| Director | Andrei Tarkovsky |
|---|---|
| Budget | RUB 900,000 |
Andrei Rublev has a prologue and an epilogue only loosely related to the main film. The main film is divided into eight episodes dealing, directly or symbolically, with transitional moments in the life of the great icon painter. The background is 15th-century Russia, a turbulent period characterised by fighting between rival princes and the Mongol invasions.
A hot air balloon is tethered to the spire of a church next to a river, with a man named Yefim suspended from it in a harness. Despite interference from an ignorant mob who arrive from the river, the balloon is successfully released. Yefim is overwhelmed and delighted by the view from above and the sensation of flying, but he cannot prevent a crash-landing shortly after. He is the first of several creative characters, representing the daring escapist, whose hopes are easily crushed. After the crash, a horse is seen rolling on its back by a pond.
()]]
Andrei, Daniil and Kirill are wandering monks and religious icon painters, looking for work. The three represent different creative characters.
Andrei is the observer, a humanist who searches for the good in people and wants his art to inspire and not frighten. Daniil is withdrawn and resigned, bent less on creativity than on self-realisation. Kirill lacks talent as a painter, yet still strives to achieve prominence. He is jealous, self-righteous, very intelligent and perceptive.
The three have just left the Andronikov Monastery, where they have lived for many years, heading to Moscow. During a heavy rain shower they seek shelter in a barn, where a group of villagers is being entertained by a jester. The jester, or skomorokh, is a bitterly sarcastic enemy of the state, the Boyars, and the Church, who earns a living with his scathing and obscene social commentary. He lightly mocks the monks as they come in.
Kirill voices his disapproval of jesters and leaves unnoticed. Shortly after, a group of soldiers arrive and arrest the skomorokh, knocking him unconscious and smashing his musical instrument. During a momentary break in the rain, Kirill returns and induces his fellow monks to leave.
Kirill arrives at the workshop of master painter Theophanes the Greek, who is working on a new icon of Jesus Christ. Theophanes is portrayed as a complex character: humanistic and God-fearing in his views yet somewhat cynical and disillusioned with other people, regarding his art more as a craft and a chore.
His young apprentices have all run away to the town square, where a wrongly convicted criminal is about to be tortured and executed. Kirill talks to Theophanes, who is impressed by the monk's understanding and erudition and invites him to work as his apprentice on the decoration of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow. Kirill eventually accepts, on the condition that Theophanes will personally tender the offer in the Andronikov Monastery, in front of all the fraternity and Andrei Rublev. Andrei has become renowned for his icon painting in the outside world, an admiration shared by Kirill and Theophanes.
A messenger from Theophanes subsequently arrives at the Andronikov Monastery, but hires Andrei instead of Kirill. Daniil refuses to accompany Andrei and reproaches him for accepting Theophanes' offer without considering his fellows, but soon repents of his temper and tearfully wishes Andrei well when the younger monk comes to say goodbye to his friend. Kirill is jealous of Andrei and, in a fit of anger, decides to leave the monastery for the secular world, throwing accusations of greed in the face of his fellow monks, who also dismiss him. Kirill's dog tries to follow him into the countryside, but he savagely beats it with his walking stick and leaves it for dead.
Andrei leaves for Moscow with his young apprentice Foma. While walking in the woods, Andrei and Foma have a conversation about Foma's flaws, in particular lying.
While Foma has talent as an artist, he is less interested in the deeper meaning of his work and more concerned with the practical aspects of the job, like perfecting his use of unstable azure pigment. They encounter Theophanes in the forest, and the old master sends Foma away, unimpressed by his attitude to art. As he leaves, the apprentice finds a dead swan and fantasises about having a bird's-eye view.
In the forest, Andrei and Theophanes argue about religion, while Foma cleans his master's paint brushes. Theophanes argues that the ignorance of the Russian people is due to stupidity, while Andrei says that he does not understand how he can be a painter and maintain such views. This section contains a Passion Play, or a reenactment of Christ's Crucifixion, on a snow-covered hillside which plays out as Andrei recounts the events of Christ's death and expresses his belief that the men who crucified him were obeying God's will and loved him.
Camping for the night on a riverbank, Andrei and Foma are collecting firewood for their travelling party when Andrei hears the distant sounds of celebration further upstream in the woods. Going to investigate, he comes upon a large group of naked pagans who are conducting a lit-torch ritual for Kupala Night. Andrei, intrigued and excited by the behaviour of the pagans, is caught spying on a couple making love. He is imprisoned, his arms tied to a crossbeam in a mockery of Jesus' crucifixion, and threatened with drowning in the morning.
A woman named Marfa, dressed only in a fur coat, approaches Andrei, who responds with hostility. After lamenting that her people are persecuted for their beliefs, she drops her coat, kisses Andrei and frees him. Andrei runs away and gets lost in the dense woods, only finding his group the next morning. As they leave on their boats, they see a group of soldiers pursuing several of the pagans, including Marfa. Her lover is captured, but she escapes into the river, swimming right by Andrei's boat.