Please don't spend money on this.

just watch it!

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

What an underrated film!Symbols: a chair in an open field that survives years, the lure of eyes of a woman/wife, and a bleeding, pregnant rat!This is a film about love between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife--and how it lasts for ever.This is also a film about a dying father and son, of a mute elderly mother and a daughter.The chair, the eyes, and the rat are all essential to the film. The chair is repeatedly shown. Eyes are mentioned by Ivan's father about Ivan's dead mother. Eyes are essential to the song sung twice by Keith Carradine's character. Rats are symbolic of past, present and future of Ivan's sexual life.Into the film, perceptive viewers could compare and contrast the two different reactions of Ivan when two Maria's lovers taunt him. Yet the film is more about Maria and less about Ivan. Very Russian, very European, though the settings are American. The soul of Russian literary giants permeate through the film. A lovely shot towards the end is the silhouette of father (Mitchum) and son (Savage). You can get the feel of Tarkovsky's friend and colleague at work. It is sad the film has not been noticed/applauded better.

Maria's comment about meeting Ivan as a little girl when her family immigrated to USA from "Yugoslovia" can not be accurate; as the time-line for the scene is Spring 1946 and "Yugoslovia" as she describes it was initiated 29 November 1945.Remarkably well done cinematography.I gave this flick a "thumbs-up."It is a highly visual story.And, I think it was quite a departure for Robert Mitchum to play the elder "lover." And, I don't think enough stories have been told about how many folks utilized mood alteration as a survival technique.I'm glad Ivan, aka, John Savage's character, survives.

One reason to want to watch this movie is to see perform one of the most talented actresses of her generation, Nastassja Kinski. Others: Her traumatized husband coming back from WWII, a perfectly suited role for Mr John Savage. The plot is simple and misleading, The scenes full of suspense yet stealing our breath at the least expecting moment. This movie reminds us of what acting used to be and how subtlety creates miracles. Simple and excellent.

A World War II soldier (Savage) returns to marry his old lover (Kinski) but his inability to father a child leads to the destruction of their marriage. The couple goes through a series of tribulations before coming together again. Savage gives a so-so performance as the tormented husband who loses the will to commit to the sanctity of the marriage bond. Kinski gives her most versatile and inspired performance ever as the anguished wife. If anything, watch her. The director, Andrei Konchalovsky, is actually Russian. The movie is a pastiche of styles from American and European film-making. Strong powerful storytelling through the chronology of time tinged with the emotional pathos that is typical of most European films. In the end, the mix is a bit jagged and mismatched, but this doesn't stray from an otherwise strong and moving movie.