Symbols vs. Metaphors

Some frequently asked questions in connection with Tarkovsky's movies are, "Does he use symbols?" and "what does it mean, or symbolize?" We will let him answer these questions himself. As you'll find out, he wasn't particularly fond of the concept of symbols. The quotes below are from the excellent work The Tolstoy Complex, edited by Dr. Seweryn Kuśmierczyk at the Polish Literature Department of Warsaw University. This book, currently only available in Polish, is a thematically arranged compilation of interviews taken from magazines from all over the world. The excerpts are reproduced here with the kind permission of the editor.

We can express our feelings regarding the world around us either by poetic or by descriptive means. I prefer to express myself metaphorically. Let me stress: metaphorically, not symbolically. A symbol contains within itself a definite meaning, certain intellectual formula, while metaphor is an image. An image possessing the same distinguishing features as the world it represents. An image — as opposed to a symbol — is indefinite in meaning. One cannot speak of the infinite world by applying tools that are definite and finite. We can analyse the formula that constitutes a symbol, while metaphor is a being-within-itself, it is a monomial. It falls apart at any attempt of touching it.

Our life from beginning to end is a metaphor. All that surrounds us is a metaphor.