Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Sacrifice

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 29, 2018
Price: DVD $28.42, Blu-ray $27.99
Studio: Kino Lorber


The great Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s  (Solaris) final work, the 1986 drama The Sacrifice is a haunting vision of a world threatened with nuclear annihilation.

As a wealthy Swedish family celebrates the birthday of their patriarch Alexander (Erland Josephson, Cries and Whispers), news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island — and the happy mood turns to horror. The family descends into a state of psychological devastation and a desperate Alexander turns himself in a prayer to God, offering him everything to have the war not happen at all.

After its story, the film is notable for its arresting palette of luminous greys that wash over the bleak landscape, as masterfully created by cinematographer Sven Nykvist (Fanny and Alexander), Ingmar Bergman’s longtime collaborator.

The director’s last film, made as he was dying of cancer, The Sacrifice is Tarkovsky’s personal statement, a profoundly moving, redemptive tragedy steeped in unforgettable imagery and heart-wrenching emotion.

Blu-ray extras on this 4K restored edition of the film include the following:

-Audio commentary by Layla Alexander-Garrett, Tarkovsky’s translator on the set of the film
-Interview with Michal Leszczylowski, editor of the film and director of Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, a feature-length documentary on the making of The Sacrifice
-DVD edition of Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

Buy or Rent The Sacrifice

About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.