I'm posting this in several parts - too big to do at once!

I actually spent the past four days writing a paper on Andrei Rublev. The plot can be hard to follow if you're not paying close attention, but there's nothing I haven't been able to figure out after repeated viewings. I tend to notice new things every time I watch it. Tarkovsky doesn't do the little exposition cues we're trained to expect from movies - he just puts it out there, like life, and you have to make sense of it. There are uneven time gaps between the chapters, a fade in and out and 2 years have passed, which can be a little disorienting.

Here are some synopses of Part One. Contains SPOILERS, so if you haven't seen it, don't read it!

Prologue: Yefim takes flight in a balloon while an angry mob attacks his assistants. We infer that Yefim is an inventor, and the angry mob is unhappy with his aerial experiments due to ignorance or superstition. Yefim's experimental balloon crashes, killing him. This segment's events and characters are unconnected to the rest of the film, it just sets up several of the themes nicely.

The Jester (1400): Andrei Rublev, Danila Chorny, and Kirill are three monks who leave their monastery for Moscow (ostensibly to gain experience painting). They take shelter from a rainstorm in a barn, where a jester is performing for a crowd. Two soldiers arrive and arrest the jester (someone has denounced him - can you guess who?). This sets up a repeating theme: those who are creative, inventive, or freethinking are the subject of great persecution in this medieval society.

Theophanes the Greek (1405-1406): Five years later, Kirill seeks out the famous icon painter Theophanes the Greek. Kirill is awestruck by Theophanes's skill. The painter  enjoys Kirill's flattery and offers him a position as his assistant. Theophanes has heard of Rublev, as his reputation as an artist is spreading, and it is evident that Kirill is jealous of Andrei. He will accept Theophanes's offer only if it is made publically before the members of his religous order - most importantly in front of Rublev. Obviously Kirill has some self-esteem issues. When Theophanes finally does send a messenger to the monastery to request an assistant, he asks for Rublev. This sends Kirill into a jealous rage. Andrei's friend Danila is insulted because Andrei accepts Theophanes' offer without discussing it with him. That evening, Danila and Andrei resolve their disagreement, while Kirill stews angerily in his room. Kirill gets so worked up that he tells off the entire group, accusing them of worldly pursuits, when he's really just consumed with jealousy. He abandons the order and reenters secular life. 

Andrei and his lazy assistant Foma begin to work with Theophanes the Greek. Andrei and Theophanes disagree on the purpose of art - Theophanes espouses a medieval form of the "art for art's sake" argument. He creates for God, not for people. He thinks the masses are ignorant and not worth bothering with. Andrei takes a more humanist approach, and takes pity on the suffering of the Russian people. He offers a personal interpretation of the Passion of Christ, which is depicted on-screen in a Russian winter setting. 
