Andrei Rublev

Starring: Anatoly Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov

Release: 1971

The first film on the list (which is not ranked; these artist portraits are presented in no particular order) is Andrei Rublev (1966), about the medieval icon portrait painter and Russian Orthodox saint of the same name. Little is known about Rublev, who died in the early 15th century, so the film's director, Andrei Tarkovsky, took the slim facts and expanded from there. Initially the film's religious and political content led the Soviet government to squash its release, but over the next seven years, cut versions made their way to the Cannes Film Festival and throughout the Soviet Union. It was many years before the film was available in its totality – and quite a totality it is, at about three and a half hours long.

My husband studied Andrei Rublev back in college, and I was wary when, before we watched the movie, he announced, "I'm going to warn you – it's a little…tangential. And long." Obviously, a warning like that is unsettling and cryptic to say the least, but it's actually pretty on target.

There's technically a plot to the film: Rublev is a renowned painter who gives up his religious portrait painting, his divine gift, after committing what he thinks is an unforgiveable sin, and then has to find redemption and the passion to paint again. But this story is merely the thread that maintains order within the movie. The film presents vignettes in which Rublev is often merely an observer – sometimes not even there at all. He and two fellow monks wander the countryside, meeting starving peasants and naked pagans and watching as local princes side with invading and pillaging Tatars. Rublev witnesses and reacts, but very little of his art is vital to the plot. Only once is the artist painting a picture shown, and few of his works are included in connection to the plot. One of his large original oil paintings, his Nativity (seen below) makes an appearance, discussed by a prince and Tatar commander, but the conversation is brief and primarily used to highlight religious differences between the men.

But the small amount of featured photos of oil painting is actually what makes Tarkovsky's representation of Rublev so interesting. For Tarkovsky, Rublev was the first truly Russian painter, and in the political stress of 1960s Soviet Union, Tarkovsky found a great deal of national pride in the Rublev's work. Tarkovsky strips away Rublev's painting and instead shows what the great artist interpreted in his work – Russia itself. That's what's so amazing about Andrei Rublev: the film takes the conversation that occurs between artist and subject and somehow foregoes the medium through which that conversation is expressed. For Tarkovsky, Russia is Rublev's masterpiece.

At the film's end, a collection of Rublev's paintings and portraits, including the only work known to have been painted entirely by his hand (an icon of the Trinity, seen above) are finally shown – and this is the only part of the film that is in color. Compared to the squalor seen through much of the film, a picture of a painting so vibrant is refreshing and beautiful – any of the icons would make an interesting conversation piece when reproduced as a custom art painting. But the real power of these photos of paintings is the revelation of Rublev's talent – often discussed in the film but rarely seen. As viewers, we watch the artist's inspiration for three hours and then finally see, in a burst of color, his interpretation. And that's what makes this movie so interesting: it's long and can even be a little boring, but it provides a completely philosophical vision of Artist, Subject, and Interpretation – and that makes the effort it takes to watch Andrei Rublev very worth the work.

Don't miss the other blog posts in my series on movies about artists!

10 Movies You Should See About Artists:

• #9 - Lust for Life
• #8 - Goya's Ghosts
• #7 - Pollock
• #6 - Basquiat
• #5 - Girl with a Pearl Earring
• #4 - The Agony and the Ecstasy
• #3 - Frida