TheLittleSongbird While not quite his best film(Andrei Rublev), The Sacrifice, like every film Andrei Tarkovsky did, still manages to be a wonderful film. Like other Tarkovsky films, particularly Solaris, it requires a lot of patience- like Solaris The Sacrifice has a rather ponderous and static first 30 minutes that might alienate viewers- but if stuck with it is very rewarding.Tarkovsky's films are some of the most visually accomplished and beautiful films ever seen, and The Sacrifice certainly is visually accomplished and beautiful with positively dream-like photography, evocative scenery that reflects the horror of nuclear war brilliantly and stirring images and symbolism that are not too hard to understand. That's unsurprising though considering it's from Sven Nykvist, an Ingmar Bergman regular and one of the greatest cinematographers who ever lived. Tarkovsky's direction, which always had a rare consistency in quality(to me he never made a bad film- one of the few directors for that to be the case- even my least favourite Ivan's Childhood is great as well as his most accessible), is as usual exemplary. There is a vast Bergman influence here in terms of themes, but there is enough of Tarkovsky's style to still make it feel still like a Tarkovsky film.The music is haunting and melancholic, like with Mirror Bach has never been more effectively used on film, and the script evokes a lot of thought and succeeds in giving dimension to the characters. The story is more rigid and uncomprisingly detached than Tarkovsky's other films, but while the film is deliberately slow and long there still is a lot of power and emotional impact, especially in the truly miraculous scene with the witch and the powerful epilogue. The acting suits the film very well indeed with Bergman regular Erland Josephsen giving a compelling performance in the multi-faceted lead role. Overall, not his best film, for me it ranks around the middle of his filmography, but Tarkovsky's final film(he probably would have done more films had he not died so young) hits a high note. 9/10 Bethany Cox

k-tester98 I have seen this movie only once, when I was nine or ten. I have never forgotten it and I still can see the perfect, emotionally wrenching scenes: The mother's hysterics after the announcement of the war, the wide-eyed hiss, "You must sleep with the witch!", the wicker chair catching in flames, the nude girl chasing chickens through a cool and silent house...There is a sort of grief in the movie's tone; the prolonged shots allow the viewer to feel as though they are standing there observing the events and not actually watching a movie.I am reminded of Ingmar Berman's 'The Seventh Seal', a movie which ranks along with 'The Sacrifice' as my top favorite. Both are terribly bittersweet and leave me feeling like I need to go to church.The whole of the film is incredibly beautiful. Watch it and remember it.

Jose Cruz Tarkovsky last film is still what we can expect given his previous films. This one, though, is darker in tone, certainly related to the fact that the director was dying of cancer while filming his last film. Tarkovsky is perhaps the greatest art film director who ever lived and it shows on all his films.Like The Mirror and Nostalghia, this film has gorgeous cinematography and it is worthy of watching only for the images. It is essentially plot less, though I have watched only once and thus I failed to absorb everything in this complex work of art.Given the impression it made on first watching I would rate it as inferior to Nostalghia, Andrei Rublev and the Mirror and roughly equivalent to Solaris. Still, it is great and rises above 99% of all films. Highly recommended for everyone who has the patience and the open mind to watch art films and I note that I am not the single biggest fan of art films.

Hugo França Tarkovsky is one of my favorite directors, i've been enchanted by Stalker, Solyaris, Zerkalo and Nostalghia. Tarkovsky captures beauty in his own style, always with a magnificent cinematography and bold creativity. He is truly a master and his movies a lesson to his followers. Offret is no different, everything is there like it's predecessors. I was delighted once again.Knowing of his own upcoming death, Tarkovsky turns to religion as never before. I am an extreme atheist, i can't tolerate religions. So this was a great disappointment for me. I didn't ever expect Tarkovsky to suddenly become a poor old man at the verge of his end. I found his early works to be spiritually richer than this movie. There is always some magic around his movies. Offret ruins all that magic, forces you into an expressionist Christian world and then it ends. Surely some will say i didn't get the movie, others that i have to see it again maybe when i'm older. But no. If you're a friend of Nietzsche than keep your distance from Offret's meanings and enjoy the ride on this beautifully directed movie.Still i can't give it any less than an 8.