purely as a poetic image The Sacrifice, on the other hand, is based on classical dramaturgy That is why I am more attached to No\tul^ia I always admired the sequential flow and its inter-relationship in Bresson's films This inclusion of sequence is not. therefore, accidental in The Sacrifice • a full glass of water every morning, discussions on the system, etc To me this is very important. I dislike abandoning myself to chance Nothing—not even the most poetical or the most seemingly innocent shot—is left to chance Q : Stalker seems to be closer to The Sacrifice T : Yes But for me The Sacrifice is the most sequential film Q : Why do you now want to make a film on Hoffman T : I have a peculiar relationship with Hoffman. And then, I want to express my views on Romanticism in general The Romantics were those who never attempted to understand life For them the most frightening thing was routine, the mundane existence or life as something that was firmly established owe and for all The Romantics ai e not fighters. They get killed by those very chimera that they themselves have conjured up Romanticism as an attitude to life is extremely dangerous for it believes in the supremacy of individual talent There are far more important things Translated by Kalpana Sahni Andrei Tarkovsky on his death bed Numbers 12-13