsen	....	construction manager
Martti Malkamaa	....	carpenter
Percy Nilsson	....	head carpenter
Rolf Persson	....	head painter
Bengt Svedberg	....	painter

Sound Department
Christin Loman	....	sound mixer
Bo Persson	....	sound recordist
Willie Peterson-Berger	....	sound recordist (as Wille Peterson-Berger)
Owe Svensson	....	sound mixer
Owe Svensson	....	sound
Lasse Ulander	....	sound recordist (as Lars Ulander)

Special Effects by
Lars Höglund	....	special effects
Lars Palmquist	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniel Bergman	....	key grip
Arne Carlsson	....	still photographer
Ocki Hansson	....	grip
Kent Högberg	....	electrician
Lars Karlsson	....	assistant camera (as Lasse Karlsson)
Dan Myhrman	....	assistant camera
Raul Soares	....	electrician
Hasse Wallin	....	electrician (as Hans Wallin)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carina Dalunde	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Henri Colpi	....	consulting editor
Henri Colpi	....	supervising editor
Nils Melander	....	color timer
China Åhlander	....	apprentice film editor

Other crew
Aina Bellis	....	unit publicist
Layla Alexander Garrett	....	interpreter
Agneta Jansson	....	production assistant
Puck Jansson	....	caterer
Inger Johansson	....	unit publicist
Göran Lindberg	....	location manager
Lars-Olof Löthwall	....	unit publicist
Andrei Nekrasov	....	translator
Nikos Nikolettos	....	production assistant
Anne von Sydow	....	script supervisor
China Åhlander	....	apprentice

Thanks
Henri Colpi	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)
• Argos Films
• Film Four International (in collaboration with)
• Josephson & Nykvist HB (in collaboration with)
• Sveriges Television (SVT) (in collaboration with) (as Sveriges Television/SVT2)
• Sandrews (in collaboration with) (as Sandrews Film & Teater AB)

Distributors

• Sandrew Film & Teater (1986) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Argos Films (1986) (France) (theatrical)
• Arte Vidéo (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• Nordfilm (1987) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Orion Classics (1986) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Another World Entertainment (2008) (Denmark) (DVD) (Special 2 Disc Edition)
• Artificial Eye (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Filmifriikki (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2011) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Kinokuniya (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kinokuniya (2010) (Japan) (DVD) (HD new master) (special edition)
• Moskwood Media (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Pole Vídeo Comunicações Ltda. (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Showtime (1989) (Finland) (VHS)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1999) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Farago Film  design studio (as Faragó Film AB)
• Ministère de la Culture  special thanks (as Franska Kulturministeriet)

Also Known As:

"Offret" - Sweden (original title)

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

Sweden | UK | France

Language:

Swedish | French | English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Italy:T | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (1992 re-rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | UK:15 (original rating) | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Filmhusateljéerna, Filmhuset, Svenska Filminstitutet, Gärdet, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)

Trivia:

The line quoted by Alexander, "Which of you have done this?", is taken from "Macbeth".

Quotes:

[first lines]
[sub-titled]
Alexander:Come here and give me a hand, my boy.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Final cut - Hölgyeim és uraim (2012)

Soundtrack:

Dai-Bosatsu

A perfect example of the difference between true cinema and the Big Macs that Hollywood feeds us.

Tarkovsky's death bed film certainly lacks some of the fire and energy of his earlier work, but the story of Alexander's search for faith amidst the worst kind of madness is by no means dull. The cinematography and editing are obviously Bergman influenced, but anyone who says that it bothers them to see Tarkovsky borrow the style of another needs to learn more about Eisenstein, Kuleshov, and perhaps Wajda.

This film serves as a stark example of the real difference between the work of the European authors and Hollywood. While viewing, keep an eye on the editing. Th film opens on a five minute long shot in which it is extremely difficult to even discern which character is speaking. The scenes are made up of as few shots as possible and the shortest shot of the entire film is about 10 seconds. There are less than a dozen close ups in the entire piece, which may be why American audiences with their limited attention spans, would reject the film. The Sacrifice might not sit well with Tarkovsky purists, but it's themes and philosophy, I feel, surpass in depth, any of the master's other works.