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Title: The height of filmmaking
Review: I'll add a few incidental comments to the raves others have given. This film is a highly abstracted rendition of Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's novella "Roadside Picnic" (and contrary to the official synopsis, an alien visitation creates the Zone rather than a meteorite.) The title implies Clarke's notion that any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from magic; the aliens' random trash is beyond our comprehension. That's just plot device, though, for Tarkovsky's moody portrayal of our inner lives. This is an incredibly atmospheric film with an "industrial" (in the pre-techno sense) soundtrack, and it also inspired a worthwhile CD by composer Robert Rich. Btw, I won't mind if they lose the lurid cover if, and hopefully when, this is issued on DVD...
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