Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) is now regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century. He gained international fame with his five films made in the Soviet Union, including Andrei Rublev, Solaris, and Stalker, which only intensified the reprisals he faced in his homeland. To escape censorship and the growing pressure from Soviet authorities, he did not return to Russia after filming Nostalghia in Tuscany in 1983. His last film, The Sacrifice, was made in Sweden in 1985. Tarkovsky, long afflicted by a serious illness, died at the age of 54 in Paris. Our book, compiled and edited by Tarkovsky's son Andrei and Lothar Schirmer, is a tribute to the life's work of this great visionary, who thought in poetic, often disturbing images of almost biblical power. It includes film stills and documents.