12 Days of Xmas #10: Stalker 

I went to the zone to grab a full empty hiptang jar. Can you believe it? A full empty hiptang jar. Both consumed and untouched. The scientific implications of this are massive

Some say opening a can of hiptang gives you a single wish.

Love the “Hiptang” Series. It’s the best part of the year.

My introduction to this film was the game series. The games are more in line with themes of the book, but it carries the same tone and aesthetics through each adaptation. Each one carries a feeling that is seldom replicated in other media. Fantastic all around.

I love the tactile sense of time and space in this movie. We share with the trio the entire journey into the Zone. Supposedly the movie was an influence on Death Stranding, which borrows the general premise of a navigator character traversing an apocalyptic no-man's-land, but also the strong sense of geography, being able to count every single foot step on the path to where we're going. My favorite sci-fi movie by far. I don't even have a close second.

Roadside Picnic is one of my favourite sci-fi novels and Stalker is an equally brilliant film even though it doesn't really stick to the plot of the book it captures the atmosphere perfectly.

You can view it on YT for free through Mosfilm's channel (don't know if it's region blocked anywhere, but in the UK it's there (also Come and See is available in the same channel)).

An incredible film. The apartment in the opening scene (IIRC?) is mesmerisingly gruesome. It made me really want to sink into it and soak up all the tiny details. And from there I couldn't wait to see where this film was going.

One of my absolute favorites, thanks Georg!

My favourite film! The film is mesmerising and sucks you into a world of existential introspection. With every watch I tend to understand one of the three characters more than the others, but the thoughts of Writer always hits closest to home. If a film ever has changed my life in some way it's this one.

I always really enjoyed the cinematography in Stalker.

Great soundtrack too, including electronica music from Artemiev. Favourite scene - on the rail car when travelling to the Zone.

Ah, I suppose including a Tarkovsky movie in the 12 days of Xmas series is now an annual tradition!

My favorite part of this film is how much information is put into a single shot without it feeling overwhelming or muddled. The scene where they're dodging gunfire and rigging up the kart was awesome.

An absoloute classic.

I need to watch this again, and again, and again...

Stalker was always on my must-watch list but the thumbnail of this video captivated me and convinced me to sit down with my boyfriend and watch it all. Utterly brilliant. Was worth skipping this video until I'd seen the film, thanks for another year of quality content Georg.

I love Stalker in an "I love nightmares" sort of way.

I remember looking up the cast a little while ago, out of curiosity. Turns out, whilst the three main actors have passed away, the actress who played the wife is still alive at 88. 👁️👄👁️ Go her! ... And interestingly, it's hard to find info on the daughter because this was supposedly the only media she was ever in.

I have had intolerable pain in my left knee and left side for past few days. Hip dang I say...

I really like this one. Atmosphere overload. I still play the Stalker pc game too. Again, tons of atmosphere.

_Stalker_ is the most visually beautiful film I've ever seen.

Not only my favorite sci fi movie, but also my favorite movie in general. Nice choice!

an interesting meta reality about stalker is that it very possibly killed the director and several other people in the film. the area they were filming in was a notorious chemical runoff site and the waters in that place are highly toxic, and while it cant be directly proven, it is very likely that filming in that location is what gave him and several other people involved with the film, cancer that led to their deaths. it truly was a dangerous zone they were stalking through

Something about the throwing Little Rock’s wrapped in cloth to see if they were walking into a physics glitch that would scramble them was such an eerie and effective way to express this weighty scifi concept with zero special effects and made the zone feel so viscerally dangerous

Rewatched it a month ago, it is a slow burner but it leaves the viewer in a very weird mood and it is thoughtful and depressing. It is thoughtful and somewhat depressing, mind you, not because DUH USSR POWERTY GULAG and bla bla bla, but because it tells stories of different people who have different views and disagree on many occasions, who make decisions and reveal each other and themselves to the viewer through dialog. The revelations about three travellers are very interesting to watch, along with their thought process and decisions at the end. Same goes for Stalker's wife and for other characters in this movie, who are mentioned but not shown. Of course, the movie is gorgeous to watch, and it is amazing that it turned out to be this way after such complications with shooting. Transitions from black and white to coloured and back are also serving the narrative. If you are going to watch it, I would recommend Russian with subtitles, be sober, and if you are watching it with friends, have a backup lighthearted comedy or action movie to lift up the mood if it becomes too heavy after Stalker's ending. If you are watching it alone, just focus on the movie and let it immerse you. It is very hard to connect STALKER games, movie, and Roadside Picnic novel, because all of these stories and experiences are very different. But as a fan, I would definitely recommend the book and the movie. The games are very inspired and very unique, but some of design elements are very dated. I still love all 3 games for many reasons, but I think that they are not for everybody, especially in 2022.

