I really enjoyed watching Stalker.
I didn’t really know what to expect going into this film, but right off the bat I was struck with how much older the cinematography felt than the date suggested—the sepia tones of the first section did a lot to give an atmosphere of bleakness and weariness, and at first felt like it was filmed much earlier than 1979. Even when the film becomes colorized, in the Zone, the palette remains muted and bleak, which added a lot to the overall tone. I was immediately reminded of the Wizard of Oz for the same narrative trick, but the difference in vibrancy between the two is stark, owing to the much more grim atmosphere of this film’s environment.
I felt like the color effect, while an obvious indication of the Zone’s otherworldly quality, also reflected the personal perspective of the stalker himself, who feels the most free and at home within the Zone. “My happiness my freedom, my self-respect, it’s all here.” And at the end, we see his daughter, a character who we know has been mutated in some way by the Zone, through the same colorized lens. She is essentially a living remnant of the place that he holds so dearly.
When the three characters were traveling through, I was reminded a lot of the Greek labyrinth, with stories about a shifting environment that would drive men to madness if they didn’t know the exact way through. I also noticed a lot of biblical and literary references, though I’m sure there were far more that I didn’t. The Zone, while a desolate wasteland, seems to be almost a holy ground for the three men, sacred to each for different reasons.
There was another quote at the end which stuck with me—”Better to have a bitter happiness than a gray, dull life.” It’s a line delivered by his wife at the end, straight into the camera, and it struck me as a sort of ethos for the film. Why else would countless men continue to search for the kind of doomed happiness that the room provides? The sort of wish fulfillment they seek is outlined not as a dream come true but more like a double edged sword.
I also thought it was really effective how the film utilized suspense—int he cinematography, the writing, and the design of the Zone itself. For the most part, the strangeness of the Zone is shown in a very subtle way, through abrupt changes in temperature, in scenery, or confusing geography. There is hardly anything in the entire film that shows itself as overtly supernatural. This make sense from a writing standpoint, as the experienced stalker should have no problem leading them through the less dangerous areas he’s accustomed to. But it also works really well to build a foreboding and unsettling feeling throughout the film.
