The Sacrifice

Andrey Tarkovsky's last film, 1986
A few visual notes; Tarkovsky is still really not a 'stylist', for all his distinctiveness; the form is very much a means to an end. That means some remarkably long takes here, and also very long shots. The film starts off with these long shots, and progressively moves in. This pattern, of out then in, is sometimes repeated in scenes. He seems to go further out towards the end.
On his use of the screen; with exceptions, Tarkovsky sticks to the classical 'T', using the whole horizontal high and sticking to the central for the centre and low. Much of his camera movements can be defined as a reframing to keep this in place. His long shots also do this, which is perhaps a little less usual, often (though not always) taking up quite a bit of the screen with earth.
This is Tarkovsky's most 'narrative' film, though it's not like we have much of a causal projection into the future, it is more that we see time has actively passed. There is a hell of a lot more dialgoue than usual, in the portmanteau scenes. This parable form means this could, perhaps, be Tarkovsky's most opaque film; that may sound surprising, but I would argue that is because he uses symbols here, more perhaps than his usual 'images' (i.e. constumes and actions that surely point beyond the 'pure' images). Note that Sven Nykvist photographed this. It is also worth saying that Tarkovsky's treatment of women, though there is a bit of variety here, can begin to verge on the difficult; one scene here particularly.
This film reminded us, in many ways, of 'Ordet'. Especially in the long, dialgoue of the indoor scenes, shot long and reframings. The square backdrop, pretty austere, the distance wasn't quite the same, but some of the camera movements were. The themes aren't really the same, but the central event, of religion, the act (the word), the miracle, all have the same content. Though it is really the look, the slightly flat indoors, we intend (not depth flat; that only implies to Dreyer).
Tarkovsky here brings out his themes, of responsibility and the spiritual act, of transcendence in art, pretty clearly within the framework of a locale that seems to be bleached of life, a grass that is barren, a word that is dry and promises destruction. The shots are never less than exact, often beautiful, occassionally reaching the heights of a 'Mirror' or 'Andrei', that is, remarkable.