Stalker

The enigmatic guide Stalker takes a scientist and a writer through the Forbidden Zone, a hermetically cordoned-off wasteland said to contain the remnants of extraterrestrials. Their goal is to enter the ‘Room’, where the deepest wishes of the visitors can be fulfilled. Once they get there, the scientist and writer are confronted largely by themselves.

With its atmosphere of nuclear doom, the anarchic story line and the industrial setting through which the men navigate, Stalker was a cult film in the 1980s among the countermovement. A stunning viewing experience. ‘The basic theme of Stalker,’ said Tarkovsky, ‘is the suffering of humankind who has lost his self-esteem.’