The Sacrifice (1986)
91%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Formally impressive, visually accomplished, and narratively rewarding, The Sacrifice places a fittingly solid capstone on a brilliant filmmaking career.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s equal parts Bergman, Chekhov, and Heartbreak House, then The Sacrifice is the film for you. But if you’re like me and you prefer your movies to have a little more pizzazz, then maybe skip this one. Sure, it’s got all the classic Tarkovsky long takes and soul-searching moments, but it’s also a bit of a snooze fest. Unless you’re really into philosophical musings on the end of the world, you might want to sacrifice this movie night for something a little more exciting.
Production Company(ies)
Guangxi Film Studio, Beijing New Picture Film
Distributor
Orion Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Ljugarn, Gotlands län, Sweden
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1986
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:2h 25m
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Language(s):Swedish, Icelandic
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Country of origin:France, Sweden
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 9, 1986 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2007
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
The Sacrifice, Erland Josephson, Allan Edwall, Susan Fleetwood, Valérie Mairesse, Guðrún Gísladóttir, Sven Wollter, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, written by Andrei Tarkovsky, produced by Anna-Lena Wibom, drama, PG, box office gross $61.0K, reviewed by Penelope Houston, Chris Vognar, Richard Corliss, Kevin Thomas, Sam Weisberg, Richard Brody, Tim Brayton, Ángel Fernández-Santos, Mattie Lucas, Daniel Barnes, Harvey S Karten, visually accomplished, narratively rewarding, World War III, apocalypse, bargain with God, birthday, family, friends, stunning news, radio, end of the world, dream, everything he values in life, beautiful home, beloved son, Swedish, Orion Pictures, 35mm, aspect ratio, 2h 25m
Worldwide gross: $167,292
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $463,514
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,756
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 50,547
US/Canada gross: $81,963
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $227,094
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,521
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,696
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $13,011
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,644
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Allan Edwall – Otto
Susan Fleetwood – Adelaide
Valérie Mairesse – Julia
Guðrún Gísladóttir – Maria
Sven Wollter – Victor
Director(s)
Andrei Tarkovsky
Writer(s)
Andrei Tarkovsky
Producer(s)
Anna-Lena Wibom
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (6)
There are echoes of Bergman (of course) and of Chekhov, and once or twice I found myself thinking, most unexpectedly, of Heartbreak House.
July 7, 2018
Penelope Houston
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
This is pure Tarkovsky, with all the perfectly composed long camera takes and ineffable mystery of the soul that defined his work.
June 7, 2018
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
TOP CRITIC
In The Sacrifice, the cryptic Tarkovsky style helps create a towering cathedral.
August 4, 2015
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
As The Sacrifice comes full circle, returning to that spindly tree by the sea and its nurturing, the film itself emerges as a symbolic gesture of great emotional impact.
August 4, 2015
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Only those who still quiver at the shopworn lament that advancing technology is destroying the world will find the philosophizing vital in this bookish stupor.
November 11, 2014
Sam Weisberg
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
A grand, unworldly, even antiworldly religious vision that depends on its perfect pitch to avoid absurdity and bathos.
November 10, 2014
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
A plentiful and elaborate work of art… Still, a lot of the scenario is rather trite.
June 5, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Tim Brayton
Alternate Ending
A film by a genius because of its gravity and difficulty, packed with a conceptual density and bearer of a quiet scream of a desperate optimism. [Full Review in Spanish]
March 10, 2020
Ángel Fernández-Santos
El Pais (Spain)
A stunning and brilliant summation of a legendary career, and Kino’s sumptuous treatment of it is befitting of its stature in cinema history.
August 5, 2019 | Rating: 4/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
I was fascinated by the unusual elements on display – the inscrutable story structure, the deceptively complex long takes, the way that clashing visual and narrative philosophies bleed into each other with a dreamlike logic.
October 21, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
Daniel Barnes
Dare Daniel
Tartovsky’s last film is a lyrical plea for spiritualism and a warning about the dangers of runaway science.
May 23, 2018 | Rating: B
Harvey S. Karten
Big Apple Reviews
The dread chill of the film is a stark reminder of the zeitgeist at the time, which was full of nuclear doom…. What constitutes the tragedy here is what is left open to question.
May 21, 2016
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher…
Plot
In order to avert the apocalypse, Alexander makes a bargain with God to give up everything he values in life, including his beautiful home and beloved son, in The Sacrifice.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Erland Josephson, who plays the lead character Alexander in The Sacrifice, was not only an actor but also a writer, director, and playwright.
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