Life's Flying Needle

Lessons from Andrei Tarkovsky's memoir of the art of filmmaking

At the Astoria metro station, almost smiling, but not quite

-

I would readily pay with my life

For a safe place with constant warmth

Were it not that life's flying needle

Leads me on through the world like a thread.

— Arseniy Tarkovsky, poet and father of filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky

Hello from my flat overlooking the Danube, which is gray as gunmetal today. I’v…