Movie: Stalker

Many of you who read this post know that in January there is a day I wake up early and start watching movies until I can watch no further.  There is always a movie on the list that demands time, attention and engagement, and if given can easily become a favorite.  Stalker was that movie.  Reflective quiet shots in a movie can frequently be abused, but in Stalker they give the viewer time to think and let it sink in --- it is worth it.  The movie was made even more poignant as I watched on a day as bleak and cold as it could be in the North East and so the world echoed the screen this day.  

Frankly, I am unable to process all this movie has to offer with one viewing, but I do feel that any encouragement is worth it in hopes that you take your own journey .  Stalker is the name of the main character who is to guide us on our journey into The Zone, with the goal of entering The Room.  Stalker is attuned to The Zone and able to help his journeyman find their way.  

One of my favorite scenes is when Stalker reaches the end of the rail line in The Zone and begs off for some private moments to gather his wits.  We find him laying down in the field before their measured steps begin to The Room.  Stalker is reveling in the silence and beauty of the place.  He is at home, he is in the Garden of Eden, blocked off and forbidden by man.  Man comes with his own intentions and dragging along his original sin, but that glimpse of pure happiness from Stalker is worth the watch and an adoration all of it's own.  It is inconceivable to his journeymen that Stalkers gift to finding The Room is not in his knowledge of a physical path, but in his trust in who or what guides his hand when throwing the flagged metal nuts across the field that they follow or at times refuse to.  

The movie is bleak, and in many ways depressing.  But within the image that the mirror shows us with Stalker there is hope.  Hope that is worth watching each moment of this beautiful movie.  

This movie is in the lending library and was watchable for all members of our family.