Frame and Texture: On the Organization of Space in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Films

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of visual space organization in Andrei Tarkovsky’s films. This work precisely focuses on the frame, which is a border between different spaces and types of representation inside the image, and the texture, which is considered in connection with the concept of natura naturans, meaning “Nature naturing”. Tarkovsky often constructs his shot in such an order that to create an illusion of existence of multiple dimensions inside it. In his mise en scenes we can frequently see windows, doors, pictures, mirrors, which we can name “frames inside the frame”. In addition, the film director used to choose special textures, which the viewer is unable to identify. Due to deformation of scale, the spectator cannot understand what is depicted on the screen. Tarkovsky shoots such objects and surfaces that can create fantastic landscapes. The camera can find in an ordinary object something unusual, in a finite one — infinity. The substance seems to create new forms in itself, which refers us to the concept of natura naturans. These methods are used almost in all Tarkovsky’s films. His aim was to transform pictorial problematics into a purely cinematic thing, turning its spatial elements into temporal ones, which is the main principle of his visual style.