Andrei Tarkovsky’s the Stalker- Intellectualism as the anti-thesis of Hope and Belief

Abstract

The men who make themselves Gods like the writer and the scientist thus flounder in an eternal perspective because all their writing and scientific discoveries are dust when put in God’s eternal perspective, it is the religious faith of a man and his contributions to God’s kingdom that will eventually make a difference when Christ returns and judges man, as the allusion to Revelations in the film’s middle comments. We will be subject to the Lamb’s wrath if we do not believe and contribute to God’s kingdom when he returns. The stalker by Tarkovsky is thus a profound indictment of unbelief and cynicism by intellectuals and the hubris of men who make themselves gods in place of worshipping the true God who promises to bring them redemption and blessing if they would only believe.
Keywords: Tarkovsky; Belief; Cynicism; Intellectualism; Doubt