The final feature from acclaimed director Andrei Tarkovsky, The Sacrifice is best described as the most Bergmanesque film not directed by Ingmar Bergman. This isn't just due to the content, but also the fact that many of the people involved had previously worked with Bergman.
The main character is Alexander (Erland Josephson), a retired actor who starts to reconsider everything in his life, and give up everything he loves, as news breaks of a potential outbreak of a third world war. His wife (Adelaide, played by Susan Fleetwood) has a nervous breakdown, which starts him on a journey to lie with another woman, perhaps make use of the gun that he takes from the bag of a visiting doctor, and destroy his possessions.
The imminent end of life has always given people time to muse on their past, to think of their place in the grand scheme of things, and to throw themselves into a boiling and roiling cauldron of regret, resentment, and an urge to try and change things that are impossible to change (unless, of course, we're in the realm of fantasy or sci-fi). The Sacrifice manages to show this process in a way that somehow manages to keep everything from being unbearably dour and dark, although it's certainly not something to watch when you want a bit of sweetness and light either.
Although it clocks in at 142 minutes, Tarkovsky manages to make this an enthralling experience, as opposed to an endurance test. His script is full of fun exchanges, and one or two memorable monologues, but it also helps that he has assembled a cast of people more than up to the task of carrying this weight upon their shoulders.
Josephson is very good, managing to remain appealing enough even as he spirals into a selfish spiral that is excused by his reasoned plea with a god who may or may not hear him. Guðrún Gísladóttir is also excellent as Maria, the woman who becomes the focus of Alexander's attention. Fleetwood is obviously sidelined when her character breaks down, but she does well in every main scene that she has, and there are solid supporting turns from Allan Edwall (a friend/postman), Sven Wollter (the visiting doctor), Filippa Franzén (Marta, Alexander's step-daughter), Valérie Mairesse (a housemaid), and Tommy Kjellqvist (Marta's young son).
I thought I was going to have to grit my teeth and get through this, considering the subject matter and the runtime, but that wasn't the case. This is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and tops everything off with a finale that is quietly stunning in how it is set up and framed (and had to be reshot after a costly error . . . look up some information on it once you have watched the film). Although feeling different from a number of other Tarkovsky films, it also somehow feels absolutely in line with them. People will know what I mean when they see it.
8/10
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