Stalker, the making of

Stalker was made under very harsh conditions. The movie was actually shot twice, as the first tape got, "mysteriously enough", lots... Moreover, the crew was shooting near Tallinn in the area around the small river Pirita with a half-functioning hydroelectric station. Up the river was a chemical plant, which poured out poisonous liquids downstream. There is even this shot in Stalker: snow falling in the summer and white foam floating down the river. In fact the last surviving member of the crew said it was some horrible poison. Many women in our crew got allergic reactions on their faces. Tarkovsky (the Russian director) died from cancer of the right bronchial tube.

It is suspected that the 1957 accident in the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, which resulted in a several thousand square kilometer deserted "zone" outside the reactor, may have influenced this film. Seven years after the making of the film, the Chernobyl accident completed the circle. In fact, those employed to take care of the abandoned nuclear power plant refer to themselves as "stalkers", and to the area around the damaged reactor as the "Zone.

Some photos taken during the shootings

The crew and actors
Tarkovsky and one of Kaidanovsky (one of the leading actors)
Tarkovsky giving instructions