I watched this a few months ago and it was such a treat.

Absolute favourite movie that I have seen far too many times, and you just reminded me I need to watch it again. Thanks hiptang guy!

I loved Roadside Picnic and recommend the book to any discerning SciFi reader

What a video game Stalker was. Few goes on the Hiptang made it all the better of course.

Finally, a movie on Georg's Hiptang Odyssey I've seen. Excellent movie

Ah yes, The ASMR masterpiece

Amazing film I didn't fully appreciate until reflecting on it

My absolute favourite

One of my favorite sci-fi movies, hiptang......I mean Stalker. It is one of my top 10 movies.

2:00 Artist nightmare fuel!

This film looks great. I don’t know what type of film or saturation they used but I really like the look, color, and feel of the scenes

Having read Roadside Picnic, I highly recommend it for the closing paragraphs alone.

Stalker is one of those films that relaxes me to the point I start falling asleep. It’s not boring, but it is calming for some strange reason.

Somehow I knew Stalker would be part of this year's 12 Days. I saw it last year and ever since have seen lots of reviewers talk about it.

Fun fact, a street in central Tallinn, where they shot a few scenes for the film, is noe called Stalker's street

A fantastic film, full of seasonal atmosphere... if that season is the Crepuscular Terminus.

I really wish I could be your therapist. This smorgasbord of movie choices makes me just want to explore every crevasse of that hiptang-filled brain.

HIPTANG, FREE, FOR EVERYONE, AND LET NO ONE BE FORGOTTEN!

"Annihilation" has much to owe to "Stalker" - and whilst I'll rate both films highly, there's clearly a lot of influence involved.

I've got to start watching some Andrei Tarkovsky. And Stalker looks like a good place to start

I've read 'Roadside Picnic'. Yes, it is a loose adaptation, so you can read the book and watch the movie and not have the same experience. Frederick Pohl's 'Gateway' does something different again with a similar concept.

“Till the floods come and this is a lake” - is prime Hip Tang material from the classsic British film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Hiptang's so good you'll get stalkers!

I've never seen this film but I love the book. Will have to give it a go at some point

Pretty good video game series too

cara, você é bom

Best movie ever probably.

I had to double check because I thought it would have come up in the video but this movie has got to be the Soviet equivalent of that John Wayne ghengis khan movie, with the cast and crew dying off young due to the exposure to things on location (radiation from nuclear tests in the john wayne movie, toxic chemicals and industrial runoff for Stalker)

And if you like Stalker these are just as good: Visitor of a Museum, The War of the Worlds: Next Century, Sexmission, O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization & Ga-ga: Glory to the Heroes!

2:01 - wow.

I adore this film and love the novella it's based on even more. Such a strange type of sci-fi that seems more concerned with a kind of spirituality than it is in cool sci-fi ideas. (Though it has them, too.) I know the Strugatsky's said that wasn't the intention, but I don't believe them.

Don't lie down in that powder!!!

For this uplifting installment, a movie that likely contributed to the deaths of many involved with its production. Uplifting stuff. Enjoy the Hiptang.

I bet so many Stalkers want to know Georg's address just to get the fresh Hiptang

Well, go and choose a particular "masterpiece" in the filmography of Tarkovsky! Like Kubrick, Parajanov or Eisenstein, each of his works explores its own themes, its own esthetics without repeat what he showed previously, at least too overtly (yes, I'm looking at you, Alfred and Quentin), which til this day still motivates their endless exegesis. Oh and my favourite Tarkovsky is "Andrey Rublev", but I'm a historian and occasionally an iconographer, so...

I hear that Hiptang is now mostly glass shard free

Filmbuff Hardmode: The Movie

We need Slavoj Zizek to do a Pervert's Guide to Hiptang

One of the best sci fi movies ever

"...I mean, other than the other two."

When watching it I started wondering if the movie is actually about superstition and whether or not it should be critiqued if it still provides motivation and a cause. You don't really see anything truly supernatural occur and it seems that the biggest danger that's on the screen is the worry the characters have. Then, in the very end of the film, this theory as to the movie's actual subject matter seems to be confirmed when the couple's daughter begins to move something with her mind....only for it to be revealed that the object is moving due to the vibrations from a nearby passing train. I don't know, that's just a theory of mine but it seems to make some sense.

Is this film that the games are based on then? The whole feel of Stalker reminds me quite a lot of a vivid 1960's short film I watched called Toby Dammit with Terence Stamp in. Made by Frederico Fellini. Great film with a lot of weird and dark symbolism.

