"About faith and creation, by the Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky. The story of the bell maker's son is the best allegory of creating a film I have ever seen."

"Sculpting in Time by Andrei Tarkovsky. This is basically a bible. He’s definitely the greatest filmmaker/artist/man. This book is his artistic testament, and he talks about everything ever."

"It's strange, I don't really like the Medieval period however three of my favorite movies take place at that time: this one, Andreï Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky and Marketa Lazarová by Frantisek Vlácil."

"The first Tarkovsky I saw was Nostalgia, and I kept asking myself, how can someone have done this? Where does this mind come from? Later, I saw Andrei Rublev for the first time at Anthology. What I love about it is that it just hits you in places you don’t expect—the composition of the shots and how he fills them with emotion is so beautiful."

"I have special memories of the film not only because it’s one of my favorites but also because it was the film that introduced me to Tarkovsky. Though not as rigorous as later works such as Andrei Rublev or The Mirror (another film on childhood during World War II), it contains plenty of the thematic concerns and stylistic tendencies that would appear again and again in his work. And, of course, the end of the film is simply devastating."

"Andrei Tarkovsky. Again, incredibly… I mean, all these films are extremely influential to my own moviemaking, and they were the kinds of movies that just spun me around. I couldn’t compare them with anything else I’d seen at the time. And Stalker was definitely one of those. There was a sense of pace that I’d never experienced in a film before, such a wonderful sustained atmosphere, and then just this incredible metaphysical story. I think it’s still one of the great science fiction movies, and it’s so philosophical and yet so visual. The philosophical ideas are conveyed in terms of pure cinema and visuals as opposed to people talking. Quite a skill, I have to say."

"As with all Andrei Tarkovsky films, Stalker deserves multiple viewings. At three hours, and with most shots exceeding a full minute in length, it demands a commitment from the viewer. The production was infamous, a majority of the footage was lost and had to be reshot, and multiple cast and crew members died from cancer, which was attributed by many involved to toxic conditions at some of the shooting locations. The results of the film, however, are as unique as they are impressive. The imagery and symbolism remain some of the most beautiful and haunting ever put on film. And the soundtrack and score are interwoven with the images in a style not unlike the collaborations of Kobayashi and Takemitsu, where sounds are processed and stretched to disorient and then reconnect the viewer."