Abstract:

This article examines the commonalities between Tarkovsky’s cinema, existentialism, and queer theory in terms of their positions towards exclusion from the accepted ‘normal’ definitions of society. Within this framework, the terms like ‘weakness’, ‘failure’, and ‘impotency’ are explored and Tarkovsky’s, existentialism’s, and queer theory’s interpretations of these concepts are elaborated. Thus, Stalker is analyzed via an intersectional approach using some sociological and philosophical tools. The queerness of the main character, the Stalker—as well as the queerness of naivety and being a loser in general—is discussed and the discussion is conducted via a critical approach to society’s criterion of ‘success’. The paper discusses the complex relationships between existentialism and power relations through the film and draws attention once again to the sociological and philosophical power of Tarkovsky’s cinema and its success in touching on the daily life and daily anxieties of ordinary human beings.

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