"the dreamlike visuals and long takes that are a trait of his work are again in quite stunning evidence"

Mirror opens with a scene of a doctor trying to cure a patient of a stutter by way of something close to hypnosis, and in many ways it is almost a metaphor for what Andrei Tarkovsky is doing to the audience in his 1975 classic which is re-released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday

Tarkovsky draws us in and then relays an exploration of memories through a non-linear narrative, exploring everything from personal relationships to war throughout his own and Russian history. It’s a deeply personal film to the director featuring both his wife and mother and most notably his father, reading personal poems via voiceover.

‘Words can’t emphasise how a person feels’ is one of many memorable lines he relays and this is extremely telling both here and in many of Tarkovsky’s films – the dreamlike visuals and long takes that are a trait of his work are again in quite stunning evidence. A picture can tell a thousand words, and Tarkovsky was a true cinematic master.

The film switches between black and white and colour, from archive footage to scripted scenes as Tarkovsky moves effortlessly from the serenity of the countryside to the horrors of war, creating a painting of a film to be examined, discussed and watched repeatedly.

Like many great films, you get out of it what you bring to it and if the audience goes with the unconventional approach the rewards are there in abundance. Clearly an influence on western filmmakers such as David Lynch, the mixture of old and new visuals means that Mirror feels like a film from a number of different periods but is actually a masterpiece for all time.