The Little Monkey Threat

[The Ferret]

Dear Stalkers,

There are several issues regarding 'Little Monkey', maybe the most mysterious character of the saga of the Stalker.
These are the main questions which frequently pop-up in my mind:

1- Is she supposed to *NOT* have legs? So, basically, her legs are prosthetic.

I'm wondering what type of radiation from the Zone caused her to born without inferior limbs. If the powers of the Zone act on a psychological level, maybe we should reconsider Little Monkey's deformation as *NOT* a Zone-related malformation.

Maybe the Wife went somewhat affected by the radiations of the nuclear station placed near the village, the one we can see in the only "coloured" shot near the end (if that isn't a fantasy but a real-life event).

2- Regarding the "coloured" shot: why did Tarkosky filmed it? The Serpent carrying Little Monkey on his shoulders, Wife and the dog, all together, walking toward what it seems a nuclear station. Why is it not tinted in the "ordinary" shade of seppia, as all the events occurring outside the Zone? Was the sequence related to the Zone itself (Being maybe the station placed there)? Was the Serpent fantasizing to bring his family to the Zone forever, and that was just a mere fantasy? I'm confused.

There's much more to flesh out.

[maiga]

The Monkey is fascinating- I'm long overdue a solitary rewatch of 'Stalker', I guess you could say I'm waiting 'til I'm in the right frame of mind, but I'm also doing a chronological review of all of 'em on DVD, and I'm only up to 'Mirror'...

1) I think the powers of the Zone act on whatever level they please!

2) Can anyone remember if there's any basis, prior to the telekinesis scene at the end, for the Monkey's powers? I don't think there is... this gift, or power, that only even makes itself manifest over the shaking of the passing trains, appears to have come about as a consequence of (or possibly coincidence to) recent traumatic events in the Zone. Perhaps it's a sign to the Wife, who loves the Serpent in spite of his vocation as a Stalker, that his faith is for good, despite the fact that it clearly brings ill fortune.

The coloured shot comes immediately after this. In 'Andrei Rublev', the final revelatory, laudatory colour sequence comes after the story of the boy overcoming his status as an unloved, stammering, fool of a child to make the great bell, inspiring Rublev to overcome his self-doubt and disgust at the base nature of humanity and produce not only his finest work, but a glowing mirror of nature itself.

Perhaps then the coloured shot at the end of 'Stalker' showing for the first time a harmony in the Serpent's life, tells us about a resolution, a cosmological reward for the purity of his belief in the Zone, that in fact the gifts of the Zone can exist wherever you want to make them happen.

And if you accept the criticism of 'Stalker' that suggests that it is about seeking spiritual enlightenment in the face of state oppression, then the coloured shot at the end would signify that this has been acheived at some level.

This is just a thought- feel free to shoot it down!

[dimilletronc]

Intriguing...
me too, I was really fascinated by the final scene. I think it's all about Zona "self-being" and acting on the people in accordance with its own superior beliefs. Maybe Zona just gives gifts to those ot loves? or maybe its simplistic. I don't know. But Stalker is not Stalker for nothing, the impact of his ability to collaborate with Zona has definitive impact on his family.
Zona replaced the Little Monkey's inability to walk with an ability much more usefull and fearfilling. The glass that falls doesn't break by the way...
does the poetry that she's reading just before that have to do something with telekinetics?

And the factory in view might not be a nuclear facility. That's how most of suburbs look like in Russia.

[cementimental]

1- Is she supposed to *NOT* have legs? So, basically, her legs are prosthetic.

I don't think so, I took that as a rumour/exaggeration of her disability...

[felippi1965]

Or, MAYBE... if Serpent HAD BEEN in the room (something he´d never confess)... and he had the obvious desire of Monkey having functional legs... BUT the "Porcupine Syndrome" takes place, and what she really gets is the telekinesis hability ??
AND more so I may think that Porcupine never existed, and that story is just the tool Serpent created to "alert" the visitors about the risks of adventuring into the Zone and the Room... oh, Lord, what am I talking about ? F'get it...

[Pauk]

felippi1965 said:

Or, MAYBE... if Serpent HAD BEEN in the room (something he´d never confess)... and he had the obvious desire of Monkey having functional legs... BUT the "Porcupine Syndrome" takes place, and what she really gets is the telekinesis hability ??
AND more so I may think that Porcupine never existed, and that story is just the tool Serpent created to "alert" the visitors about the risks of adventuring into the Zone and the Room... oh, Lord, what am I talking about ? F'get it...

As the question was raised elsewhere, whether it was Stalker himself who experienced the Porcupine disaster (to a certain degree), it is also possible that he did succeed in getting something from the Zone.

Moreover, Stalker in the film is not driven by that desire to heal his daughter as much as he is in the book. He might be content with her condition (speaking not only about himself: "It's ok for me as it is."?), worrying mostly about how his family suffers in the society.

Still there is the punishment part. Given the capriciousness of the Zone, all in all, most of what happens to and with Stalker during the film might be treated as punishment from its side. It does not necessarily mean though that this punishment only has a straightforward negative effect.

[Pauk]

maiga said:

2) Can anyone remember if there's any basis, prior to the telekinesis scene at the end, for the Monkey's powers? [...] The coloured shot comes immediately after this.

I believe The Ferret was referring to the first colored shot after the Zone. Telekinesis until the end is in colors.

As to the question nr.2, so the post-apocalyptic idyll in colors might be a sign that the Zone is always with you - if you are Stalker, devoted to a stalker, daughter of the Zone. Especially when the other two travelers are left behind in mono. This might be too simple or trite, but it corresponds to the following scenes - Stalker loosing faith, in mono, telekinetic powers of the Monkey, in colors.