I downloaded it 2 years ago but haven't watched it. I wonder if there's a 4K version? The cinematography looks fantastic.

I see.

Nice review. You are still able to enjoy those rare diamonds from the sea of shit we call reality. 👍

War and Peace as next Christmas movie?

I'm a soldat

Stalker is one of those films that you're supposed to like. Personally I don't like it. Yeah sure it's weird. But man is it dull. I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone. I'll leave that for Tarkovsky to do. He was so good at it.

Haven't you done Stalker before on 12 days of Xmas? I'm probably mistaken.

I do the same with my garbage. 🔥

Um... Did no one ever tell you that the twelve days of Christmas start the day after Christmas Day? They are the twelve days between Christmas Day and Epiphany.

Stalker is one of those films I want to love. It has a lot of the elements I love in movies. But whenever I try watching it. I end up frustrated. Even to the point of irritation and anger. Ok, not anger, maybe. But it does rub me the wrong way in some strange way. It is probably the dialogs. Correction. It is the dialogs and monologs. The discussions of the virtues of poetry and pitfalls of science. They feel so... surface level. So navelgazing. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Terrence Malicks later works. The narration kind of gets stuck in trying to make "obvious" points that never convinces me of what they think they convince me of. It is the same in most of Andreis films for me. If it was more of a silent audiovisual exploration. Without the deepities of the talking, I might have an easier time with it. But as they are. I have ended up realizing.. I just don't like the way he makes movies. And no. I do not prefer Michael Bay styled mayhem and keys-jingling. I just struggle to see the masterpieces everyone else enjoys.

Any connection to the game?

My criticism of T.: Stalker? More like sTALKER. "Show, not tell" where?

There are some movies that might not be fully appreciated after the first viewing. They need multiple viewings and a lengthy analysis to appreciate them. I tried watching Stalker 3 separate times (on Bluray) and I still can't get through it. My biggest problem is how dull the whole story is. The pacing has been horrendous, maybe one of the worst pacing in any film I have ever witnessed. It's cinematography is mostly subpar, there are a few beautiful shots in the film. The acting is lackluster, the sound design is mediocre. The best feature of this film might be it's dialogue, but that is really pushing it. I think most people's shower thoughts elicit a deeper insight into the human condition than this film ever could. I am usually a huge fan of artistic films and I understand that not every movie needs to be entertaining or accessible for everyone. I don't like the gatekeeping that comes with certain artistic films, where people will not tolerate others for disliking it. The two positions are "this film is absolutely brilliant" or "you weren't smart enough to get it". Usually very few opinions in between. It strikes me as "The Emperor's New Clothes", everyone seems to be going along with the pretense that it's a great film. You will see constant praise about how powerful it's story is and how impactful it has been for the entire film industry. I don't see that with Stalker. This film might be a good cure for those who are struggling with insomnia. When criticising certain works that are considered "masterpieces" people are very quick to reply with "Just stick to Transformers and the Fast and the Furious movies". I don't think this attitude is productive, no criticism should be that easily dismissed. If your film doesn't seem to connect with most people on this planet you might have to rethink your storytelling techniques. I love most works from Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon Ho, Lilly and Lana Wachowskis, Ridley Scott, David Lynch, David Fincher, Ava DuVerney, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ethan and Joel Coen, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog, Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa. I do understand that these writers and directors may have a more "mainstream appeal" than the works of Andrei Tarkovsky. I still appreciate that Tarkovsky's films exist, but they ones I have watched don't do it for me. What am I not getting from this film that other people are appreciating about it?

Get out of here, Stalker!!

It's long.

5th!

The video games were great.

The book was absolute garbage, you'd think that for a

Nope, not watching anything Russian. Because duck Fussia. Slava Ukrainini.

ffs, not a single Ukrainian, let alone Baltic, Georgian, Polish or Armenian film and yet you are promoting a Muscovian film in the middle of a genocide against European people and culture? I thought you were above Muscovian reputation laundering. People should focus on Yuri Ilyenko, Dovzhenko, Roman Bondarchuk, Muratova, Sergei Loznitsa, Boris Ivchenko or Leonid Osyka. Tarkovski can acknowledge Ukrainian and European art, why can't we?

The way this film is described is a lot like how Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch" is like an interesting companion piece to the novel since it infuses elements of the novel and the authors own life to create a surreal mish-mash.

Was there a longer script that Georg just abandoned? Stalker is the kind of movie id assume he would gladly discuss with us for hours.

So... this, Solaris and... either Andrei Rublev or Ivan's Childhood. BUT WHICH ONE