Opening

86% Star Trek Into Darkness May 16
22% Erased May 17
90% Frances Ha May 17
44% The English Teacher May 17
42% Black Rock May 17
77% Pieta May 17
—— Populaire May 17
21% 33 Postcards May 17

Top Box Office

78% Iron Man 3 $72.5M
49% The Great Gatsby $50.1M
47% Pain & Gain $5.0M
37% Peeples $4.6M
77% 42 $4.6M
56% Oblivion $4.1M
69% The Croods $3.6M
98% Mud $2.5M
8% The Big Wedding $2.5M
60% Oz the Great and Powerful $1.1M

Coming Soon

—— The Hangover Part III May 23
79% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
—— Epic May 24
94% Before Midnight May 24
Offret (The Sacrifice)

Offret (The Sacrifice) (1986)

tomatometer

60

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

91

liked it
Average Rating: 4.3/5
User Ratings: 5,935

My Rating

Movie Info

The Sacrifice, director Andrei Tarkovsky's final film, begins in Bergmanesque fashion on a small, remote island, where friends and family gather for drama critic Alexander's (Erland Josephson) birthday celebration. The revelry is interrupted by a radio announcement: World War III has begun, and Mankind is only hours away from utter annihilation. Each of the guests reacts differently to the news: the most dramatic response is Alexander's, who promises God that he'll give up everything he holds

PG,

Drama, Art House & International, Classics

Andrei Tarkovsky

May 16, 2000

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (32) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (5) | DVD (4)

For those willing to acccept the tenets of Tarkovsky's cinema of spiritual quest, his esoteric notions of Christian iconography and his obscure approach to cinematic meaning, the film can seem nothing less than miraculous.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Sacrifice is a stunningly beautiful film that holds your attention even while you feel slightly stunned, in a less welcome way, by what is actually going on.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Tarkovsky pulls you into a dark, foreboding nightmare and Nykvist [Bergman's former cameraman] gives that nightmare an explosive awakening.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Sacrifice is not the sort of movie most people will choose to see, but those with the imagination to risk it may find it rewarding.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comments (2)
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a paradox: a sublime failure. For all its stunning, poetic imagery, it's almost impossible to sit through.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

At least close to being a great film. It's a film that lingers in the mind -- not in the least because it's so open to interpretation.

February 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The few insecurities in the filmmaking, which stick out in contrast to his Russian works, are easily overlooked by how masterful other scenes are and the impressiveness of the imagery.

August 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine
Paste Magazine

Visually potent ... humblingly vast ... [and yet] the movie oscillates between compelling our thunderstruck confidence and testing our patience with unfulfilled promise and highbrow clichés.

July 8, 2011 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks
Nick's Flick Picks

Tarkovsky punctuates this so-called "plot" with many, many stunningly poetic images, mostly filmed in long takes with delicate tracking shots.

January 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

Tarkovsky's last film, a spiritual meditation about the end of the world and a new beginning, bears resemblance to Ingmar Bergman's work, not least beacuse of its themes and lead actor and cinematographer.

December 31, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

It's long, stately and po-faced (all reasons why Tarkovsky seems faintly unfashionable these days), but if it's extended, beautifully composed tracking shots you want, he's your man.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Independent

Invaluable pointers on narrative patience, spiritual yearning and technical finesse.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Independent

Brilliant and audacious, with one of the most extraordinary final sequences in modern cinema.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]
Guardian [UK]

A fitting epitaph for a great artist. Every frame could be hung on a wall, the script is supremely thoughtful and the performances are universally excellent.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

A difficult film - slow-paced, unashamedly theatrical and heavily laden with philosophy - yet a profoundly satifying one: a rewarding display of filmmaking mastery that forms a mystical and enigmatic coda to a legendary career.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: BBC

For all its Swedish trimmings, the long, syrup-slow takes are unmistakably Tarkovsky's, and it's these that provide this arthouse disaster movie with its mesmerising power.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Total Film
Total Film

Tarkovsky's film will be forever confined to a dark cul-de-sac in the arthouse ghetto because of its sheer monotony.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comments (2)
Sky Movies

As involving and intellectually rich as all Tarkovsky's work.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

heavy-going but brilliantly realized masterpiece.

July 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Audience Reviews for Offret (The Sacrifice)

Offret, which is director Andrei Tarkovsky's final film before his death, is a long and demanding work. It is a philosophical dive into the questions about life, death, religion and the end of the world. It has themes that are extremely dark and it is not a easy film to sit through. I have seen this film over six times and everytime feels like a marathon. In a way it is exhausting experience with all the heavy themes and on the other hand it is masterfully photographed and controlled work of art. Tarkovsky is said to be one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema, but in my opinion he is actually a bit overpraised. He certainly had a visual style that still echoes in a work of other filmmakers, but when it comes the content of his films they feel more like a theater pieces. Offret is a film that suffers most of that element in his filmography. There are many long takes that has numbingly long monologues. And while they are gorgeously shot by Sven Nykvist they still feel awfully heavy. This is still interesting if flawed work from Tarkovsky. It has dreamlike, even nightmarish mood that makes it quite special. There are many scenes that are breathtaking to watch just because the photography is so in control. So mostly this is a film which is much more interesting to watch than listen. I would not go as far as calling Offret a failure, but it definetly is not one of those great films that some say it is.
May 28, 2009
emilkakko

Super Reviewer

[font=Century Gothic]"The Sacrifice" starts out with a famous journalist, Alexander(Erland Josephson), celebrating his birthday with friends and family. Interrupting the celebrations, is a catastrophe which may signal the end of the world.[/font]

"The Sacrifice" has some very interesting things to say about faith but it takes a wrong turn about half way through and never recovers. It is also a perplexingly plodding piece of work that goes on for much too long. Andrei Tarkovsky's decision to film a good deal of the movie in long shots makes it almost impossible to identify with any of the characters. Sven Nykvist's cinematography is certainly pretty enough to look at, though.
July 20, 2005
Harlequin68
Walter M.

Super Reviewer

No quotes approved yet for Offret (The Sacrifice). Logged in users can submit quotes.

Discussion Forum

There are no discussion threads for Offret (The Sacrifice) yet.

Foreign Titles

  • Opfer (DE)
  • The Sacrifice (Offret) (UK)
Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile