I am constantly being asked what this or that means in my films. It's unbearable! An artist does not have to be accountable for his intentions. I did not do any deep thinking about my work. I don't know what my symbols mean. I only desire to induce feelings, any feelings, in viewers. People always try to find hidden meanings in my films. But wouldn't it be strange to make a film while striving to hide one's thoughts? My images do not signify anything beyond what they are […] We do not know ourselves that well: Sometimes we express forces which cannot be grasped by any ordinary measure.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

All my films were made against the desires of the audience because they aim at truth and beauty rather than the spectator's satisfaction. […] [These days] producers just want to make money, they are like drug peddlers.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei Tarkovsky on the set of Solaris.

Touched by a masterpiece, a person begins to hear in himself that same call of truth which prompted the artist to his creative act. When a link is established between the work and its beholder, the latter experiences a sublime, purging trauma. Within that aura which unites masterpieces and audience, the best sides of our souls are made known, and we long for them to be freed. In those moments we recognize and discover ourselves, the unfathomable depths of our own potential, and the furthest reaches of our emotions.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

Sven Nykvist | Andrei Tarkovsky